I am severely conflicted. 

This Sunday is the final of the CPKC Women’s Open, this week’s tournament on the LPGA Tour. It is also the final of the Tour Championship, the last tournament on the PGA Tour schedule for the 2024-25 season. 

And my friend is having a barbecue that day. 

The CKPC Women’s Open is at the Mississauga Golf & Country Club, about 20 minutes from where I live. It’s not every day you get to see an elite tournament near where you live and based on a previous experience there is nothing like being at an event in person compared to watching it on TV. In 2022, I attended the RBC Canadian Open, which took place at the St. George’s Golf & Country Club, also about a 20-minute drive in another direction near my house. It was a thrill to be there. I remember during the week I attended a media conference and Rory McIlroy (TaylorMade TP5x) talked about his keen desire to be playing in the tournament because it was a national open. He talked about his respect for those types of things. McIlroy won the tournament, defending the title he had won in 2019, after which COVID interrupted the schedule. 

At times I was able to move around and get up close to the players, but the bottom line is each of the holes had so many people surrounding the perimeter you could barely see anything. 

What I remember most is being around a hole when players were hitting their approach shots for pars 5s and 4s and hearing the ball land on the green. You can’t see the ball travelling through the air, only hitting the green, and in some cases the crowd clapping because it’s a great shot. It was even weirder on the par 3s because you could actually see the player teeing off and then a few seconds later the ball lands on the green. 

To be honest, it’s a better experience watching it on TV simply because of the way it is covered from the various angles. You see action from all areas of the course, as opposed to being stationed in one place or having to scramble from one hole to the next. But there is something to be said about being there in person and close enough to physically see the players.  

I might just go to my friend’s place for a bit and then head over to the tournament to watch some of the action and follow the PGA Tour on my phone.  

I’ve often said the LPGA Tour doesn’t receive nearly as much attention as the PGA Tour. This year’s tournament includes six of the top 10 players in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings. Included in the field is Brooke Henderson (TaylorMade TP5x), Canada’s top player of either gender in terms of tournament wins with 13 LPGA titles. She won this tournament in 2018. 

Jeeno Thitikul (Titleist Pro V1 Tour), who recently unseated Nelly Korda (TaylorMade TP5x) as world number one, is in the field. So, too, is Korda. Many people are waiting for her to win this year after her sensational season a year ago winning seven tournaments.  

One player I’m particularly keen on seeing is Lottie Woad (Titleist Pro V1), the newest sensation on the LPGA Tour. This will be only her third tournament since turning pro and first since finishing tied for eighth in the AIG Women’s Open at Royal Porthcawl Golf Club in Wales. There was so much hype on this young Brit after she won the Scottish Open. I think it’s a huge coup for this tournament to have her in the field. 

I am also interested in seeing Lydia Ko (Titleist Pro V1x), who has won the tournament three times. I often think of Ko when young phenoms such as Woad and Rose Zhang (Callaway Chrome Tour X), who is scheduled to be in the field, emerge on the LPGA Tour. Ko continues to excel at age 28, which is by no means old, though she has talked about possibly retiring at 30. She reached number one in the world 12 years ago at 17 years and nine months, the youngest to reach that plateau of either gender, and still continues to play at a high level. 

I think what most intrigues me about this tournament, and really the LPGA for that matter, is the parity. There is no single player dominating, which is the case with Scottie Scheffler (Titleist Pro V1) on the PGA Tour. On the one hand, Scheffler has etched his place in the pantheon of greatness, comparable to Tiger Woods (Bridgestone TOUR B X) in his prime. On the other hand, it becomes too routine seeing one player dominate the competition. 

Unlike the PGA Tour, the LPGA Tour hasn’t been impacted by a rival tour poaching talent. The LPGA Tour doesn’t get enough attention anyway, though some key sponsors are helping to boost the purses. This season the players are competing for a record $131 million in 33 events, an increase of $3.5 million from last year and a 90% hike in the last four years. The season-ending CME Group Tour Championship has a purse of $11 million, with $4 million going to the winner. 

Personally, I prefer the way the LPGA Tour has its season all in one calendar year, compared to the PGA Tour which basically spreads it over two years. 

But either way, I’ll be tuned in to both the LPGA and PGA Tour on Sunday.