The LPGA Tour returns to the Lone Star State this week for the inaugural North Texas LPGA Shootout in Irving, Texas. The tournament marks the first time in more than 20 years the LPGA will play in the region and will feature several unique aspects compared to the typical tournament week.
With a $1.3 million purse, the North Texas LPGA Shootout will feature a full-field of 144 players contending over four days of 72-hole stroke play competition. The “shootout” format of the tournament will consist of two cuts; the first will be made after the second round to the top-70 and ties, and the second cut will be made to the top-50 and ties after the third round on Saturday.
The tournament also provided a unique opportunity for amateur players to earn spots in the field through a qualifying “Collegiate Shootout” in mid-March. Tournament exemptions in the Collegiate Shootout were awarded to Madison Pressel of the University of Texas and Casey Grice of the University of North Carolina after each carding an even-par 71.
Monday also features a High School Shootout, where two local high school players will qualify for spots in the tournament.
A few home-state heroes eager to tee up in front of the large Texas crowds include Stacy Lewis, Angela Stanford and Gerina Piller.
Lewis enters the week with two titles to her name already this season and having held the No. 1 spot in the Rolex Rankings for four weeks before Inbee Park the week after her major championship win.
Stanford and Piller have both displayed excellent play this season, with Stanford boasting a third-place finish at the RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup while Piller tallied two top-10s in the first four events of the season.
The inaugural event is one of three tournaments added to the 2013 LPGA schedule.
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