Complete groups and tee times for opening round of the 2017 Kingsmill Championship.
Angel Yin, Moriya Jutanugarn, Anna Nordqvist
Group 12 – 7:55 a.m. - 10th Tee
Fans who weren’t struck by rookie Angel Yin’s top-5 finish at the Volunteers of America Texas Shootout were certainly grabbed by her advance to the quarterfinal of the Lorena Ochoa Match Play the following week. The No. 11 seed proved to be a world beater – defeating No. 6 seed Jodi Ewart Shadoff, No. 14 Ayako Uehara and No. 10 Sandra Gal. While she fell to Michelle Wie in the quarterfinal, she did push the match to 20 holes with the major champion. Yin makes her first start this week at the Kingsmill Championship and looks to build on her No. 2 position in the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year standings. Yin will play alongside Moriya Jutanugarn and Anna Nordqvist in the opening rounds in Virginia. Jutanugarn is making her fifth start at the Kingsmill Championship where she hasn’t found much success with two missed cuts and has failed to crack the top-30. But Jutanugarn has had a solid start to the 2017 season and could turn around her luck in Virginia as she looks to pick up her fourth top-11 of the season. Nordqvist, already a winner this year at the Bank of Hope Founders Cup, is making her sixth start at the Kingsmill Championship where she has three times finished in the top-11.
Nelly Korda, So Yeon Ryu, Brittany Lincicome
Group 14 – 8:06 a.m. - 10th Tee
Like Yin, rookie Nelly Korda has grabbed headlines in her first season on Tour with several low opening rounds that have positioned her at the top of the leaderboard. But Korda has had trouble continuing that strong play on the weekend, which leaves her currently third in the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year standings. Korda makes her first start in Virginia this week where she’ll look to pick up her second top-10 of 2017. Korda will play alongside major champions So Yeon Ryu and Brittany Lincicome in rounds one and two. Ryu, who won the ANA Inspiration in April, continues to play consistent golf – she hasn’t finished outside the top-10 since October 2016. She’s had similar success in Virginia where she’s never finished outside the top-10. Lincicome, who won the season opening event in the Bahamas, has struggled in recent weeks with back to back missed cuts followed by a T-32 finish in Texas. She did not play in Mexico. She’s making her 11th start at the Kingsmill Championship where her best finish came in a tie for eighth in 2016.
Lexi Thompson, Ariya Jutanugarn, Gerina Piller
Group 16 – 8:17 a.m. - 10th Tee
This week, Lexi Thompson makes her sixth start at the Kingsmill Championship, where she has finished in the top-10 in her last three appearances. Thompson has played well in recent weeks, finishing in the top-20 in her last three starts as well as a runner-up finish two weeks ago in Japan where she was defending champion. Thursday and Friday, Thompson will play alongside defending champion Ariya Jutanugarn and Gerina Piller. Jutanugarn has yet to win in 2017 but has come close – she lost in the final match of the Lorena Ochoa Match Play 1-Down to champion Sei Young Kim. Piller makes her sixth appearance this week at the Kingsmill Championship where she has three top-10s, including a tie for third last season thanks to a final round 66.
In Gee Chun, Shanshan Feng, Suzann Pettersen
Group 37 – 1:06 p.m. - 1st Tee
In Gee Chun, one of the Tour’s most consistent players, has struggled in recent weeks by missing the cut for just the second time since joining the Tour and getting beat on day one of the Lorena Ochoa Match Play. The two-time major champion will look to find a spark this week in Virginia where she finished tied for 10th last season. She will play alongside Shanshan Feng and Suzann Pettersen in the opening rounds. Feng is making her fourth appearance in Virginia where she’s played off and on over the years but had mixed success, her best finish coming in a tie for 20th. Pettersen, on the other hand, won the Kingsmill Championship in 2007 and has two more top-10s.
Lydia Ko, Cristie Kerr, Brooke Henderson
Group 39 – 1:17 p.m. – 1st Tee
World No. 1 Lydia Ko has a lot to play for this week as No. 2 So Yeon Ryu continues to close the gap on the world’s top ranked player. Ko, still in search of a win in 2017, makes her fourth start this week at Kingsmill where she finished fifth in 2014. Ko will play alongside Cristie Kerr and Brooke Henderson in the opening rounds. Kerr, a three-time winner of this event, has played great golf in recent weeks – picking up her 19th career win on Tour at the LOTTE Championship in April and advancing to the quarterfinal of the match play in Mexico. Henderson is making her third start in Virginia where she has yet to crack the top-20.
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