LPGA MAKES RETURN TO HOOSIER STATE
The LPGA travels from Portland, Ore., to the capital city of Indiana this week as a world-class field of 144 professionals from 26 different countries descends on Brickyard Crossing Golf Club for the inaugural Indy Women in Tech Championship presented by Guggenheim.
This is the Tour’s first stop in Indiana since the ninth Solheim Cup in 2005, where the U.S. captured the first of three consecutive victories, the only time that has been accomplished in Solheim Cup history. Earlier this year, the inaugural Senior LPGA Championship was contested at the Pete Dye Course at the French Lick Resort, one of two major championships for the Legends Tour.
The IWiT Championship will be the LPGA’s final domestic event until the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship in Naples, Fla., in November. It is also the last event before the Tour travels to France for the fifth and final major championship of the season, The Evian Championship.
WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE IWiT CHAMPIONSHIP
- One of three 54-hole tournaments on the 2017 schedule (ShopRite LPGA Classic presented by Acer, Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G)
- One of 16 LPGA events with a purse of $2 million or greater in 2017; this season, players are competing for a record $67.65 million in total official prize money
- One of four new events on the 2017 schedule, which has an LPGA-record 34 official events
- Traditional holes 7-10 at Brickyard Crossing G.C., which are located inside the 2.5-mile oval track, will be rerouted to become tournament holes 15-18 for the IWiT Championship
LPGA HISTORY IN INDIANA
2005: Solheim Cup – Crooked Stick Golf Club, Carmel (USA 15½ - Europe 12½)
1993: U.S. Women’s Open – Crooked Stick Golf Club, Carmel (Lauri Merten)
1978: U.S. Women’s Open – Country Club of Indianapolis (Hollis Stacy)
1977-88: Mayflower Classic – Harbour Trees Country Club, Noblesville, 1977-1980; Country Club of Indianapolis, Indianapolis, 1981-88 (1977 – Judy Rankin; 1978 – Jane Blalock; 1979 – Hollis Stacy; 1980 – Amy Alcott; 1981 – Debbie Austin; 1982 – Sally Little; 1983 – Lauren Howe; 1984 – Ayako Okamoto; 1985 – Alice Miller; 1986 – Sandra Palmer; 1987 – Colleen Walker; 1988 – Terry-Jo Myers)
1976: Bloomington Bicentennial Classic – Lake Monroe at the Pointe Golf Course, Bloomington (Sandra Palmer)
1974-80: Hoosier LPGA Classic/Hoosier Classic/Barth Classic, Plymouth Country Club, Plymouth (1974 – Joanne Carner; 1975 – Betsy Cullen; 1976 – Joanne Carner; 1977 – Debbie Austin; 1978 – Pat Bradley; 1979 – Sally Little; 1980 – Sandra Spuzich)
1968: “500” Ladies Classic – Speedway Golf Course, Indianapolis (Mickey Wright)
1961: Tippecanoe Open – Tippecanoe Country Club, Leesburg (Kathy Cornelius)
1960: Leesburg Pro-Am (unofficial event) – Tippecanoe Lake Country Club, Leesburg (Barbara Romack)
1960: LPGA Championship – Sheraton Country Club, French Lick (Mickey Wright)
1959-1960: Hoosier Celebrity (unofficial event) – Tippecanoe Lake Country Club, Leesburg, 1959; Fort Wayne Country Club, Fort Wayne, 1960 (1959 – Mickey Wright; 1960 – Joyce Ziske)
1959: Hoosier Open – Fort Wayne Country Club, Fort Wayne (Marlene Hagge)
1959: LPGA Championship – Sheraton Country Club, French Lick (Betsy Rawls)
1958: French Lick Open – French Lick-Sheraton Hotel Country Club, French Lick (Louise Suggs)
1955: LPGA Championship – Orchard Ridge Country Club, Fort Wayne (Beverly Hanson)
1954: Fort Wayne Open – Orchard Ridge Country Club, Fort Wayne (Marilynn Smith)
1951: Meridian Hills Weathervane – Meridian Hills Country Club, Indianapolis (Babe Zaharias)
NEW TOURNAMENTS ON THE BLOCK
The 2017 LPGA schedule includes the addition of four new tournaments and an increase of $4.35 million in total official prize money. In addition to the four new events, 11 of the 30 returning official events feature increased purses in 2017. Four of the Tour’s five major championships have higher purses, including a $5 million purse ($900,000 to the champion) at the U.S. Women’s Open conducted by the USGA, the largest purse in LPGA history.
This week’s tournament marks the third new LPGA stop of the season. The Tour visited Oneida, Wis., for the Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic in early July, and Katherine Kirk captured her third career LPGA win in the first time the LPGA or PGA Tour has hosted a sanctioned event in the Green Bay area. Three weeks later, the LPGA traveled across the pond to play the LPGA and LET co-sanctioned Aberdeen Asset Management Ladies Scottish Open at Dundonald Links in Ayrshire, Scotland, where Mi Hyang Lee won on the same course as the men’s Scottish Open.
This week, the LPGA makes a pit stop in Indianapolis, Ind., at the Indy Women in Tech (IWIT) Championship presented by Guggenheim. The tournament will be conducted on the Pete Dye-designed Brickyard Crossing Golf Course that weaves through the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Following the season’s final major next week at The Evian Championship, the LPGA takes a week off before traveling to the home of Rolex Rankings No. 7 Lydia Ko to play in the MCKAYSON New Zealand Women’s Open.
AMERICANS GET BACK IN THE WINNER’S CIRCLE
Stacy Lewis’ remarkable win at last week’s Cambia Portland Classic presented by JTBC (http://www.lpga.com/news/2017-cambia-portland-classic-presented-by-jtbc-final-round-recap) marked the fifth win by a U.S. player in 2017, especially notable considering Americans recorded only two wins all of last season. In the past 10 LPGA seasons, the United States has finished with less than five wins just twice, in 2011 (four) and 2016 (two).
Lewis’ win snapped a winning streak of five consecutive events by players from the Republic of Korea, the nation that leads the Tour with 13 wins in 2017. The United States is the only other country with mulitple wins (five), with six countries tied for third at one win apiece.
THE FINAL STRETCH IN THE RACE TO THE CME GLOBE
This week’s Indy Women in Tech Championship presented by Guggenheim is the 25th event in the season-long Race to the CME Globe. World No. 2 Lexi Thompson currently leads the standings with 2,692 points, followed by World No. 1 So Yeon Ryu (2,652 points) and World No. 3 Sung Hyun Park (2,563 points).
In 2017, the reset points for the Race to the CME Globe will be modified slightly. As a result of these modifications:
- The top five finishers entering Naples will control their own destiny at the CME Group Tour Championship
- If a player in the top five wins in Naples, she will also win the $1M CME Globe
- The top 12 finishers entering Naples will have a mathematical chance to win the $1M CME Globe
- Please note that previously, the top three controlled their destiny and top nine had a mathematical chance
CME GROUP CARES WEEKENDS EAGLES UPDATE AFTER CAMBIA PORTLAND CLASSIC
CME Group Cares Weekend is a season-long charitable giving program that turns eagles into donations. For each eagle recorded during weekend play (Saturday and Sunday) throughout the 2017 LPGA Tour season, CME Group donates $1,000 to the program’s total donation count. The money raised will go towards a charitable pool and be split evenly between Wounded Warrior Project® and Bright Pink®.
Players scored 12 eagles over the weekend at the 2017 Cambia Portland Classic Presented by JTBC, raising $12,000 for charity. This brings the total to 234 eagles on the year, which translates to $234,000 raised.
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