ESPN+ to Stream Featured Groups at Kroger Queen City Championship, First of Two LPGA Tour Events in September, Exclusively for Subscribers
ESPN+ will cover the LPGA Tour’s Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G with an exclusive Featured Groups feed starting Thursday, September 8, at 8:30 a.m. ET.
- The Kroger Queen City Championship at Kenwood Country Club in Cincinnati, September 8-11, is the first of two LPGA Tour events ESPN+ will cover this month.
- ESPN+ will also stream exclusive Featured Group coverage of the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G at Pinnacle Country Club in Rogers, Ark., September 23-25.
Coverage of the tournaments on ESPN+ marks the first time Featured Groups at LPGA Tour events are streamed live on any platform. One feed will showcase the complete rounds of two Featured Groups in both the morning and afternoon waves on each tournament day.
Featured Groups at the Kroger Queen City Championship will include 18 of the world’s top 30 players, with four of the Tour’s 2022 major champions and 14 season-long winners.
Thursday Featured Groups
Henderson/Creamer/M. Lee | 8:36 a.m. ET
- Brooke Henderson – Two wins in 2022 season, No. 5 in Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, No. 2 in Race to CME Globe, two-time major champion, 12-time LPGA Tour winner
- Paula Creamer – Returned from maternity leave in Sept. 2022, 10-time LPGA Tour winner, 2010 U.S. Women's Open champion, seven-time Solheim Cup participant
- Minjee Lee – Two wins in 2022 season, No. 3 in Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, No. 1 in Race to CME Globe, two-time major champion, eight-time LPGA Tour winner
Maguire/Lewis/S.Y. Kim | 8:47 a.m. ET
- Leona Maguire – No. 15 in Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, No. 13 in Race to CME Globe, 2022 Rolex First-Time Winner, 2021 Solheim Cup participant
- Stacy Lewis – 2023 U.S. Solheim Cup captain, No. 99 in Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings and former World No. 1, No. 51 in Race to CME Globe, two-time major champion, 13-time LPGA Tour winner, two-time Rolex Player of the Year, four-time Solheim Cup participant
- Sei Young Kim – No. 12 in Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, No. 35 in Race to CME Globe, 2020 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship winner, 12-time LPGA Tour winner
Ewing/Green/A. Lee | 1:14 p.m. ET
- Ally Ewing – No. 52 in Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, No. 72 in Race to CME Globe, two-time LPGA Tour winner, two-time Solheim Cup participant
- Hannah Green – No. 17 in Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, No. 19 in Race to CME Globe, 2019 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship winner, two-time LPGA Tour winne
- Andrea Lee – No. 87 in Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, No. 48 in Race to CME Globe
Reto/Schmelzel/Stanford| 1:25 p.m. ET
- Paula Reto – No. 59 in Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, No. 30 in Race to CME Globe, 2022 Rolex First-Time Winner
- Sarah Schmelzel – No. 74 in Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, No. 29 in Race to CME Globe
- Angela Stanford – No. 169 in Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, No. 131 in Race to CME Globe, 2018 Amundi Evian Championship winner, seven-time LPGA Tour winner, six-time Solheim Cup participant
Friday Featured Groups
Thompson/J. Korda/Thitikul | 8:36 a.m. ET
- Lexi Thompson – No. 7 in Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, No. 9 in Race to CME Globe, 2014 Chevron Championship winner, 11-time LPGA Tour winner, five-time Solheim Cup participant
- Jessica Korda – No. 13 in Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, No. 25 in Race to CME Globe, six-time LPGA Tour winner, three-time Solheim Cup participant
- Atthaya Thitikul – 2022 Rookie, No. 6 in Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, No. 7 in Race to CME Globe, 2022 Rolex First-Time Winner
Kang/Kupcho/Buhai | 8:47 a.m. ET
- Danielle Kang – No. 20 in Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, No. 18 in Race to CME Globe, 2017 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship winner, six-time LPGA Tour winner, three-time Solheim Cup participant
- Jennifer Kupcho – Three wins in 2022 season, No. 11 in Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, No. 4 in Race to CME Globe, 2022 Chevron Championship winner, 2022 Rolex First-Time Winner
- Ashleigh Buhai – No. 25 in Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, No. 15 in Race to CME Globe, 2022 AIG Women’s Open champion, 2022 Rolex First-Time Winner
Alex/A. Lee/Lopez | 1:14 p.m. ET
- Marina Alex – One win in 2022 season, No. 36 in Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, No. 24 in Race to CME Globe, two-time LPGA Tour winner, 2019 Solheim Cup participant
- Alison Lee – No. 47 in Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, No. 44 in Race to CME Globe, 2015 Solheim Cup participant
- Gaby Lopez – One win in 2022 season, No. 37 in Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, No. 23 in Race to CME Globe, three-time LPGA Tour winner
Nordqvist/Harigae/Khang | 1:25 p.m. ET
- Anna Nordqvist – No. 28 in Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, No. 56 in Race to CME Globe, three-time major champion, nine-time LPGA Tour winner, seven-time Solheim Cup participant
- Mina Harigae – No. 33 in Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, No. 46 in Race to CME Globe, 2021 Solheim Cup participant
- Megan Khang – No. 27 in Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, No. 22 in Race to CME Globe, two-time Solheim Cup participant
* ESPN+ coverage of Saturday and Sunday rounds will follow a similar schedule, determined when pairings and tee times are announced.
In Cincinnati, Will Haskett will host the Featured Groups coverage alongside analyst Jane Crafter.
- Amy Rogers and Hailey Hunter will provide reports and conduct live player interviews throughout the coverage of the Featured Groups.
- At the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship, Featured Groups coverage will be hosted by Ryan Burr with analyst Gail Graham.
- Rogers and Chantel McCabe will provide reports and live player interviews in Arkansas.
Coverage of both events on ESPN+ marks the return of live coverage of the LPGA Tour to an ESPN platform for the first time since 2018.
- ESPN aired the first two rounds of the Women’s British Open from 1982-2002 and all four rounds from 2010-2015, as well as the first two rounds of the U.S. Women’s Open from 1982-2014.
- The first golf ever televised on ESPN was the LPGA Sahara Open on Sept. 8, 1979, ESPN’s second day on the air.
- ESPN televised a schedule of regular LPGA Tour events from 1979-2009, and ABC covered the CME Group Tour Championship from 2015-2018.
“Partnering with ESPN+ to stream featured groups at these two events is a very important step for the LPGA,” said LPGA Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan. “Our goal is always to deliver more content and more engagement opportunities for our current fans and to expose new fans to the skill and personalities of our amazing athletes. ESPN+ is the perfect platform for us to accomplish these goals and for fans to see more great golf.”
“This is a great opportunity to present more world class golf to more fans, and we couldn’t be happier to have the LPGA on ESPN+ for these two events,” said John Lasker, Vice President, Digital Media Programming, ESPN.
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