After two back-to-back major championships that both saw first-time major champions excel on some of the greatest courses in the game, the LPGA Tour returns to normalcy this week at the Dana Open at Highland Meadows Golf Club in Sylvania, Ohio. First contested in 1984, the Dana Open will celebrate its 38th playing with a stacked field looking to tune up their games after some lessons learned at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and the U.S. Women’s Open.
Last Week’s Winner
When she hoisted the Harton S. Semple Trophy on Sunday, Allisen Corpuz also adopted several new monikers: LPGA Tour winner, major champion and highest-paid major winner with the $2 million winner’s check. She also became the first American to capture their first win at the U.S. Women’s Open since Hilary Lunke in 2003, the first American to win the U.S. Women’s Open since Brittany Lang in 2016 and the first Hawaiian to win the event since Michelle Wie West in 2014. Corpuz jumped to the top of the Rolex ANNIKA Major Award standings, aided by her T4 finish at The Chevron Championship and her T15 result at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and leapfrogged to No. 6 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings.
And that’s not to mention her new “celebrity” status, having received congratulations from former president and fellow Punahou School alum Barack Obama. While she is appreciating all the excitement this moment brings, all the fanfare hasn’t distracted the diligent golfer and Corpuz will be back to business as usual at the Dana Open this week, even though she will be bringing some major champion swagger to Highland Meadows Golf Club.
Flurry of First-Timers
With her win at the U.S. Women’s Open, Corpuz also became this season’s fifth first-time winner, joining Lilia Vu, Ruoning Yin, Grace Kim and Rose Zhang. The 2023 season has seen a ton of excitement from its Rolex First-Time winners with Vu and Yin both capturing their first LPGA victory and first major championship in tandem. And of course, Zhang shocked the world with her victory in her professional debut at the Mizuho Americas Open. There are plenty of players looking to follow in their footsteps and are poised to find their first win sometime in the near future, but Xiyu Lin seems like the obvious pick. After three runner-up finishes last year, Lin added another at the JM Eagle LA Championship presented by Plastpro, losing in a playoff to eventual champion Hannah Green. Most recently, she finished T3 in back-to-back weeks at the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give and the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
But don’t sleep on Angel Yin who has also been looking dangerously good this season, carding a runner-up result at The Chevron Championship and adding two more top-10 finishes after that. Leading the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year race, Hae Ran Ryu is another player that is ready to win. The rookie has made the cut in 10 of her 12 starts this season and carded five top-10 results with a best finish of solo third at the Mizuho Americas Open.
Top 10 Troop
Though No. 6 Corpuz is the highlight of this week’s field, she is joined by four other members of the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings top 10: No. 1 Jin Young Ko, No. 3 Lydia Ko, No. 7 Minjee Lee and No. 10 Lin. All four had their share of trials and tribulations through the last two majors and will be looking to work out the kinks as the final half of the season gets underway. Lin, the highest-ranked professional without an LPGA Tour win, once again came oh-so-close at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and will be trying to find that extra gear in the coming weeks that might lead her to that long-awaited victory. Jin Young will be looking to bounce back quickly after missing her first cut of the season last week at the U.S. Women’s Open.
Though Lydia safely made the cut at both majors, she has yet to break the top 25 since her T6 finish at the Honda LPGA Thailand in February and is still searching for that special something that led her to a spectacular 2022 season. Having won this event twice in 2014 and 2016, the Dana Open will be a great place for Lydia to get some extra work in. Lee has just one top-10 finish on her resume this season, a runner-up at the Cognizant Founders Cup after losing in a playoff to Jin Young Ko, but has stayed just outside of contention for most of the season. Though she’s been consistent, Lee will be looking to level up her game as well with just two major championships remaining.
Defending Champion Looking for Redemption
Sitting four strokes behind the lead in a tie for 11th with just 18 holes to play, Gaby Lopez knew she needed a big day to put herself into contention at the 2022 Dana Open and found a way to turn on the gas on Sunday in Sylvania. Lopez shot a bogey-free, 8-under 63 to earn her third LPGA win at Highland Meadows Golf Club last year, roaring in a birdie putt on the 18th to get the job done. But since that iconic victory, Lopez’s engine has sputtered and stalled. The 29-year-old has only found the top 10 twice after her win at the Dana Open, recording a T4 result at The ANNIKA Driven by Gainbridge at Pelican and a T6 finish at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions. Lopez has already missed four cuts in 2023, most recently missing the weekend at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, and hasn’t broken the top 25 since the first tournament of the season. Facing an increasingly mediocre year, Lopez has a great opportunity to turn her luck around this week at the Dana Open. With all the memories of her win to fuel her, Lopez will hopefully be able to put the pedal to the metal once again and climb back into contention.
The LPGA Tour on Primetime
Last week the LPGA Tour made its primetime debut on NBC for the third and final rounds of the U.S. Women’s Open. Though it was a huge milestone, live coverage on network television is steadily becoming the norm for the Tour. A total of nine tournaments this season will reach TV screens across America, and it all started with the first event of the season as the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions appeared on NBC. The Chevron Championship followed, again on NBC, and now the Tour is in the midst of a five-tournament run on network television. Starting with the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give on CBS, every tournament until the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational has or will play on network television, making the Dana Open the fourth straight tournament on NBC or CBS. The AIG Women’s Open and the CME Group Tour Championship on NBC will round out the 2023 season’s television run. Coverage of the Dana Open will start on Thursday from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. ET on the Golf Channel. Moving Day will be broadcast from 8 to 10 p.m. ET on the Golf Channel and CBS will broadcast the final round live from 3-5 p.m.
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