A busy stretch of five consecutive events comes to a fun conclusion with the Dow Championship. It’s a lighthearted, team competition that allows the best in women’s golf to partner with close friends and competitors for a unique team-play event. The field is made up of 144 players who will square off at Midland Country Club in Midland, Mich. beginning on Thursday. Here are five things to know about this week’s Dow Championship.
Changes for 2024
The LPGA Tour’s annual team event has made a number of changes ahead of its fifth edition. First, the tournament changed its name from the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational to the Dow Championship. Second, the event was moved from July to June in order to accommodate the schedules of the world’s top-ranked players who are in the midst of trying to balance a busy summer schedule that includes the 2024 Paris Olympics. And finally, the championship increased its total purse from $2.7 to $3 million and expanded the field from 64 to 72 teams.
Format
The Dow Championship will see teams square off over 72 holes while competing in alternating rounds of foursomes – also known as alternate shot – and four-ball. Although there are no Rolex Ranking points available during this championship, a victory does count as an official win on the LPGA Tour for both members of the winning team.
Featured Teams
While the world’s best players spend the rest of the year going head to head, they’ll team up for this one-of-a-kind event on the LPGA Tour, which often makes for some fascinating duos. Returning again this season is the team of Lexi Thompson and Brooke Henderson, who are reuniting after missing the cut in the Dow Championship last year. Also playing together again this year are Celine Boutier and Yuka Saso, who tied for third last year in Midland. Saso has already clinched one victory this season with her win at the U.S. Women’s Open.
Other featured partnerships include Rose Zhang and Alexa Pano, who are teaming up for the first time, as well as the duo of Lydia Ko and Danielle Kang, who are reuniting at the Dow Championship for the first time since 2021. The English pair and longtime friends Charley Hull and Georgia Hall are also partnering for the championship as are Ruoning Yin and Atthaya Thitikul.
Event History
Jasmine Suwannapura and Cydney Clanton teamed up to capture the first playing of the Dow Championship in 2019. The championship was not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, but then, the following season, the sister act of Ariya and Moriya Jutanugarn were victorious in 2021 and are teaming up again this year in search of a second victory. The sisters' team victory marks the last win on the LPGA Tour for each of the Jutanugarns.
In 2022, U.S. Solheim Cup teammates Jennifer Kupcho and Lizette Salas rode the success they found representing the Red, White and Blue to victory in the Dow Championship. That win marked the third of the season for Kupcho and was Salas’ second career victory, a performance the pair will look to recreate as they team up again this week.
In 2023, the duo of Elizabeth Szokol and Cheyenne Knight, who dubbed themselves the Elizabethan Knights, earned a one-stroke victory over Kelly Tan and Matilda Castren when they won in Midland. The victory was the second of Knight’s career and the first for Szokol, and the defending champions are teaming up again this season to try and go back-to-back.
How to watch
Live coverage of the Dow Championship begins Thursday. Catch first- and second-round coverage on Golf Channel from 10 a.m. - 12 p.m. EST and on Peacock from 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. EST. Third-round coverage will be available on Golf Channel from 5 p.m. - 7 p.m. EST and on Peacock from 4 p.m. - 7 p.m. EST.
Final round coverage can be found on the NBC Sports app between 12 p.m. - 1 p.m. EST and on CBS from 1 p.m. - 3 p.m. EST.
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