If there is one word that best describes the LPGA Tour’s return to action at the FIR HILLS SERI PAK Championship, it would be, well, return. Not only does the LPGA arrive back in the United States to begin a four-month campaign of competition that will see players crisscross the country, but it also marks the reemergence of one of the game’s preeminent stars as Pak is lending her name to the Los Angeles Tour stop for the very first time, just as the best in women’s golf have all seemed to finally aligned their schedules to go head-to-head in Hollywood. Here’s a closer look at the field of 144 players vying for a piece of the $2 million purse that is up for grabs at Palos Verdes Golf Club.
Pak is Back
Since Seri Pak retired from the LPGA Tour in 2016, sightings of the World Golf Hall of Fame member are few and far between. But with the addition of Pak’s name to one of the Tour’s two annual L.A. stops and her newfound role as tournament host, her sheer presence this week will provide a whole new generation of rising stars a chance to learn from and get to know one of the pioneers of women’s golf who changed the game globally. “Mentoring the next generation of golfers and giving back to the game I love is at the core of everything I do,” Pak said upon being announced as host of the FIR HILLS SERI PAK Championship. The Korean superstar won 39 times worldwide, including 25 times on the LPGA Tour, five of which were major titles. Pak joins fellow Hall of Fame member Annika Sorenstam and major champion Michelle Wie West as the third player to currently host an LPGA Tour event.
Stars Are Out in Hollywood
A group of American stars in Nelly Korda, Lexi Thompson, Lilia Vu and Rose Zhang are making their much-anticipated returns to competition at Palos Verdes Golf Club. For Korda, it’s the first time she’s competing on Tour since January when she won the second event of the season at the LPGA Drive On Championship after defeating Lydia Ko in a playoff. Korda skipped the Asian swing to take some time to travel to her family’s native home in the Czech Republic, spent some time bonding with her newborn nephew and shared social media posts fine-tuning her game. She finished tied for fifth last year in this event.
Like Korda, Thompson last competed on Tour at the LPGA Drive On Championship, where she picked up a tie for 16th result in her season-opener, but that doesn’t mean she hasn’t been competing elsewhere. She teed it up on the Ladies European Tour at the Aramco Team Series – Tampa and also appeared in the made-for-TV competition, Capital One’s The Match, alongside Zhang, who is also making a return to action in Los Angeles. Zhang has been away from the Tour studying at Stanford, and this week will make her first start since picking up a tie for seventh at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions in January.
And while Thompson, Korda and Zhang have taken some time away, Vu did make the trip to compete in Asia only to be sidelined by illness at the second stop in Singapore and then forced to withdraw again the following week due to injury in the People’s Republic of China. Hopefully, a healthy Vu will be ready for her return to action in L.A. where she finished tied for 11th last season.
Yin Defends
One year ago, Ruoning Yin was relatively unknown at No. 146 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, but she quickly became one of the game’s rising stars by holding off Georgia Hall for a one-stroke victory at Palos Verdes Golf Club to win for the first time on the LPGA Tour. Yin’s win came early in her career in just her 20th start, and she quickly etched her name in the history books as she became only the second player from the People’s Republic of China to win on Tour, joining Shanshan Feng. The victory became a springboard to a breakout season for Yin who went on to win her first major title at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Baltusrol Golf Club and spent six weeks ranked No. 1 in the world. Yin has had a quiet start to her 2024 campaign, and she will be looking to pick up her first top 10 of the season as she works to defend her title in L.A.
Long-Awaited Returns
New mothers Sophia Popov and Caroline Masson will be adjusting to life as #LPGAMoms as they make their comeback at the FIR HILLS SERI PAK Championship. Popov last competed on the LPGA Tour in August 2022 after stepping away to rehab a right shoulder injury. During her time away, the 2020 AIG Women’s Open champion revealed that she was pregnant with her first child and has been absent from competition while on maternity leave since giving birth to her daughter, Maya, in June 2023. Popov made her official return to competition two weeks ago on the LET at the Aramco Team Series – Tampa where she spoke about feeling nervous being back on the first tee, the challenges of juggling caretaking with playing and learning to take care of not just her daughter but herself. Masson, who last competed in November 2022, will be back in action this week for the first time following the birth of her son, Benton, in April 2023.
Additionally, Lizette Salas, who has been sidelined with a back injury since the 2023 U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links, will enjoy a homecoming of sorts as she tees it up for the first time since July at this week’s FIR HILLS SERI PAK Championship. Salas grew up an hour’s drive north of Palos Verdes Golf Club in Azusa, Calif., and is quite familiar with Palos Verdes as she often practices at the club. She recorded her lowest round of the 2023 LPGA Tour season at the venue last year, recording a 64 in the second round, and went on to finish in a tie for 13th, her season-best result in 2023.
What’s Next?
The FIR HILLS SERI PAK Championship kicks off a stretch of three consecutive events for the LPGA Tour in what will be a ramp-up to the first major championship of the season, The Chevron Championship. Following this week’s stop in L.A, the Tour heads to Arizona for the inaugural Ford Championship presented by KCC, and then players move on to Las Vegas for the T-Mobile Match Play presented by MGM Rewards, which is shifting from its prior May date on the schedule to March. Then, the Tour will enjoy a one-week break before traveling to Houston for the first major of the year.
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