The third edition of the Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G gets underway Thursday, and for the first time, the tournament will be played at a new venue, which is located about a 30-minute drive north of downtown Cincinnati, Ohio. With just 10 events remaining on the schedule, the return to the Queen City signals a wind down to the season as players will begin to shift their focus to the season-long races and work to position themselves for the year’s top honors. Here are five things to know about this week’s LPGA Tour stop in Cincinnati.

Solheim Cup Participants Competing

Last week’s Solheim Cup saw 24 players from the United States and Europe square off at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club just outside Washington, D.C., where the U.S. Team emerged victorious for the first time since 2017. Nearly half of the players who competed last week are making the trip to Cincinnati for the Kroger Queen City Championship, including Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings No. 1 Nelly Korda. Her teammates Rose Zhang and Lexi Thompson are also in the field, along with European Solheim Cup Team members Charley Hull, Leona Maguire, Georgia Hall, Linn Grant, Esther Henseleit, Anna Nordqvist, Madelene Sagstrom and Albane Valenzuela.

Who Is In the Field?

The Kroger Queen City Championship will see 144 of the best in women’s golf compete over 72-holes for a $2 million purse. This year’s field features several 2024 winners, including the most recent champion on Tour, Haeran Ryu, who defeated Jin Young Ko in a playoff at the FM Championship at TPC Boston. Also in the field is Yuka Saso, winner of the U.S. Women’s Open, Amy Yang, winner of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and Jeeno Thitikul, who was victorious at the Dow Championship alongside teammate Ruoning Yin. This week, Lydia Ko, who is already a two-time winner this season, will make her first start since her victory at the AIG Women’s Open.

And as the LPGA Tour moves into the closing stretch of the season, players will begin to jockey for position in the season-long points races, including the Race to the CME Globe. In November, the top 60 players in the point standings will earn a spot in the field at the CME Group Tour Championship, where they’ll compete for the first time for a record $11 million purse with $4 million going to the winner. Players just outside that top 60 will have the next several weeks to make up ground in the point standings to get into the field in Naples, Fla. Those who are currently on that top-60 bubble this week are Lucy Li at No. 60, Hall at No. 66, Gaby Lopez at No. 69, Nordqivst at No. 73 and Ashleigh Buhai at No. 81.

Minjee Lee Defends

In 2023, major champion Minjee Lee got off to a slow start but found a spark at the Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G. Lee took a two-stroke lead into the final round and carded a 71 on Sunday to finish in a tie at the top with Charley Hull. Lee prevailed after a two-hole playoff for what would be the first of two wins last season, as she also went on to win the BMW Ladies Championship later in the year. As Lee works to defend her title at TPC River’s Bend, she returns to Cincinnati having had a similar start to the season, in search of her first win of 2024 and having earned just three top 10s this year.

New Venue

After the first two editions of the Kroger Queen City Championship were held at Kenwood Country Club, the tournament’s third playing has moved about a 15-minute drive north to TPC River’s Bend. While the venue will host the LPGA Tour for the first time this week, the course is no stranger to hosting professional golf events, having previously welcomed the PGA Tour Champions, the Korn Ferry Tour and the Epson Tour. The course was designed by Arnold Palmer and opened in 2001.

Sponsor Exemptions

Gianna Clemente and Amari Avery, two players who have made headlines in the amateur golf ranks, received invitations to compete this week at the Kroger Queen City Championship. Clemente, a 16-year-old amateur from nearby Warren, Ohio, was a member of the victorious PING Junior Solheim Cup U.S. Team last week and a winner earlier this season at the Mizuho Americas Open in the AJGA portion of the event. Avery, who made her professional debut on the Epson Tour in June, recently completed her junior year at the University of Southern California and has made four appearances in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.

Five Things to Know About the 2024 Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G

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