After a thrilling month of golf in Europe, the LPGA Tour returns to the U.S. for the inaugural edition of the FM Championship. The newest event on the schedule will be staged at TPC Boston, about 25 miles south of downtown Boston, and will feature 144 of the world’s best players vying for a share of one of the biggest purses of the year at $3.8 million. Here are five things to know about this week’s Tour stop in Massachusetts.
The Field
Former Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings No. 1 Jin Young Ko headlines the field this week at TPC Boston and will once again be looking to capture her first win of the season. Ko has six top 10s so far this year, but as the Tour schedule starts to wind down into the latter half of the 2024 season, the Korean is in danger of going without an LPGA Tour victory for the first time since 2016. She is coming off a missed cut at the AIG Women’s Open at St Andrews.
Also making the trip from Scotland to Boston is Olympic bronze medalist Xiyu Lin, who tied for 55th at the Old Course alongside Lexi Thompson, who played in what is likely her last AIG Women’s Open last week at the Home of Golf as the 29-year-old intends to retire from full-time competition at the end of the season.
Lauren Coughlin is another player set to tee it up in the inaugural FM Championship, and she comes to Boston as one of the hottest players on the LPGA Tour this season, winning twice in three starts at the CPKC Women’s Open and ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open. Coughlin’s game cooled last week, however, as she missed the cut at the AIG Women’s Open for the third consecutive year. Hannah Green, who is already a two-time winner this season on the LPGA Tour, is also making the trip to Massachusetts, along with Rose Zhang, who won earlier this year at the Cognizant Founders Cup.
The Course
Opening in 2002, TPC Boston was designed by Arnold Palmer, and for the first time this week, the venue will welcome the best in the women’s game for the FM Championship. The course was redesigned by Gil Hanse and Brad Faxon in 2007 and has a long history of hosting PGA Tour events, beginning with the Deutsche Bank Championship in 2003. The tournament, later known as the Dell Technologies Championship, was staged at TPC Boston until 2018. The facility also hosted the Northern Trust Championship in 2020. and over the last two decades, TPC Boston has produced some of the biggest champions in men’s golf, a list that includes the likes of Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Rory McIlroy. For this week’s FM Championship, the course will play to a par 72 at 6,598 yards.
Massachusetts Connections
For the members of the LPGA Tour who travel the world week in and week out, there is nothing quite like having a home game, as it presents these athletes an opportunity to tee it up in front of friends and family and get back to their roots. This week, Massachusetts’ own Megan Khang returns to her home state for the FM Championship. Khang was born in Brockton, Mass., and grew up in nearby Rockland, which is about a 40-minute drive from TPC Boston. Khang earned her breakthrough win on the LPGA Tour last season at the CPKC Women’s Open and has come close this year to picking up a second title, racking up three top-three finishes so far in 2024.
Like Khang, Alexa Pano was born in the Bay State and hails from Westborough, Mass., which is located northwest of TPC Boston. Although Pano currently calls Florida home, she has enjoyed the honor of being the first golfer to be sponsored by the New England Patriots, a nod to her Northeastern heritage. At last week’s AIG Women’s Open, Pano played in the third-to-last group alongside eventual champion Lydia Ko, ultimately finishing in a tie for 10th.
Solheim Cup Teams Finalized
The thrilling conclusion of the AIG Women’s Open determined who would qualify for both the U.S. and European Solheim Cup teams, as both squads were finalized upon completion of the season’s final major. The qualifiers for the U.S. Team via the Solheim Cup points standings are Nelly Korda, Lilia Vu, Lauren Coughlin, Allisen Corpuz, Ally Ewing, Megan Khang and Andrea Lee. Rose Zhang and Alison also qualified as the two highest-ranked players in the Rolex Rankings. U.S. Solheim Cup Captain Stacy Lewis will announce her three captain’s picks on Tuesday in Boston.
The European Solheim Cup team, led by captain Suzann Pettersen, also solidified its automatic qualifiers on Sunday, with Charley Hull and Olympic silver medalist Esther Henseleit earning their spots via the LET Solheim Cup point standings. Celine Boutier, Maja Stark, Linn Grant, Leona Maguire, Carlota Ciganda and Madelene Sagstrom qualified for the European Team via the Rolex Rankings. Pettersen named Georgia Hall, Anna Nordqvist, Emily Kristine Pedersen and Albane Valenzuela as her four captain’s picks on Monday.
U.S. Team members Khang, Corpuz, Zhang, Coughlin, Alison Lee, and Andrea Lee, along with European members Boutier, Ciganda and Sagstrom are all competing this week at the FM Championship. This year’s Solheim Cup gets underway in two weeks at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, located just outside Washington D.C.
ESPN+ Featured Group Coverage
The inaugural FM Championship will include featured group coverage on ESPN+, which will stream live during all four rounds of the tournament. Featured group coverage of both the first and second rounds will be available on August 29 and August 30 from approximately 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. ET. Third-round featured group coverage will be available between 7:30 a.m. and 4:30 a.m. ET. Final-round featured group coverage will stream from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET.
Tournament coverage will be available for all four rounds on both Golf Channel and Peacock. The first and second rounds, on August 29 and August 30, will stream live from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. ET. The third round on August 31 will air live on Golf Channel and stream on Peacock from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. ET. Final round coverage on September 1 will air from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. ET on Golf Channel and will stream at that same time on Peacock.
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