The LPGA Tour rolls into the second event of the year – which is just a two-hour drive south of last week’s stop in Orlando, Fla. – visiting Bradenton for the LPGA Drive On Championship. Play gets underway Thursday with 120 players competing in the first full-field event of the season. It’s the first time the club is hosting the tournament which celebrates its sixth edition this year and will see players compete over 72 holes for a purse of $1.75 million. Here’s what you need to know about the next stop on the LPGA Tour.

Who is Competing This Week?

A stacked field featuring all four 2023 major champions is poised to compete in the LPGA Drive On Championship with Lydia Ko headlining the field, fresh off of her season-opening victory at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions. She’s joined in the field by Bradenton, Fla. resident Nelly Korda, top-ranked American Lilia Vu and two-time LPGA Tour winner Ruoning Yin. Fan-favorite Lexi Thompson will also make her season debut along with two-time major champion Brittany Lincicome and U.S. Solheim Cup Captain Stacy Lewis. Yani Tseng is making her long-awaited return to competition at the LPGA Drive On Championship, where she will make her first start on Tour since July 2021.

Boutier Defends

Celine Boutier is set to make her season debut at the LPGA Drive On Championship where she’s seeking to defend her title. In 2023 at Superstition Mountain Golf and Country Club just outside Phoenix, Ariz., Boutier rolled in a birdie putt on the 72nd hole to match Georgia Hall atop the leaderboard and force a playoff with her European Solheim Cup teammate. On the first playoff hole, Boutier once more made birdie on the par-5, 18th, this time to capture her third career victory on the LPGA Tour and become the Tour’s winningest French player. The win also became a springboard to a career-best season for Boutier, who went on to win three more times, including her first major title in her home country at The Amundi Evian Championship.

Fresh Faces

The first full-field event of the season means plenty of playing opportunities for the newest members of the LPGA Tour, and 15 members of the 2024 rookie class are taking advantage of the chance to compete at Bradenton Country Club. Gabriela Ruffels will be a rookie to watch this season after her standout performance on the Epson Tour in 2023, during rwhich she won three times and earned Player of the Year honors along with her LPGA Tour card. Isabella Fierro, Minji Kang and Auston Kim also earned status via the Epson Tour’s Race for the Card and are amongst the first-timers slated to compete in the LPGA Drive On Championship. New members who earned status via LPGA Q-Series last December are also teeing it up in Bradenton, including former Clemson University Tiger Savannah Grewal, Republic of Korea native Yu Jin Sung and former University of Southern California Trojan Malia Nam.

The Course

Bradenton Country Club celebrates its centennial in 2024, and for its 100th anniversary, the course will host the LPGA Drive On Championship for the first time. It’s an exciting new chapter for the club, a Donald Ross design that opened in 1924 and underwent its most recent renovation at the hands of Tony Jacklin in 2018. The club also touts an impressive membership which includes World Golf Hall of Fame member Hollis Stacy and major champion Paul Azinger. For the championship, the course will play to a par 72 at just over 6,500 yards.

What’s Next?

Following an exciting two-week kickoff in Florida, the Tour will take a break before returning to action in mid-February with the Honda LPGA Thailand, where Lilia Vu became a Rolex First-Time Winner in 2023. The following week the Tour travels to Singapore for the HSBC Women’s World Championship where Jin Young Ko will seek to defend her title. Then, the third and final stop in Asia wraps up in the People’s Republic of China with the Blue Bay LPGA, which returns to the LPGA Tour’s schedule for the first time in six years due to travel restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Gaby Lopez remains the defending champion as she was the last player to win in China in 2018.

Five Things to Know About the LPGA Drive On Championship

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