2023 LPGA Season Odds and Ends

[18majors]

 

Blue Bay LPGA plans to have a 80 players field; so it isn't a full field event.

 

But, it will essentially be a full field event; because all Top Players who've played Saudi, Thailand and Singapore consecutively will skip Blue Bay and open the doors for lower ranked players.

[Oh Hi Carl]

I'm really missing televised women's golf (even though it involves watching that guy fight himself in the street every ten minutes). Are there any events going on now that can be viewed streaming or recorded on YouTube or other platforms? 

[18majors]

 

Some detail about Brooke's impending move to TaylorMade:

Henderson to switch to TaylorMade clubs

 

Nelly Korda is also making a move, TaylorMade too?

 

[18majors]

 

They play for modest purses; but their videos are as lively as any others:

 

 

 

[AKL Kiwi]

14 hours ago, iBanesto said:

 

Lydia Ko-Chung?

 

😅

I thought about a hyphenated name but I don't think it's a Korean thing to do. I'm sure if Lydia intended to compete under her now married name she would have advised the LPGA by now and the entries lists for her first three tournaments would have reflected it. So I think we can take it she is sticking to Ko as her membership surname. 

The LPGA must be disappointed Lydia, Jeeno and Minjee won't be in the Tournaments of Champions field. My guess is the lure of the 5M purse for the Saudi Ladies International thrown in before the Thailand and Singapore LPGA events given where they probably are with the time difference and travel involved made the decision easier. Good opportunity though for Nelly to win and go back to RR #1. Last year the win was worth 31 points with RR#1, 3 and 4  in the field who will all be missing this year.   

 

[Lobby]

$4.9 mil for Epson Tour?   That's outstanding.   That's growth!

[18majors]

1 hour ago, AKL Kiwi said:

Good opportunity though for Nelly to win and go back to RR #1. Last year the win was worth 31 points with RR#1, 3 and 4  in the field who will all be missing this year.   

 

 

 

 

The field this year is stronger than 2021 when Jessica Korda earned 20.50 with her win; my guess is the winner this year will earn 23.00 - 26.00 points.

 

Nelly needs about 22.00 points to replace Lydia as #1; she may have a chance.

[iamthebeard]

2 hours ago, 18majors said:

 

Some detail about Brooke's impending move to TaylorMade:

Henderson to switch to TaylorMade clubs

 

Nelly Korda is also making a move, TaylorMade too?

 

TM will be adding another top 10 girl along with Brooke 

[Awsi Dooger]

I didn't realize Lydia already got married. Good for her. I attended CME in November, my first tournament since January 2020. There's a really nice guy from Vancouver who is a huge Lydia fan and attends many events per year, including some in Europe, along with his wife. They always follow Lydia's group. I happened to meet him while following Lydia on Thursday at CME. I immediately knew he was more than a typical fan when Lydia went out of her way on the 9th green to walk over and say hello to him with a beaming smile. I ended up walking/chatting with him for 3 of the 4 rounds. He was the one who told me Lydia was engaged. Her fiance was there but mostly stayed to himself along the ropes. I felt great for the Vancouver guy because in the 6 or 7 years since he got hooked on golf and specifically toward following Lydia Ko in person, this was the first tournament he had ever seen her win.

 

I can also report that Lydia changed coaches in 2022 earlier than reports indicated. I recognized Teh Oh on Thursday, although I didn't remember his name initially. He followed every hole in low key fashion. In fact I was impressed with how unemotional he was even after Lydia inexplicably hit it into the water on 14 on Sunday, immediately after Maguire had done the same thing to apparently hand the tournament to Lydia. Maguire's ball clearly skipped in the water and was dead. But from our vantage point I thought I saw Lydia's ball land on the bank and remain barely safe. When I described that to a fellow spectator, Ted Oh cut me off and matter of factly said, "Lydia's ball is in the water."

 

Media reports included  early November quotes from Lydia that she split from Sean Foley a month earlier. The guy from Vancouver told me she resumed working with Oh earlier than that. And it's easily verified merely by checking Oh's Instagram account. Heck, he's got a video there from August working with Lydia on the range. 

 

Regarding driving distance, I didn't see a marked difference. Lydia was more focused and aggressive than I've seen her in previous years. Instead of accepting anything in the fairway she seemed to have specific paths in mind. In particular, she was aggressive on the par 5 17th. There is big distance reward there if you find the slot in the left center of the fairway. It becomes hard and downhill. Too many players aim for the right fairway bunker and bloop it out there just short. All week Lydia aimed left for the slot. On Thursday she hooked it too far left into the straw. But they've cleaned up that area over the years to the point there's far less risk. Lydia continued to aim left and was rewarded via the slot on Sunday. That drive skewed her driving distance.

 

I will say that she's now playing more of a draw with the driver. Her wlld misses off the tee early in 2022 were low pulls. I didn't see any of those at CME. She pulled a few but they were mild pulls at normal trajectory and taken further left via her draw.

 

Nelly Korda was the one who astounded me with driving distance. I betrayed Lydia on Friday to follow Nelly and Brooke. Not much happened all day . Neither could convert anything. But Nelly was playing more aggressively than I've ever seen in the past. She hit one on 9 that looked more like a male drive and left nothing but a flip wedge on a difficult hole. Nelly's putting frankly was awful. I'm not a fan of crosshanded. Every hole was yet another tentative 10-15 foot miss. But no question once in a while her putting clicks. At that point it's birdies galore because this type of driving distance combined with fearless targeting enables more margin for error than anyone else on tour. 

 

Otherwise it was kind of sad to see some of the changes at that event due to the pandemic, like the elimination of manual scoreboards, notably the ones between 6 and 7, and behind the 16th green. 

 

I appreciated that Marina Alex's mom still recognized me and greeted me warmly after the 3 year absence. We fist bumped while recounting Marina's gutsy victory earlier in 2022. 

Edited January 8, 2023 by Awsi Dooger

[JungleJimbo]

1 hour ago, Awsi Dooger said:

I didn't realize Lydia already got married. Good for her. I attended CME in November, my first tournament since January 2020. There's a really nice guy from Vancouver who is a huge Lydia fan and attends many events per year, including some in Europe, along with his wife. They always follow Lydia's group. I happened to meet him while following Lydia on Thursday at CME. I immediately knew he was more than a typical fan when Lydia went out of her way on the 9th green to walk over and say hello to him with a beaming smile. I ended up walking/chatting with him for 3 of the 4 rounds. He was the one who told me Lydia was engaged. Her fiance was there but mostly stayed to himself along the ropes. I felt great for the Vancouver guy because in the 6 or 7 years since he got hooked on golf and specifically toward following Lydia Ko in person, this was the first tournament he had ever seen her win.

 

I can also report that Lydia changed coaches in 2022 earlier than reports indicated. I recognized Teh Oh on Thursday, although I didn't remember his name initially. He followed every hole in low key fashion. In fact I was impressed with how unemotional he was even after Lydia inexplicably hit it into the water on 14 on Sunday, immediately after Maguire had done the same thing to apparently hand the tournament to Lydia. Maguire's ball clearly skipped in the water and was dead. But from our vantage point I thought I saw Lydia's ball land on the bank and remain barely safe. When I described that to a fellow spectator, Ted Oh cut me off and matter of factly said, "Lydia's ball is in the water."

 

Media reports included  early November quotes from Lydia that she split from Sean Foley a month earlier. The guy from Vancouver told me she resumed working with Oh earlier than that. And it's easily verified merely by checking Oh's Instagram account. Heck, he's got a video there from August working with Lydia on the range. 

 

Regarding driving distance, I didn't see a marked difference. Lydia was more focused and aggressive than I've seen her in previous years. Instead of accepting anything in the fairway she seemed to have specific paths in mind. In particular, she was aggressive on the par 5 17th. There is big distance reward there if you find the slot in the left center of the fairway. It becomes hard and downhill. Too many players aim for the right fairway bunker and bloop it out there just short. All week Lydia aimed left for the slot. On Thursday she hooked it too far left into the straw. But they've cleaned up that area over the years to the point there's far less risk. Lydia continued to aim left and was rewarded via the slot on Sunday. That drive skewed her driving distance.

 

I will say that she's now playing more of a draw with the driver. Her wlld misses off the tee early in 2022 were low pulls. I didn't see any of those at CME. She pulled a few but they were mild pulls at normal trajectory and taken further left via her draw.

 

Nelly Korda was the one who astounded me with driving distance. I betrayed Lydia on Friday to follow Nelly and Brooke. Not much happened all day . Neither could convert anything. But Nelly was playing more aggressively than I've ever seen in the past. She hit one on 9 that looked more like a male drive and left nothing but a flip wedge on a difficult hole. Nelly's putting frankly was awful. I'm not a fan of crosshanded. Every hole was yet another tentative 10-15 foot miss. But no question once in a while her putting clicks. At that point it's birdies galore because this type of driving distance combined with fearless targeting enables more margin for error than anyone else on tour. 

 

Otherwise it was kind of sad to see some of the changes at that event due to the pandemic, like the elimination of manual scoreboards, notably the ones between 6 and 7, and behind the 16th green. 

 

I appreciated that Marina Alex's mom still recognized me and greeted me warmly after the 3 year absence. We fist bumped while recounting Marina's gutsy victory earlier in 2022. 

@Awsi Dooger Perhaps just a coincidence... but that "really nice guy from Vancouver who is a huge Lydia fan" = might've been a bloke who used to frequently participate on this forum, using the alias "kbong" and was quite knowledgeable w.r.t. Lydia Ko & team? 

😬🚫🤬

 

(albeit it's just a hunch & maybe a misplaced coincidence ... perhaps other folks here eg @Rapidcat share the same hunch?) 

 

 

Edited January 8, 2023 by JungleJimbo

[Rapidcat]

53 minutes ago, JungleJimbo said:

@Awsi Dooger Perhaps just a coincidence... but that "really nice guy from Vancouver who is a huge Lydia fan" = might've been a bloke who used to frequently participate on this forum, using the alias "kbong" and was quite knowledgeable w.r.t. Lydia Ko & team? 

😬🚫🤬

 

(albeit it's just a hunch & maybe a misplaced coincidence ... perhaps other folks here eg @Rapidcat share the same hunch?) 

 

 

 

@JungleJimboYou may be right but I don't know...no hunch or concrete info I have to confirm or otherwise unfortunately.

[woahnelly]

22 hours ago, 18majors said:

 

Blue Bay LPGA plans to have a 80 players field; so it isn't a full field event.

 

But, it will essentially be a full field event; because all Top Players who've played Saudi, Thailand and Singapore consecutively will skip Blue Bay and open the doors for lower ranked players.

 

The field is looking quite weak so far .. which bodes well for a newbie or old favorites to win! I wonder if they will hold X no. of spots for Chinese golfers like the Toto does for JLPGA. 

[18majors]

48 minutes ago, woahnelly said:

 

The field is looking quite weak so far .. which bodes well for a newbie or old favorites to win! I wonder if they will hold X no. of spots for Chinese golfers like the Toto does for JLPGA. 

 

 

 

 

Yes, the tournament reserved 15 "Exempt" spots out of 81 total; that very well could be for Chinese players.  

 

This is a much more favorable split compared to Toto; which has always been 35 JLPGA and 43 LPGA.

 

[18majors]

 

 

Lydia Ko and Lexi Thompson are the only two Rolex Top-10 players that've signed up to play Saudi Ladies International thus far.  I'm sure most will eventually sign up.

 

The hang-up, especially with Nelly Korda and Brooke Henderson, could very well be appearance fees.  The Saudis may not be as generous as before because they've already shelled out a $5.0 million purse.

 

 

[18majors]

 

The Saudis and Hero MotorCorp of India have been the main driving force for purse growth in Golf. 

Hero MotoCorp to become Title Partner of the Dubai Desert Classic

 

The LPGA affiliated LET has been a prime beneficiary of that growth, but LPGA has so far not being part of it.  I understand why LPGA can't be too aggressive with the Saudis; but there isn't a reason in the world that Mollie Marcoux Samaan doesn't aggressively pursue Hero MotorCorp.

 

[woahnelly]

1 hour ago, 18majors said:

 

 

Lydia Ko and Lexi Thompson are the only two Rolex Top-10 players that've signed up to play Saudi Ladies International thus far.  I'm sure most will eventually sign up.

 

The hang-up, especially with Nelly Korda and Brooke Henderson, could very well be appearance fees.  The Saudis may not be as generous as before because they've already shelled out a $5.0 million purse.

 

 

 

Jeeno is signed up too - she is listed under the order of merit exemption 

[18majors]

14 minutes ago, woahnelly said:

 

Jeeno is signed up too - she is listed under the order of merit exemption 

 

 

Jeeno won 2021 LET order of merit, she seems to be exempted to play LET forever; same goes with Esther Henseleit.

 

Big things were expected for Esther when she won 2019 LET order of merit as a twenty years old; it hasn't worked out as yet.  She's like Yealimi Noh, they both showed flashes of brilliance but haven't been able to put it all together.

 

[AKL Kiwi]

21 hours ago, 18majors said:

 

Some detail about Brooke's impending move to TaylorMade:

Henderson to switch to TaylorMade clubs

 

Nelly Korda is also making a move, TaylorMade too?

Time will tell if these moves make a difference but when you see and hear evidence of how new technology in balls and clubs are improving the top players game in the men's who use their equipment it can be quite a compelling reason to switch especially if you think your current supplier is now slipping behind. My only concern with TaylorMade is you may not get as much personal attention with your equipment if they get a lot of top players to deal with especially if their first priority is the men's.  

[18majors]

9 hours ago, AKL Kiwi said:

if their first priority is the men's

 

 

 

They've Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Scotty Scheffler and so forth; they've already conquered Men's Golf.  It will be nice if they duplicate that in Women's Golf.

 

Have you noticed the profile of women's golfers like Lydia Ko, Nelly Korda, Brooke Henderson and Lexi Thompson have sky-rocketed recently.  This is partly wokeness, but also fans have started to notice how good these women are!  We're still long way from equality between men and women golfers, but that most pivotal first step has been taken.

 

I don't expect Brooke or Nelly to get deals of $10.0 million per year; but anywhere in the range of $3.0-5.0 million per would be a shot in the arm for women's game.

 

 

Edited January 9, 2023 by 18majors

[Oh Hi Carl]

10 minutes ago, AKL Kiwi said:

Time will tell if these moves make a difference but when you see and hear evidence of how new technology in balls and clubs are improving the top players game in the men's who use their equipment it can be quite a compelling reason to switch especially if you think your current supplier is now slipping behind. My only concern with TaylorMade is you may not get as much personal attention with your equipment if they get a lot of top players to deal with especially if their first priority is the men's.  

It seems really strange for Brooke to switch away from Ping given that she's played their stuff for so long.  The obvious thought is that it's all about money, but I'm the first to admit that I have no idea about any of the other factors that could be involved.  

[Titleist_PT23]

Brooke is no longer on PING's website, which I guess some here already knew (or knew it was coming).  For the top players, I wouldn't want to change but the allure of the contract is what it is.

 

Some players like Rory have been able to switch equipment with ease.  Others have really struggled.  Time will tell.  While there is always "more," I think some of these ladies have a reasonably secure future (i.e. unlikely to bounce a check).  Their place in the game is still TBD.

[bladehunter]

Just saw Brooke on a TM commercial.  Didn’t know she was leaving , it left me puzzled.  Those two equipment company’s are polar opposite’s.  Especially in driver and wedges.  

Edited January 8, 2023 by bladehunter

[Oh Hi Carl]

51 minutes ago, bladehunter said:

Just saw Brooke on a TM commercial.  Didn’t know she was leaving , it left me puzzled.  Those two equipment company’s are polar opposite’s.  Especially in driver and wedges.  

And i210s to P770s?  That doesn't seem like the easiest transition to me.  (at least one site is reporting that she's going to use the P770s).  

[bladehunter]

1 hour ago, Oh Hi Carl said:

And i210s to P770s?  That doesn't seem like the easiest transition to me.  (at least one site is reporting that she's going to use the P770s).  

Yep. Driver to driver it’s night and day as well. I wish her well. But this has adjustment period written all over it.  

[AKL Kiwi]

On 1/8/2023 at 11:21 AM, Lobby said:

$4.9 mil for Epson Tour?   That's outstanding.   That's growth!

It seems prize money on all tours men's and women's has increased quite substantially for this year but with governments and financial markets telling us about higher interest rates, job losses and recession coming it will be interesting if this happens if it has any effect on tournament sponsorship....

[18majors]

This is another indication of LPGA players' higher profile in Media:

 

‘This Could Change Golf’: Golf Fans Go Berserk Over Nelly Korda Supposedly Dropping Major Sponsor

[Argonne69]

4 hours ago, 18majors said:

This is another indication of LPGA players' higher profile in Media:

 

‘This Could Change Golf’: Golf Fans Go Berserk Over Nelly Korda Supposedly Dropping Major Sponsor

 

Lol. Talk about click bait. 

 

We're pretty hardcore fans here, right? Is anyone going berserk over a change in equipment? 'Haven't noticed it. Equipment changes happen. It's part of the professional game. Very likely won't make a bit of a difference in the results. Lydia managed to climb back to #1 with a completely difge bag than the last time she was at the top of the including a set of irons that I've yet to see in anyone's bag. 

 

[Argonne69]

16 hours ago, bladehunter said:

Yep. Driver to driver it’s night and day as well. I wish her well. But this has adjustment period written all over it.  

 

No guarantee that she'll have a 14 club deal. Wouldn't be shocked if she kept her old driver under a new headcover. 

 

[subrew]

20 hours ago, bladehunter said:

Just saw Brooke on a TM commercial.  Didn’t know she was leaving , it left me puzzled.  Those two equipment company’s are polar opposite’s.  Especially in driver and wedges.  

 

FYI, Brooke was on the TM commercials last year too.  She has had a ball and glove deal with TM since last year.  

 

Rickie Fowler has had a ball deal with TM too, and often features in the commercials, despite not playing any TM clubs.

[18majors]

 

Jaye Marie Green got married on Saturday, January 7, 2023: