2023 Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions (Jan 19 - 22)

[Argonne69]

Race to the CME Globe: 500 Points

 

Format: 72 holes

 

Purse: $1,500,000

 

Location: Lake Nona Golf and Country Club, Orlando, FL

 

Par: 72

 

Yardage: 6,617 yds

 

History: This is the 5th year for the event. In 2022, Danielle Kang avenged a 2021 playoff loss, shooting -16 overall for a three-stroke win over Brooke Henderson.

 

Coverage:

January 19: The Golf Channel 12:00 pm - 3:00 pm (ET)

January 20: The Golf Channel 12:00 pm - 3:00 pm (ET)

January 21: The Golf Channel 12:00 pm - 3:00 pm (ET)

January 22: NBC 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm (ET)

 

Edited January 18, 2023 by Argonne69

[Argonne69]

Time to kick off the new season. A bit odd that TV times are not listed on the LPGA website. New intern on an extended holiday break?

 

[AKL Kiwi]

This tournament with it's celebrity guest players seems more like one put on to also garner interest from non LPGA followers. As such it might not hold quite as much interest for the top players who qualified to attend. The top 10 RR players Lydia, Atthaya, Mingee, In Gee, Hyo-Joo and Nasa are all not playing who qualified along with Lexi who did not....but should of if only....we all know.

I know they are all multi millionaires and it might have seemed too early in the year to start the grind of preparing for tournaments but the LPGA must be disappointed so many chose not to start 2023 here...has the Saudi Ladies International with is purse along with the fact that the next 3 LPGA tournaments are in Asia had something to do with it we can only judge when the final field is listed.

 

There is still a lot of interest here though...will Nelly if she wins will she go back to RR#1. We should know for sure after the RR gets released next Monday. @18majorspointed out the winner this year will earn 23.00 - 26.00 points which seems about right  considering historic points and the top 10 RR players missing....what clubs and balls are Nelly using, how Brooke goes using TaylorMade, any new caddies of note and of course there is the chance to grab an early lead in the CME and stats for 2023.

 

My picks are Nelly, Brooke, Leona and Danielle in that order to win.

[Lobby]

An Orlando vacation where we watch some lpga golf, go to an amusement park or two, and play a nice round somewhere sounds really fun. 

[postfold]

Bad scheduling + small purse and you get a relatively weak field.  But we'll still watch, won't we?  I wonder what percentage of the field is Florida-based, probably a pretty large number.

[woahnelly]

4 hours ago, AKL Kiwi said:

This tournament with it's celebrity guest players seems more like one put on to also garner interest from non LPGA followers. As such it might not hold quite as much interest for the top players who qualified to attend. The top 10 RR players Lydia, Atthaya, Mingee, In Gee, Hyo-Joo and Nasa are all not playing who qualified along with Lexi who did not....but should of if only....we all know.

I know they are all multi millionaires and it might have seemed too early in the year to start the grind of preparing for tournaments but the LPGA must be disappointed so many chose not to start 2023 here...has the Saudi Ladies International with is purse along with the fact that the next 3 LPGA tournaments are in Asia had something to do with it we can only judge when the final field is listed.

 

There is still a lot of interest here though...will Nelly if she wins will she go back to RR#1. We should know for sure after the RR gets released next Monday. @18majorspointed out the winner this year will earn 23.00 - 26.00 points which seems about right  considering historic points and the top 10 RR players missing....what clubs and balls are Nelly using, how Brooke goes using TaylorMade, any new caddies of note and of course there is the chance to grab an early lead in the CME and stats for 2023.

 

My picks are Nelly, Brooke, Leona and Danielle in that order to win.

 

Agree with those picks. Brooke is my sleeper pick to win CME if she can stay healthy .. too many WDs last season but looks like she acclimated to the shorter driver quickly. Don't know if Brooke can be deemed a sleeper given her pedigree but she gets lost in the hype.  Hopefully full seasons ahead for Nelly + DK too. I think all 3 win a major this season. 

[18majors]

 

It's not everyday that Forbes carries an article about LPGA:

 

HGV Tournament Of Champions To Kick Off An Exciting 2023 In Golf

[Rapidcat]

25 minutes ago, 18majors said:

 

It's not everyday that Forbes carries an article about LPGA:

 

HGV Tournament Of Champions To Kick Off An Exciting 2023 In Golf

 

Yes, but a pity they can't get their facts correct, lots of mistakes with their quoted world rankings:

• Jin Young Ko isn't world #2, she's world #5
• Nelly isn't world #4, she's world #2
• Brooke isn't world #6, she's world #7
• Danielle isn't world #12, she's world #16
• Jen Kupcho isn't world #11, she's world #13.
• Celine isn't world #13, she's world #12.

They got Charley's #17 ranking correct - not bad 1 out of 7 correct.

 

How simple is it to check the world rankings before they publish?

 

So what other mistakes do Forbes make in their business?

 

This stuff is just a pet peeve (can you tell ha ha), excuse my pedantry.

[AKL Kiwi]

4 hours ago, Rapidcat said:

 

Yes, but a pity they can't get their facts correct, lots of mistakes with their quoted world rankings

Andy Frye who wrote this is their business sports writer and covers all sports. Definitely not a follower of the LPGA or probably golf as anyone who does knows where to quickly check the rankings. It's certainly a poor bit of journalism when you write something he obviously knows little about and not even bother to fact check the information wherever he got it from. Reading it I would say he was inspired by the celebrities who have entered not the players. I see he wrote an article before last year's tournament as well on Lexi Thompson. 

I know there is movement all the time in the RR but you would think the websites of the major equipment suppliers would keep their pages up to date...I see the Titleist bio for Lydia she is still RR#3. 

[Rapidcat]

6 hours ago, AKL Kiwi said:

Andy Frye who wrote this is their business sports writer and covers all sports. Definitely not a follower of the LPGA or probably golf as anyone who does knows where to quickly check the rankings. It's certainly a poor bit of journalism when you write something he obviously knows little about and not even bother to fact check the information wherever he got it from. Reading it I would say he was inspired by the celebrities who have entered not the players. I see he wrote an article before last year's tournament as well on Lexi Thompson. 

I know there is movement all the time in the RR but you would think the websites of the major equipment suppliers would keep their pages up to date...I see the Titleist bio for Lydia she is still RR#3. 

 

What's also interesting is that we have no movement if any in world rankings at the top for close to 2 months. The rankings in the article look like they were sometime before the CME Group Championship in November!

 

What source was the author using?

 

Just bizarre.

[Seamus_McDuff]

Jin Young Ko no longer entered. 

[18majors]

 

Patty Tavatanakit is the player to watch next week because these are her last eight finishes of 2022:

 

T59 (out of 60 players)

Cut

T72

73

WDC

Cut

Cut

Cut

 

I'd consider she's recovering to form if she finishes T15 or better this week (out of 29 players).

 

Also important, Patty's best venue for the last two years has been Mission Hills Country Club for Chevron Championship.  Unfortunately, she can't no longer count on a good performance there to save her season.

 

Edited January 14, 2023 by 18majors

[Stooch]

On 1/11/2023 at 7:07 AM, Argonne69 said:

Time to kick off the new season. A bit odd that TV times are not listed on the LPGA website. New intern on an extended holiday break?

 

Law of unintended consequences, with trying to keep up with LIV the PGA raised the purses pretty biggly 🙂  They gotta get those extra millions from somewhere and they might try to get some of it back with more TV.  I worry, Golf Channel will be implementing the "we'll see when we have an hour for you girls" type of schedule for the LPGA this season lol.

[Seamus_McDuff]

The guide on my TiVo shows(ET)

 

Thu - GC 12:00-3:00

Fri - GC 12:00-3:00

Sat - GC 2:00-3:00, NBC 3:00-5:00

Sun - GC 2:00-3:00, NBC 3:00-5:00

[Stooch]

On 1/11/2023 at 3:45 PM, AKL Kiwi said:

This tournament with it's celebrity guest players seems more like one put on to also garner interest from non LPGA followers. As such it might not hold quite as much interest for the top players who qualified to attend. The top 10 RR players Lydia, Atthaya, Mingee, In Gee, Hyo-Joo and Nasa are all not playing who qualified along with Lexi who did not....but should of if only....we all know.

I know they are all multi millionaires and it might have seemed too early in the year to start the grind of preparing for tournaments but the LPGA must be disappointed so many chose not to start 2023 here...has the Saudi Ladies International with is purse along with the fact that the next 3 LPGA tournaments are in Asia had something to do with it we can only judge when the final field is listed.

 

There is still a lot of interest here though...will Nelly if she wins will she go back to RR#1. We should know for sure after the RR gets released next Monday. @18majorspointed out the winner this year will earn 23.00 - 26.00 points which seems about right  considering historic points and the top 10 RR players missing....what clubs and balls are Nelly using, how Brooke goes using TaylorMade, any new caddies of note and of course there is the chance to grab an early lead in the CME and stats for 2023.

 

My picks are Nelly, Brooke, Leona and Danielle in that order to win.

 

People who have been or lived in Asia would know better than me, can the climate be favorable for play from mid-Feb to the end of May.  If it can, I say you place all Asia events in a series from Thailand to Korea and Japan and all the others.  You lose too many good players not wanting to go to Korea and Japan for 2 events at the end of a long season to come right back and play the CME.  Maybe I'm wrong about my perception of Florida is in the fall there's a little more wind and a little more rain but no real problems playing there that time of year.  I say you start running the Florida series of events in the fall after whatever team event is run, whether it be the Int'l Crown of the Solheim Cup

[Argonne69]

3 hours ago, Stooch said:

 

People who have been or lived in Asia would know better than me, can the climate be favorable for play from mid-Feb to the end of May.  If it can, I say you place all Asia events in a series from Thailand to Korea and Japan and all the others.  You lose too many good players not wanting to go to Korea and Japan for 2 events at the end of a long season to come right back and play the CME.  Maybe I'm wrong about my perception of Florida is in the fall there's a little more wind and a little more rain but no real problems playing there that time of year.  I say you start running the Florida series of events in the fall after whatever team event is run, whether it be the Int'l Crown of the Solheim Cup

 

Wow. Makes complete sense. Move the four late season Asian events to the spring, and the SoCal, Hawaii, and Arizona tournaments move to the fall. No big deal. The fly in the ointment is the Chevron. I think it makes sense to move it to the fall based on the iffy Houston weather in April. They've already thrown tradition out the window with the move from Palm Springs, so may as well make it the final major of the year. 

 

[Golf Dino]

4 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

 

Wow. Makes complete sense. Move the four late season Asian events to the spring, and the SoCal, Hawaii, and Arizona tournaments move to the fall. No big deal. The fly in the ointment is the Chevron. I think it makes sense to move it to the fall based on the iffy Houston weather in April. They've already thrown tradition out the window with the move from Palm Springs, so may as well make it the final major of the year. 

 

 

Southeast Asia will be fine as would Hainan.  Taiwan, Korea, and Japan are all in winter months and the grass is dormant as can be.  Further, Korea could quite possibly even get snow if it had a cold snap.  

So, the Singapore & Thailand Honda events are good to go in early spring, throw in a couple of resurrected Aussie/Kiwi events and then your spring season allows you to head back to North America.

 

 

Edited January 15, 2023 by Golf Dino

[18majors]

 

Something new every day:

LPGA veteran Danielle Kang needs a new caddie as she prepares to defend title in 2023 LPGA opener

 

[Seamus_McDuff]

Not surprised. I always felt her shtick with him might not go beyond the cameras and microphones.
Maybe he’ll caddie for his girlfriend. Although that doesn’t always work out too well. 

[Argonne69]

8 hours ago, Seamus_McDuff said:

Not surprised. I always felt her shtick with him might not go beyond the cameras and microphones.
Maybe he’ll caddie for his girlfriend. Although that doesn’t always work out too well. 

 

I'll definitely miss the shtick 

 

 

 

[ChronicSlicer]

4 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

 

I'll definitely miss the shtick 

 

/cdn-cgi/mirage/f71c4a97395c953f1a223cabc0ccddaf8f1a0931b0da945dad92eda200145490/1440/cdn-cgi/mirage/f71c4a97395c953f1a223cabc0ccddaf8f1a0931b0da945dad92eda200145490/1440/https://dl.dropbox.com/s/g0k9zqwrjpl34jx/dk-hana3.jpg

 

/cdn-cgi/mirage/f71c4a97395c953f1a223cabc0ccddaf8f1a0931b0da945dad92eda200145490/1440/cdn-cgi/mirage/f71c4a97395c953f1a223cabc0ccddaf8f1a0931b0da945dad92eda200145490/1440/https://dl.dropbox.com/s/qwn72gqa6ck341q/dk-hana4.jpg

 

And this is why some of us love DK so much, very few people left who aren't afraid to be themselves wherever they may be. 

 

#freekbong

#cancelcancelculture

[Awsi Dooger]

On 1/14/2023 at 10:33 PM, Seamus_McDuff said:

Not surprised. I always felt her shtick with him might not go beyond the cameras and microphones.
Maybe he’ll caddie for his girlfriend. Although that doesn’t always work out too well. 

No, I'm not surprised. It didn't look relaxed between them at CME. I was going to post daily summaries of that event but I was so shocked by what I was seeing late every afternoon while driving into Lee County that I forgot all about the golf.

 

I'm not sure this made the television coverage. I'll try to piece it together from memory. Danielle hit her tee shot left into junk on 17 then topped her second shot into a fairway bunker. Her third shot to the back right pin position was short and found the greenside bunker. Danielle hit the explosion very heavy and barely got out of the bunker. At that point she turned to her right and took a big vicious swing at the sand with a disgusted look on her face and while using her typical vocabulary.

 

Well, the blast of sand went smack into her caddie's chest from only feet away. He was walking calmly alongside the bunker toward her ball. Danielle hardly was aiming at him. She extended her hand and tried to apologize. He had very little reaction. Later I decided to leave the small grandstand and check their interaction during the long walk to the 18th tee. And there was virtually nothing. She tried to say something at one point. He didn't seem to care. He briskly upped the pace so that he was several feet ahead of her. I turned around and went back to the grandstand.

[18majors]

 

Minjee Lee and Jin Young Ko maybe subjected to penalties:

 

 

Edited January 16, 2023 by 18majors

[Stooch]

15 minutes ago, 18majors said:

 

Minjee Lee and Jin Young Ko maybe subjected to penalties:

 

 

 

On one hand I view the opening Pro-am event as gimmicky, so on some level I get wanting to extend a very short break.  Fair or not the ladies are gonna have to do little more in the name of helping the tour.

 

I remember at the end of last season at the CME, the CEO was legit angry cause most of the top players skipped a dinner earlier in the week.  It is not enough to only be fan friendly, you gotta be sponsor friendly also, we'll see what Molly does but I'm sure with Whan, every player maybe outside Lydia would've been at this event after pissing off the biggest sponsor last season.

 

The thing is when the question is asked "why sponsors aren't stepping up more for the LPGA" and I can actually start to give reasons and those reasons relate to player conduct, I think you're starting to have a problem.

[18majors]

4 minutes ago, Stooch said:

we'll see what Molly does

 

 

Most posters in our Forum were also very angry about Molly and wanted Molly to be fired; which I don't understand.

 

It's clear that Molly has been a players commissioner in that she really wanted to do everything to make players life better (Brooke's 48' driver aside).  That's a good thing.

 

Also, how can a CEO be fired when she increased the revenue significantly in her first two years on the job?

[Stooch]

3 minutes ago, 18majors said:

 

 

Most posters in our Forum were also very angry about Molly and wanted Molly to be fired; which I don't understand.

 

It's clear that Molly has been a players commissioner in that she really wanted to do everything to make players life better (Brooke's 48' driver aside).  That's a good thing.

 

Also, how can a CEO be fired when she increased the revenue significantly in her first two years on the job?

 

I wouldn't say she should be fired, but she better learn quickly.  I always called Mike Whan the "wine & cheese" commissioner, because he was so focused on the sponsors, my criticism of him was always in other areas.  I think Molly has initially benefitted from goodwill Mike created.  Goodwill, you do not wanna undo by getting a reputation of not being great with the sponsors.  Especially if experts are correct in predicting a coming economic downturn.  I would say Molly better start getting firm, if you give the inmates too much control of the asylum, it won't end well for the warden.

[18majors]

22 minutes ago, Stooch said:

I think Molly has initially benefitted from goodwill Mike created

 

The CME incidence aside, there isn't any indication that Molly isn't good with the sponsors.  Take a look at 2023 schedule, Molly has already brought in many new sponsors:

 

Hilton Grand Vacations

DIO Implant

Chevron

JM Eagle

Hanwha

Cognizant

Mizuho

Trust Golf

ISPS Handa

Kroger

 

22 minutes ago, Stooch said:

I would say Molly better start getting firm, if you give the inmates too much control of the asylum, it won't end well for the warden.

 

 

I'm sure we haven't reached any chaotic state that's out of control.  Many posters didn't like Molly mainly because she's hired from an academic institution, which makes no sense.

Edited January 16, 2023 by 18majors

[AKL Kiwi]

Getting back more to this tournament. Just watched the GC LPGA season/tournament preview. Trip Isenhour is picking Nelly to win and have a 4 win season with another 2 majors. No mention of new sponsorships and clubs....perhaps it's prerecorded. Got to be a couple of question marks with both the only 2 remaining RR top 10 players then outside of them I think there are many chances.

 

No media reports of Nelly going back to RR#1 if she wins and looking at the RR points this week and field strength I think she will just fall short if she does.

Edited January 22, 2023 by AKL Kiwi

[18majors]

6 minutes ago, AKL Kiwi said:

No media reports of Nelly going back to RR#1 if she wins and looking at the RR points this week and field strength I think she will just fall short if she does.

 

 

 

Nelly needs to win to have any chances at all and both you and I know how difficult it is to win a tournament; Annika Sorenstam has a winning percentage of 23.7% and Tiger Woods 22.8%.

 

Nelly could win this week and could possibly be #1 next Monday; but like last year it could flip back to Lydia before Lydia tees off at Saudi Ladies International.

[postfold]

On 1/16/2023 at 1:10 PM, Stooch said:

 

On one hand I view the opening Pro-am event as gimmicky, so on some level I get wanting to extend a very short break.  Fair or not the ladies are gonna have to do little more in the name of helping the tour.

 

I remember at the end of last season at the CME, the CEO was legit angry cause most of the top players skipped a dinner earlier in the week.  It is not enough to only be fan friendly, you gotta be sponsor friendly also, we'll see what Molly does but I'm sure with Whan, every player maybe outside Lydia would've been at this event after pissing off the biggest sponsor last season.

 

The thing is when the question is asked "why sponsors aren't stepping up more for the LPGA" and I can actually start to give reasons and those reasons relate to player conduct, I think you're starting to have a problem.

 

I doubt that the gimmick bothers the players a great deal, they're used to pro-ams.

 

The best thing Mollie could do for this event is to put it somewhere else on the calendar, or at least surround it with another event or two.  I don't blame Asia-based members in particular one bit for not wanting to spend the money and take the time to fly to Florida for a one-off event with a mediocre prize pool.  Rationalize the schedule Mollie!