Austin Ernst, Tiffany Joh, Brittany Lang
Thursday, 8:21 a.m. – 1st Tee
Austin Ernst heads into the Marathon Classic attempting to move closer to an automatic spot on Team USA at this year’s Solheim Cup. Alongside Ernst for the first two days is one of two players she will be hoping to leapfrog – Brittany Lang. This season Lang’s form has not been great and she is yet to pick up a top-10 finish in 2017.
In contrast, five top-15 finishes this season have boosted Ernst up the Rolex Rankings, which is another way the American can qualify for the team. Ernst is currently world No. 53 and will need to chase down Lizette Salas (No.45) and Brittany Lincicome (No.42) if she is to qualify via this route. Tiffany Joh makes up the three-ball, but is yet to win on the LPGA Tour.
Brooke Henderson, Stacy Lewis, In Gee Chun
Thursday, 8:26 a.m. – 10th Tee
In just her second season on the LPGA Tour, Brooke Henderson has cemented her place within the world’s top-10 players after consistent performances throughout the season. The Canadian has 14 top-25 finishes, including a win at the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give.
Alongside her is Ohio native Stacy Lewis, who will be dreaming for a special victory in front of friends and family. Born in Toledo, Ohio, Lewis was given her first start on the LPGA Tour through a sponsor invite at the Marathon Classic in 2006. Fast-forward 11 years and Lewis has 11 career wins and 101 career top 10s. A win here could arguably be the most special of them all.
On four occasions this year the group’s final member, In Gee Chun, has finished as runner-up. The golfer from the Republic of Korea has had a reasonably bumpy season with consistent form being a struggle to find. However, this will be a completely new challenge for Chun as she has never featured at the Marathon Classic.
Lydia Ko, Marina Alex, Nelly Korda
Thursday, 8:37 a.m. – 10th Tee
Defending champion Lydia Ko will be looking to win the Marathon Classic Presented by Owens Corning and O-I for a third time in four years, this week. At least year’s event, Ko’s 72-hole score was only good enough for a three-way tie for first place. The play-off between Ariya Jutanugarn and Mirim Lee was the longest in the tournament’s history (four holes) and would see Ko come out victorious and pick up her 14th LPGA Tour title. This year, the former world No. 1 is struggling to find consistency, with last week’s U.S. Open a prime example. Despite opening up her account with a four-under-par 68, Ko followed this up with three rounds over par and ended up in a tie for 33rd.
Alongside her for the opening two rounds are two Americans hoping to impress Solheim Cup captain Julie Inkster in Marina Alex and Nelly Korda. It looks like the pair’s best chance of qualifying is via a wildcard pick, making this week even more important to the pair. Is Inkster interested in the consistency of Alex, who has five top-10s this season, or will she potentially opt for the sister partnership of Jessica and Nelly Korda?
Sung Hyun Park, Jane Park, Lexi Thompson
Thursday, 1:32 p.m. – 1st Tee
Sung Hyun Park comes into the Marathon Classic fresh off her maiden LPGA Tour victory – and what a victory it was at the U.S. Women’s Open. Park can now add a major championship to her resume and is blowing away the field in the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year leaderboard. Aside from finishing T43 at the Kingsmill Championship Presented by JTBC, Park is yet to finish outside top-25 in 13 appearances. This form makes it no surprise that Park won 10 times on the KLPGA Tour.
Jane Park and Lexi Thompson round of this group. Park will be looking to learn from two major championship winners this week, with Lexi Thompson also producing some of her most consistent form to date. Thompson has seven top 10s in 13 appearances on tour this season, which includes four second place finishes and a win at the Kingsmill Championship Presented by JTBC.
Mirim Lee, Alison Lee, Aditi Ashok
Thursday, 1:26 p.m. – 10th Tee
Mirim Lee will be looking to avenge last season’s playoff defeat to Lydia Ko at this season’s Marathon Classic. Lee shot an impressive six-under-par in the final round of the tournament, but a bogey on the final hole saw the golfer from the Republic of Korea end up in a three-way playoff. This season, Lee picked up a win early in the season at the Kia Classic and comes into the week fresh off a top-8 finish at the U.S. Women’s Open.
Alison Lee also features in this group and the 2015 LPGA rookie will need some impressive performances in the next few weeks if she is to make the 2017 U.S. Solheim Cup team. Her best finish is a T22 at the Manulife LPGA Classic this season and comes into the week off the back of two missed cuts.
India’s Aditi Ashok is another 2017 LPGA rookie in the field this week and has had quite a meteoric rise as a professional golfer. In her rookie Ladies European Tour season, Ashok became the first Indian to win an LET event with her victory at the Hero Women’s Indian Open and then won two weeks later at the Qatar Ladies Open. These results saw her win the Ladies European Tour Rookie of the Year award.
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