Click for Groups and Tee Times for the Opening Rounds
*All tee times are local
This week, all the teams are supporting local charities in the Midland, Michigan area. The communities the teams are supporting are italicized below. The full list can be found on the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational website here.
Nelly Korda & Jessica Korda, Ariya Jutanugarn & Moriya Jutanugarn- 10th Tee, 9:40 A.M.
Bay County Habitat for Humanity, Midland Co. ESA/The Pediatric Center
The two sister duos teaming up this week are paired up for the opening 36 holes. Team Jelly, the Korda sisters, are both starting after taking the past few weeks off. Jessica rattled off five straight top 25 finishes before her break, including a T10 finish at the U.S. Women’s Open. Nelly has taken the last three weeks off, with a pair of top 10 finishes at the Meijer LPGA Classic and the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. It’s a potential audition to play together at Gleneagles, a goal they both share. The Kordas are two of the four Americans to have locked up a trip to the Solheim Cup.
The Jutanugarn sisters team up again for the first time since the UL International Crown last year. Ariya makes her start coming off the strongest stretch of her 2019 season, with three top 10s in her last four events. Her (-28) second place at the Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic is the lowest runner up score in the history of the LPGA. Moriya has had her two lowest rounds of the 2019 season in her last two starts at the Arkansas NW Championship and the Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic, with a pair of 65s.
Cristie Kerr & Lexi Thompson, Gerina Piller & Stacy Lewis- 10thTee, 9:30 A.M.
Saginaw Township Soccer Assosciation, Hopewell Ranch
The 2016 UL International Crown Championship team groups together this week.
Kerr comes in off a media tour for her newly released scotch from Kerr Cellars, playing in her first event since the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship. While this event will not count towards U.S. Solheim Cup points, it’s an opportunity for Kerr to prepare for the two majors that have double points. Thompson took two weeks off before finishing in second place last week at the Marathon Classic presented by Dana. Thompson, over a stretch of four second place finishes or better over her past five events, shot the second lowest round of her career in her victory at the Meijer LPGA Classic, a 62.
The ‘Moms’ team has a pair of Moms who have found top 5s in recent starts. Piller found her footing at the U.S. Women’s Open, carding a final round 68 to finish T5, her first top 10 since returning to the tour from maternity leave. Stacy Lewis finished in 3rd place at the Marathon Classic last week, her best result on the year with a final round 66. Lewis is looking to make a bid for one of Juli Inkster’s two captain’s picks.
Suzann Pettersen & Catriona Matthew, Anna Nordqvist & Caroline Hedwall- 1st Tee, 1:15 P.M.
DOW Bay Area Family YMCA, Special Olympics Michigan
Team Europe’s Solheim Captain and Vice-Captain are matched up for a last and first appearance on U.S. soil. Catriona Matthew has declared this her last go around on the LPGA in the United States, keeping the door open for more appearances in non-continental events. Suzann Pettersen makes her first appearance on the LPGA Tour since the CME Tour Championship in 2017, returning from maternity leave.
Nordqvist and Hedwall are both currently on Team Europe’s Solheim Cup team, with Nordqvist making it by world rankings and Hedwall tied for the lead in Team Europe Solheim Cup points. They both played together at the Solheim Cup in 2015 and 2017. Nordqvist took last week off, and Hedwall played her first event at Marathon after taking time off, with the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship her prior start.
Brooke Henderson & Alena Sharp, Hyo Joo Kim & Eun-Hee Ji- 9:20 A.M., 10th Tee
Chippewa Watershed Conservacy, Saginaw Bay Water Initiative Network
Henderson returns after taking two of the past three events off to join fellow Canadian Alena Sharp to form “The Eh Team”. Sharp played at the Marathon Classic last week, finishing T43 featuring an opening round 64, matching her lowest round of the year at the Meijer LPGA Classic. It’s the same tournament Henderson broke the Canadian record for most victories at. Henderson comes in off a T11 finish last week, featuring an opening round 67.
Hyo Joo Kim and Eun-Hee Ji round out the grouping, with Kim recording three straight top 10 finishes before taking the Marathon Classic off. It’s her second stretch of three top 10s this season, when she posted four in a row between the HSBC Women’s Championship and the ANA Inspiration. Eun-Hee Ji bounced back from a cold spell with her sixth top 10 finish of the year at the Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic, closing out the weekend with a pair of 66s before taking the Marathon Classic off.
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