MARCH 13, 2023, THE WOODLANDS, TEXAS
Thailand’s Eila Galitsky claimed victory at the 2023 Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific championship on Sunday in Singapore to earn the fifth amateur invite into the LPGA’s first major of the year, The Chevron Championship, taking place at The Club at Carlton Woods, April 20-23, 2023.
The 16-year-old Thai entered the final round in Singapore with a three-shot lead and went on to card a final round 68 to win the championship by five shots over Korea’s Minsol Kim. Galitsky, who holds dual nationality of Thailand and Canada, became the second player from Thailand to win the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific and will be making her major debut at The Chevron Championship next month.
Galitsky commented: “I am so proud to have qualified for the first major of the year and to be able to play alongside the world’s best players. It feels very surreal that I will be playing in my first major championship in just over a month’s time. I already know my experience at The Chevron Championship will be unforgettable and I can’t thank Chevron enough for this amazing opportunity.”
Galitsky will join the four amateurs already qualified into this year’s field which include England’s Jess Baker, winner of the 119th Women’s Amateur Championship; Japan’s Saki Baba, who claimed victory at the 2022 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship; Taiwan’s Ting-Hsuan Huang, winner of the 2022 Women’s Amateur-Asia Pacific championship; and Peru’s Valentina Rossi, who won the Women’s Amateur Latin America championship in November last year.
As part of Chevron’s continued commitment to providing the next generation of talent with playing opportunities, the final two amateur qualifying events for The Chevron Championship in 2023 are the Augusta National Women’s Amateur taking place at the end of March and the Chevron Silverado Showdown at the beginning of April at the Silverado Resort and Spa in Napa, California.
The current Rolex Rankings No. 2, No. 5 and No. 7, Nelly Korda, Minjee Lee and Brooke Henderson, all benefited from amateur invitations to The Chevron Championship in 2014, and both Lee and Henderson finished within the top 30 at the ages of 17 and 16. Since this early opportunity in their careers, all three players have enjoyed huge success on the LPGA Tour, winning multiple titles and between them boast a total of five major victories, and will be looking to add another major title at this year’s Championship.
Minjee Lee, winner of two major championships commented: “I can’t even begin to describe how beneficial it was to receive that invite in 2014 to make my major debut, playing alongside the world’s best players at only 17 years old was incredibly valuable. It’s great to see Chevron providing these amateurs with the opportunity to compete in the first major of the year and I know it is going to be an amazing experience for all of them competing at Carlton Woods next month.”
The 2023 Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific championship was the third week of women’s golf in Asia following a two-week stretch of LPGA Tour events. The 2023 Honda LPGA Thailand at Siam Country Club took place at the end of February in Pattaya which saw Lilia Vu become the season’s first Rolex First-Time Winner, and a week later the 2023 HSBC Women’s World Championship was held at Sentosa Golf Club in Singapore where Jin Young Ko successfully defended after also earning the victory there in 2022. With only six events on the LPGA Tour schedule before the first major of the year, this Asian Swing capped an important two weeks of preparation for players hoping to compete at Carlton Woods in April.
Tickets for The Chevron Championship 2023 went on sale last month with variety of ticket options available to purchase at The Chevron Championship.
Chevron U.S.A. Inc. became the new title sponsor of The Chevron Championship (formerly the ANA Inspiration) through a six-year relationship with the LPGA with their first edition as title sponsor taking place in 2022 won by Jennifer Kupcho.
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