After a three-year wait, the LPGA Tour is finally visiting Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club for the CPKC Women’s Open. As the last chance to qualify for the United States Solheim Cup team, the event has attracted a stellar lineup headlined by the new Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings No. 1 Lilia Vu and former world Nos. 1 Jin Young Ko, Nelly Korda and Lydia Ko.
Another Historic Venue
In 2019, the LPGA Tour announced that it would be visiting Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club for the 2020 CPKC Women’s Open. But one small hiccup, the global pandemic, postponed the event and put the Tour’s visit to the historic course in jeopardy. The CPKC Women’s Open was not featured on the LPGA schedule in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19, returning just last year at Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club. But now the wait is finally over, and after three years of anticipation, Shaughnessy will be writing a new chapter in its 112-year history, one that stars the best in women’s golf. The course will join a laundry list of venues that have hosted both the men’s and women’s Canadian Opens, having served as the venue for the men’s event four times. The RBC Canadian Open visited the club for the first time in 1948 and most recently in 2011. This will be the sixth time that British Columbia has hosted the CPKC Women’s Open. The last time the event visited the province was in 2015 when Lydia Ko won her third CPKC Women’s Open title at Vancouver Golf Club. Ko is making the trip back to British Columbia this week on a quest to find her fourth win in Canada.
Last Chance for Solheim
With the conclusion of the ISPS Handa World Invitational presented by AVIV Clinics, the European Solheim Cup team has been finalized. Celine Boutier, Maja Stark, Charley Hull, Leona Maguire, Georgia Hall, Linn Grant, Carlota Ciganda and playing vice captain Anna Nordqvist make up the automatic qualifiers and Gemma Dryburgh, Caroline Hedwall, Emily Kristine Pedersen and Madelene Sagstrom were hand-picked by captain Suzann Pettersen. Those playing under the Stars and Stripes will have one additional week at the CPKC Women’s Open to play their way onto the United States team. So far, just four players have clinched their spots through the Solheim Cup point standings: Lilia Vu, Korda, Allisen Corpuz and Megan Khang. Only five additional spots are left for automatic qualifiers and the remaining three players will be picked by captain Stacy Lewis. As it stands, Jennifer Kupcho, Danielle Kang and Lexi Thompson are currently qualified through Solheim Cup points while Rose Zhang and Angel Yin would secure their spots through the Rolex Rankings as they sit at No. 31 and No. 32, respectively. There are many promising candidates for the final three spots, but the name that leads the pack is Cheyenne Knight. Despite never teeing it up for the United States in this type of competition, the 26-year-old proved she knows how to be a teammate earlier this season with her win at the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational alongside playing partner Elizabeth Szokol. In addition to that victory, Knight also played her way to three straight top 10s this year, finishing T6 at the JM Eagle LA Championship, ninth at the Cognizant Founders Cup and – most importantly –ninth at the Bank of Hope LPGA Match-Play presented by MGM Rewards.
Another No. 1
A new competitor has entered the ping pong game that has sent the No. 1 ranking back and forth between Jin Young Ko and Nelly Korda – Lilia Vu. The CPKC Women’s Open will be Vu’s first appearance on the LPGA Tour as the newly crowned Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings No. 1. This season has been a whirlwind for the Fountain Valley, Calif. native as she became the season’s very first Rolex First-Time Winner at the Honda LPGA Thailand. Then, in what seems like the blink of an eye, she was a two-time major champion, bookending the major season with victories at the first and final majors of the year: The Chevron Championship and the AIG Women’s Open. Vu has now won three times on Tour in 2023, a feat so rare she is joined only by the winningest Frenchwoman in LPGA Tour history, Celine Boutier. But it wasn’t all smooth sailing for the 25-year-old. Between her major wins, Vu made just three cuts in seven starts and only broke the top 20 once after finishing 17th at the Bank of Hope LPGA Match-Play. Because of the struggles, this most recent win at Walton Heath Golf Club was much more than just a trophy or a winner’s check for the Epson Tour graduate. It was reassurance that Vu is much more than a one- or two-hit wonder and that she’s one of the brightest stars in the game. This week she will compete with all of her new titles – three-time LPGA winner, two-time major champion, Rolex ANNIKA Major Award winner and, last but most certainly not least, world No. 1 – in tow for the first time with renewed confidence.
Canadian Queen
There can be no mention of the CPKC Women’s Open, the Tour’s quintessential Canadian tournament, without talking about the queen of Canadian golf and 2018 champion Brooke Henderson. The 25-year-old is the winningest Canadian in history, with 13 LPGA trophies to her name. She added that 13th title to her resume this season, coming out on top at the season-opening Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions. But beyond that win, it’s been a rather ho-hum season for Henderson, who slogged through February, March, April, May and June without so much as a single top-10 finish. Though she has struggled for most of the season, it’s hard to keep a two-time major champion down for long. Henderson finally found her way back into contention just a few weeks ago at The Amundi Evian Championship where she was the defending champion. Henderson put up a good fight for her title, finishing runner-up to Celine Boutier. Though she went on to miss the cut at the AIG Women’s Open, it seems like Henderson is getting her groove back and a stint on home soil with the staunch support of her fellow countrymen might just be what she needs to keep the momentum going. Several other Canadians are joining Henderson in the field including sisters Maddie and Ellie Szeryk and long-time LPGA veteran Alena Sharp, among others.
Defense, Defense, Defense
Defending a title is never easy, and though the Tour has seen a few two- and three-time winners this season, it seems harder than ever to win back-to-back titles in 2023. Just one player has managed to successfully defend her title this season, Jin Young Ko at the HSBC Women’s World Championship, and this week, it will be Paul Reto’s turn to take on that as she looks to win again at the CPKC Women’s Open. After nine years on the LPGA Tour, Reto became a Rolex First-Time Winner in the 2022 edition of the event, beating out some of the biggest names in the game along the way. Though she started the final round one stroke back of the lead, she finished one stroke ahead of Korda and Hye-Jin Choi and two strokes ahead of Lydia to capture the trophy. Though Reto hasn’t been having the best year – she has made just nine cuts in 19 starts with only two top-10 finishes – it doesn’t mean she’s far from another victory. Before her win in 2022, Reto had recorded just one top-10 result and had missed three cuts in her last five starts. Though winning back-to-back at the CPKC Women’s Open will be a tall order, Reto will have the benefit of a little added confidence this week which might be all the advantage she needs to return to the winner’s circle.
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