It’s been a long summer, but the LPGA Tour is finally entering the home stretch. This week’s Portland Classic will serve as the penultimate event in a stretch of 10 consecutive events that covered six countries and two major championships. Though the nonstop grind may be tapering off, the excitement certainly will not as the Tour makes its way to the Pacific Northwest with some of the best in the world in tow, including world No. 1 and two-time major champion Lilia Vu.
About Last Week
Though it took eight years and 191 starts, Megan Khang won on the LPGA Tour, and she bested one of the greatest players in the game to do it. Sunday, the 25-year-old beat former world No. 1 and major champion Jin Young Ko with a par on the first playoff hole of the CPKC Women’s Open to become the ninth Rolex First-Time Winner of 2023. While it might be reasonable to assume that Khang would take some time off to celebrate such a momentous occasion, you would be wrong. The American will be making the short trip from Vancouver to Columbia Edgewater Country Club to compete in the Portland Classic this week, taking all those good vibes with her. A moment for relaxation and celebration seems far off for Khang, who is also a member of the U.S. Solheim Cup team. After her stay in Portland, Khang will have just a few weeks to prepare before the international team competition kicks off on September 22 at Finca Cortesin in Andalucia, Spain. But, after eight seasons on Tour, Khang is no stranger to the struggle. Besides, what better way to celebrate a first win than with more golf?
Ready for a Win
Speaking of first-time winners, the Portland Classic has been a terrific stepping-stone for several big names on Tour. Since 2012, five of the last 10 champions were first-time winners, including defending champion Andrea Lee. However, the biggest name to capture their first LPGA title at the Tour’s only pit stop in Oregon is Brooke Henderson. The Canadian won the event as a non-member in 2015 and then successfully defended her title in 2016. She has gone on to claim 11 additional trophies, including two major championships, the 2016 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and the 2022 Amundi Evian Championship. Though there are plenty of players in the field and on Tour worthy of a win this week, one name tops the list: Xiyu Lin. At No. 13 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, Lin is the highest-ranked player in the world without a victory. The 27-year-old has been toeing the edge of the winner’s circle since last season when she finished runner-up three times. Though she has just one runner-up result in 2023, she has three additional top-fives. If another first-timer were to claim the Portland Classic trophy that would bring the season’s total to double digits. The Tour’s record for most Rolex First-Time Winners in a season is 11 set in 2005 and tied in 2022.
First-Time Defender
For every first win, there’s also a first title defense, a challenge Lee will contend with this week. The 25-year-old’s win last season was a dream come true. After a decorated amateur career, Lee struggled on the LPGA Tour and had a particularly difficult 2021 season – she missed 10 cuts in her first 13 starts – left her on the Epson Tour to pick up the pieces. She won on the Epson Tour early in 2022, capturing the Casino Del Sol Golf Classic, but it was her win at the Portland Classic later last year on the LPGA Tour that gave her another shot at professional glory. Though she certainly isn’t where she was in 2021, this year has been little more than mediocre for the California native. In her first 14 starts this season, Lee made just seven cuts and couldn’t play her way into the top 10. Luckily, things seem to be turning around just in time for her return to Portland. Lee has finished in the top 20 in her last three starts, finding back-to-back T9 results at the FREED Group Women’s Scottish Open and the AIG Women’s Open. Lee also came up clutch at the CPKC Women’s Open to make her very first Solheim Cup team. The American needed to finish T13 or better to clinch the final automatic qualifying spot through the Solheim Cup points list and she did just that, finishing T13 at 2-under.
Other Past Champs
But Lee isn’t the only player in the field with a good idea of how to win at Columbia Edgewater Country Club. Five other past champions will join this week’s field: Henderson (2015, 2016), Stacy Lewis (2017), Marina Alex (2018), Hannah Green (2019) and Georgia Hall (2020). Already a two-time Portland Classic champion, Henderson is someone who knows how to take advantage of a familiar environment. Though she missed two consecutive cuts before making the trip to defend her title at The Amundi Evian Championship, she still managed to finish runner-up to Celine Boutier. Just last week, she finished T13 on home soil after missing the cut in her previous start. Meanwhile, Hall has been perpetually dangerous this season. The Englishwoman found consecutive runner-up results at the LPGA Drive On Championship at Superstition Mountain and the DIO Implant LA Open and has carded three additional top 10s this year. Green has also proven herself a threat this season, winning the inaugural JM Eagle LA Championship presented by Plastpro. The Aussie is also bringing some momentum with her to Portland, having finished T4 last week at the CPKC Women’s Open.
What’s Up Next: The Solheim Cup
After crowning the 2023 Portland Classic champion the Tour will play one final event, the Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G, before taking a week-long break to prepare for one of the most highly anticipated events of the year: the 2023 Solheim Cup at Finca Cortesin in Andalucia, Spain. With the conclusion of the CPKC Women’s Open last week, both the European and U.S. Solheim Cup teams are finally complete, and fans have a glimpse of what the international team competition might look like. Led by 15-time LPGA winner Suzann Pettersen, the European Team was finalized after the ISPS Handa World Invitational and features Celine Boutier, Carlota Ciganda, Gemma Dryburgh, Linn Grant, Georgia Hall, Caroline Hedwall, Charley Hull, Leona Maguire, playing vice captain Anna Nordqvist, Emily Kristine Pedersen, Madelene Sagstrom and Maja Stark. U.S. captain Lewis was able to round out her team after last week and will have Allisen Corpuz, Ally Ewing, Danielle Kang, Megan Khang, Nelly Korda, Cheyenne Knight, Jennifer Kupcho, Andrea Lee, Lexi Thompson, Vu, Angel Yin and Rose Zhang playing for her in Spain. There are a number of first-timers on both sides of the pond with Corpuz, Dryburgh, Grant, Knight, Lee, Stark, Vu and Zhang making their first Solheim Cup appearances this year.
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