Defending a title is not unfamiliar territory for the 2022 Senior LPGA Championship winner, Karrie Webb. In Webb’s decorated career, she has collected 41 LPGA Tour victories, including seven major championships, and has captured 15 more professional wins worldwide. When winning comes that often, title defenses the next year become second nature. Of the 56 professional victories Webb has earned, she has successfully defended five times, most recently at the MFS Women’s Australian Open in 2007 and 2008. Though she is looking to win at Sultan’s Run Golf Club, this week for Webb in Jasper, Ind. is more than just trying to defend a title.
“Last year was a lot of fun, I got to go head-to-head with Annika for three days. I was a little bit of a blast from the past,” said Webb. “On the LPGA, the atmosphere is all business. You are trying to make the most out of your opportunity while you have the chance so it can get tense. Out here on the Legends Tour though, there is a lot of catching up and seeing the people you competed against from when you played on the LPGA Tour. I am a little more laid back this week, it is a little less stressful, but I will still be stressing over those little three footers. It doesn’t matter where I am playing.”
The 2022 Senior LPGA Championship was Webb’s first appearance in the event, and by the time she left, she had made quite an impression in her debut. Webb shot rounds of 69-66-67 (-14) to break the all-time scoring record for the championship by six shots. Dominant performances are also something Webb is used to, but she thinks Sultan’s Run may not yield low scores like Salina Country Club did.
“I think Sultan’s Run will be a tougher challenge for us this year,” said Webb. “It has a little bit more to it than last year. Both courses are great, but this has some pretty big elevation changes, I am glad we are playing in carts because that walk would be tough. Then off the tee you really have to position the ball well and try to give yourself some uphill putts. It will be a test for all of our games this year.”
Webb was paired with fellow Hall of Famer Annika Sorenstam in all three rounds in 2022, and this year, she is paired with two-time Senior LPGA champion, Trish Johnson, who won the event in 2017 and 2021. But the pair’s competitive natures won’t just come out on the course. The England and Australia cricket teams are currently competing at the 2023 Ashes Series, which will have the long-time friends bantering even more than usual on the golf course.
“I haven’t played with Trish for quite some time, but I have known Trish since I played on the LPGA Tour,” Webb said. “It will be fun to play with her. Australia and England have a big cricket grudge match going right now, so I know we will be bantering about that for sure.”
Set to defend at the 2023 Senior LPGA Championship, Webb will tee off at 9 a.m. ET on Thursday, June 29 alongside Johnson and 2022 U.S. Senior Women’s Open champion Jill McGill. Tickets are available for purchase at www.sultansrun.com/2023-senior-lpga-championship. One-day tickets are $15 with a 3-day ticket package available for $40.
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