The LPGA Tour is in Galloway, N.J., for the ShopRite LPGA Classic presented by Acer this week, which is annually held at the Bay Course at Seaview, A Dolce Hotel. The field is looking pretty strong the week after the year’s second major championship, with Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings No. 1 Nelly Korda and No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul set to tee it up, and they will be joined by six of this season’s 13 champions, including this year’s major winners Mao Saigo and Maja Stark. There are also 18 rookies in the field, two of whom, Chisato Iwai and Rio Takeda, have already picked up victories in 2025 at the MEXICO Riviera Maya Open at Mayakoba and the Blue Bay LPGA, respectively.

Take a deeper look at just some of the featured groups this week in the Garden State using data provided by KPMG Performance Insights.

Thursday, 7:48 a.m./Friday, 12:53 p.m. – Chisato Iwai/Patty Tavatanakit/Akie Iwai

An LPGA Tour major champion will play alongside a set of twins in the first and second rounds of the 2025 ShopRite LPGA Classic presented by Acer. Chisato Iwai became a Rolex First-Time Winner just a few weeks ago at the MEXICO Riviera Maya Open at Mayakoba after winning by six strokes over her fellow rookie Jenny Bae at the El Camaleón course at Mayakoba. She tied for 22nd at the U.S. Women’s Open, what was her first time competing as an LPGA Tour winner, and will now be teeing it up at the ShopRite LPGA Classic presented by Acer with plenty of confidence after those two strong performances in some of the toughest conditions the Tour has faced this season. Along with those two results, the 22-year-old Japanese rookie has collected three other top-25 finishes this year at the Honda LPGA Thailand (T24), the Ford Championship presented by Wild Horse Pass (T22) and the JM Eagle LA Championship presented by Plastpro (T11). Looking at KPMG Performance Insights data, Iwai is gaining strokes in every major category so far this season, ranking highest in strokes gained off the tee (21, +0.54), and she is currently inside the top 20 in several other metrics, some of which include putts per green in regulation (T14, 1.75), birdie percentage (15, 22.92 percent) and rounds in the 60s (T17, 13).

The ShopRite LPGA Classic presented by Acer is Patty Tavatanakit’s ninth start of the 2025 LPGA Tour season, and the 2021 Chevron Championship winner will be working to add to her top-10 tally this week in the Garden State. The Thailand native has only managed to find the top 10 once so far this season, doing so in her title defense at the Honda LPGA Thailand, where she finished in a tie for fourth. She has posted three other top-20 results, however, at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions (T20), the T-Mobile Match Play presented by MGM Rewards (T17) and the Mizuho Americas Open (14). The 25-year-old has played in two previous editions of the ShopRite LPGA Classic ahead of this week, missing the cut in 2020 and coming in sixth in 2021 at Seaview’s Bay Course. Statistically, Tavatanakit ranks fourth in birdie percentage (24.49 percent), birdie or better percentage (24.49 percent) and birdie or better average per round (4.41), additionally ranking T6 in putts per green in regulation (1.74) and 13th in greens hit from the fairway percentage (82.04 percent). She is in the top 25 of two strokes gained categories, according to KPMG Performance Insights, currently sitting at 15th in strokes gained tee to green (+1.16) and 25th in strokes gained around the green (+0.30).

Akie Iwai is playing alongside her twin sister at the ShopRite LPGA Classic presented by Acer and will be working to match her with a win of her own in Galloway, N.J. This is her 10th start of the 2025 LPGA Tour season, and in her nine previous tournaments, the 22-year-old has finished solo second twice at the Honda LPGA Thailand and the JM Eagle LA Championship presented by Plastpro, earning one other top-20 finish with a tie for 16th at the MEXICO Riviera Maya Open at Mayakoba in May. Besides those three results, though, it’s been a bit of a mixed bag for Akie in 2025. Statistically, she is ranked inside the top 15 of three strokes gained categories, looking at KPMG Performance Insights data, and is currently 10th in strokes gained approach (+0.92), 12th in strokes gained total (+1.40) and 14th in strokes gained tee to green (+1.33). Akie is also seventh in birdie percentage (23.33 percent), seventh in birdie or better percentage (24.07 percent) and birdie or better average per round (4.33), eighth in greens hit from fairway percentage (83.79 percent) and 14th in greens in regulation percentage (74.26 percent).

Thursday, 7:59 a.m./Friday, 1:04 p.m.* – Jeeno Thitikul/Madelene Sagstrom/Linnea Strom

Jeeno Thitikul is one of the favorites in the field this week at the ShopRite LPGA Classic presented by Acer despite missing her first cut since July 2024 at the U.S. Women’s Open at Erin Hills last week. In her time between those two MCs, the Thailand native racked up two victories at the 2024 CME Group Tour Championship and the 2025 Mizuho Americas Open and 11 top-10 finishes, making Thitikul one of the hottest players in the world, male or female, over the last 11 months. This is her 10th start of the season and her third time teeing it up in this tournament at the Bay Course at Seaview, A Dolce Hotel. In her previous two appearances in the ShopRite LPGA Classic, Thitikul tied for sixth in her debut in 2023 and finished solo fourth in 2024, which indicates that there should be more success to come for the 22-year-old once again this week. According to data provided by KPMG Performance Insights, in the last three seasons, Thitikul is leading the LPGA Tour in scoring average (69.40) and strokes gained total (+2.25), is fourth in greens in regulation (74. 9 percent) and sixth in strokes gained putting (+1.07). She is currently ranked inside the top 25 of five strokes gained categories in 2025, including strokes gained total (2, +2.39), strokes gained putting (12, +1.02), strokes gained tee to green (13, +1.36), strokes gained approach (18, +0.74) and strokes gained off the tee (25, +0.52). Thitikul is also first in putts per green in regulation (1.69), first in birdie to bogey ratio (2.35), second in birdie percentage (26.67 percent), second in scoring average (69.20) and tied for third in rounds in the 60s (17).

Madelene Sagstrom earned her second career victory in April at the T-Mobile Match Play presented by MGM Rewards, what is one of just two top-20 results the Swede has posted in her eight starts ahead of this week in Galloway, N.J. Sagstrom recorded the second of those two finishes last week at the U.S. Women’s Open presented by Ally, ultimately tying for 19th at Erin Hills Golf Course in Wisconsin. This is her fifth time playing in the ShopRite LPGA Classic presented by Acer, and in her four previous appearances at this tournament, Sagstrom has missed one cut and finished no better than T26 in her debut back in 2017. Because it’s been fairly hit-or-miss for the 32-year-old this season on the LPGA Tour, she is only gaining shots in one strokes gained category, doing so in strokes gained putting, in which she ranks 52nd. Her two other statistical highlights are her first-place ranking in sand save percentage (70 percent) and her seventh-place ranking in greens hit from the fairway percentage (83.89 percent). Sagstrom is currently 23rd in the Race to the CME Globe and 29th in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings.

Linnea Strom won the 2024 ShopRite LPGA Classic presented by Acer after posting a 60 in the final round to beat Megan Khang and Ayaka Furue by one stroke at Seaview’s Bay Course last year. According to KPMG Performance Insights, it was the lowest final-round score recorded by an eventual champion in the history of the LPGA Tour, and her 60 saw Strom gain 10.15 strokes total on the field, what was the second-most strokes gained in one round on the LPGA Tour last season. Strom was also the first player since 1980 to make the cut on the number and go on to win, and it was the largest comeback by position on the LPGA Tour since 1984, as Strom began the final round in a tie for 52nd. This is Strom’s 12th start of the 2025 LPGA Tour season, and it’s been a challenging year for the Swede, who has only made five cuts in her 11 tournaments ahead of this week in the Garden State. This is her sixth time playing in the ShopRite LPGA Classic, and outside of her victory last year, Strom has missed two cuts and earned one other top-30 result in this championship in 2023 (T30). Because of her struggles so far this season, there isn’t much to note in terms of her statistics, but she is picking up shots on the greens this year, currently ranking 55th in strokes gained putting (+0.22).

Thursday, 1:04 p.m.*/Friday, 7:59 a.m. – Nelly Korda/Maja Stark/Mao Saigo

This is Nelly Korda’s first time teeing it up in the ShopRite LPGA Classic presented by Acer since 2020 when she finished solo fifth at Seaview’s Bay Course, and she will be working to ride the momentum she generated with her T2 performance at the U.S. Women’s Open presented by Ally at Erin Hills to victory lane in the Garden State. The Rolex Rankings No. 1 has yet to find the winner’s circle on the LPGA Tour this season, but she does have three other top-10 results in addition to her T2 showing in Wisconsin, finishes that include a solo second at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, a tie for seventh at the Founders Cup presented by U.S. Virgin Islands and a tie for fifth at the Mizuho Americas Open. This is her ninth start of the 2025 season, and looking at her statistics, the 26-year-old ranks first in both strokes gained total (+2.45) and strokes gained off the tee (+1.03) on Tour this year, additionally ranking ninth in strokes gained tee to green (+1.59) and 15th in strokes gained putting (+0.86), according to KPMG Performance Insights. Korda is first in scoring average (69.14), first in both birdie or better percentage (28.17 percent) and birdie or better average per round (5.07) and first in birdie percentage (27.98 percent). She is also second in ball-striking (11), sixth in greens hit from the fairway percentage (84.14 percent) and tied for sixth in putts per green in regulation (1.74). Despite that statistical prowess and several low scores this year, Korda remains in search of her 16th career LPGA Tour title, a victory she will be working hard to pick up this week in the Garden State.

Maja Stark became the sixth player from Sweden to win a major championship and just the third Swede alongside Liselotte Neumann and Annika Sorenstam to win the U.S. Women’s Open last week when she defeated Korda and Rio Takeda by two strokes at Erin Hills Golf Course in Wisconsin. It was the second time that Stark has won an LPGA Tour event, as she captured the ISPS Handa World Invitational title in 2022 as a non-member and then took the immediate membership that was offered as part of that victory, becoming a member of the 2022 LPGA Tour rookie class. This week marks the 25-year-old’s first time playing in the ShopRite LPGA Classic presented by Acer, but she has competed in New Jersey before, missing the cut at the last Founders Cup held at Upper Montclair Country Club in Clifton, N.J. in 2024 and also missing the cut at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Baltusrol’s Lower Course in 2023. Those past performances in the Garden State will be something that Stark will be looking to improve upon as she rides a hot hand from her maiden major victory to the ShopRite LPGA Classic this week. Stark is making her 10th start of the year at the Bay Course at Seaview, and along with her victory, she has earned one other top-five result this season, a tie for fifth that she posted at the T-Mobile Match Play presented by MGM Rewards. Statistically, Stark isn’t faring too well in any particular category this season on the LPGA Tour, but she is now at the top of the Official Money List with $2,530,725 in 2025 earnings and ranks third in Rolex Player of the Year points (66), additionally sitting at 14th in the Race to the CME Globe (819.906).

Japan’s Mao Saigo became a Rolex First-Time Winner earlier this season at The Chevron Championship after winning in a five-person playoff at The Club at Carlton Woods and then nearly won the second major of the year at the U.S. Women’s Open at Erin Hills, finishing in a tie for fourth in Wisconsin. Along with those two results, the Japan native has two other top 10s on her 2025 resume in the 10 starts she has made ahead of this week’s ShopRite LPGA Classic presented by Acer – a tie for fifth at the Blue Bay LPGA and a tie for ninth at the T-Mobile Match Play presented by MGM Rewards. The Rolex Rankings No. 10 is making her second start in this event and will be working to improve upon the T21 she posted in her tournament debut in 2024 as an LPGA Tour rookie. The 23-year-old’s putting has been the biggest key to her success in 2025, as according to KPMG Performance Insights, she is currently ranked 14th in strokes gained putting, picking up 0.92 strokes on the field with her flat stick, and she is also tied for sixth in putts per green in regulation (1.74). Saigo is additionally tied for sixth in sub-par rounds on the LPGA Tour this season (24).

*Off No. 10

All times local. For a full list of tee times, please click here. For more information on how to watch the ShopRite LPGA Classic presented by Acer, please click here.

Featured Groups: 2025 ShopRite LPGA Classic presented by Acer

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