With the season’s third major championship just a week away, the world’s top-ranked players are taking advantage of one last opportunity to get their games in peak form by teeing it up this week at the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give. Blythefield Country Club is located just north of Grand Rapids, Mich., and is hosting 144 of the best in women’s golf for the 11th edition of this tournament. With a stern test of golf to look forward to, combined with a $3 million purse, the trip to Michigan is sure to present a fantastic tune-up for the women looking to prepare for the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. Here are five things you need to know about this week’s Meijer LPGA Classic.

Lilia Vu Defends

After being sidelined with a back injury for two months, Lilia Vu made a thrilling return to competition with a victory in her first start back at the Meijer LPGA Classic last year. Vu was forced to withdraw from her title defense at the 2024 Chevron Championship and took time to rehab a back injury before teeing it up at Blythefield Country Club. Vu came from eight strokes back in the final round and carded a 65 on Sunday to force a playoff with Grace Kim and Lexi Thompson. Vu rolled in a birdie putt on the third extra hole to capture her fifth career win on the LPGA Tour. Vu’s victory at the Meijer LPGA Classic is her most recent to date, and the 27-year-old is returning to Michigan in search of her first win of the season, having missed the cut in her last two starts on the LPGA Tour.

The Field

Haeran Ryu, already a winner this season on the LPGA Tour at the inaugural Black Desert Championship, headlines the field at the Meijer LPGA Classic. Ryu is coming off a tie for 36th in her last start at the U.S. Women’s Open presented by Ally and will look to build on her tie for 20th in Michigan in her last Meijer LPGA Classic appearance in 2023. Former Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings No. 1 Jin Young Ko is also in the field along with major champions Celine Boutier and Minjee Lee.

Jin Hee Im is competing again this week after coming off her third top-five finish of the season after tying for fifth last week at the ShopRite LPGA Classic. Ayaka Furue also picked up a top-five finish last week and will look to continue the success she’s found at Blythefield Country Club, where she tied for eighth in 2024.

Brooke Henderson, winner of the Meijer LPGA Classic in 2017 and 2019, is also back in the field. She’s coming off a tie for 20th on Sunday at the ShopRite LPGA Classic and will be looking to recapture the magic she had in Michigan in years past as she remains in search of her first win of the season. Mirim Lee, who made her return to the LPGA Tour at the ShopRite LPGA Classic for her first start in two years, is also in the field. She captured the inaugural edition of the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give in 2014 when she beat Inbee Park in a playoff.

A semi-retired Brittany Lincicome will tee it up for the second consecutive week on the LPGA Tour after missing the cut last week at the ShopRite LPGA Classic. Former world No. 1 Yani Tseng is also in the field as she makes her fifth start of the season.

Sponsor Exemptions

Three sponsor exemptions were awarded for the 11th playing of the Meijer LPGA Classic. Maria Fassi will make her fifth start of the season on the LPGA Tour thanks to a sponsor exemption into this week’s field. Fassi has made the cut in two of her four prior starts this season and arrives in Michigan off a tie for 47th at the ShopRite LPGA Classic. Fassi finished tied for 30th at the Meijer LPGA Classic in 2024.

Amateur Carolina Lopez-Cacarra was given an exemption into the Meijer LPGA Classic after receiving the Inkster Award presented by Workday, which is given to the highest-ranked DI women’s golfer in the nation who is in her last year of collegiate eligibility. Lopez-Chacarra is a fourth-year senior at Wake Forest University.

Bailey Davis won THE JOHN SHIPPEN Women’s Invitational to also receive a spot in the field at the Meijer LPGA Classic. Davis won THE JOHN SHIPPEN by four strokes and became the first amateur to win the tournament since its inception. Davis also competed in the 2022 U.S. Women’s Open and the 2023 Dow Championship.

History

Blythefield Country Club has a long and storied history dating back more than 90 years that features not just some of the greats of the women’s game but the PGA Tour’s legends, too. The course was designed by William Langford and Theodore Moreau and opened in 1929. To celebrate the course’s opening, the foursome of Walter Hagen, Horton Smith, Morey Wells and Nick Webber played the course.

The layout features some of the smallest greens that the LPGA Tour has played on so far this season and also is one of the shortest at 6,556 yards. In 2020, the course underwent a renovation by Chris Wilczynski in which the greens were restored to their original design. The fairways were also reshaped and the bunkers were redesigned. Blythefield Country Club has hosted the Meijer LPGA Classic since its inception in 2014.

Players to Watch

There are just certain courses that seem to fit a certain player's game, and there are a few athletes who have found Blythefield Country Club to be their perfect match. Lexi Thompson will make her sixth start of the season when she tees it up this week at the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give. Thompson captured the second edition of the tournament back in 2015 and has continued to be a factor in the tournament nearly every year she has teed it up since her victory. Thompson has three runner-up finishes and three more top 10s along with her win in Belmont, Mich., and will seek to add to her impressive resume this week as she also looks to return to the winner’s circle for the first time since 2019.

Leona Maguire is another player to watch this week in Michigan. When Maguire won in 2023 at Blythefield Country Club, her victory came as no surprise as she had finished runner-up in both 2022 and 2021. She’ll be searching for that similar spark when she returns this week, as she’s coming off missed cuts in her last three starts on the LPGA Tour.

Five Things to Know About the 2025 Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give

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