LPGA Tour Season Opener "No Top Rankers?"

‘Wangjungwangjeon’ HGVTOC Korean Players Absent
Koda, Daniel Kang, Henderson Top Contenders

The U.S. Women's Professional Golf (LPGA) Tour is starting off somewhat lackluster.

The LPGA Tour will hold the 2023 season opener, the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions (HGVTOC, total prize money $1.5 million), over four days starting on the 19th (local time) at the Lake Nona Golf & Country Club (par 72, 6,608 yards) in Orlando, Florida. This is a 'champion of champions' event where only winners of LPGA Tour events from the past two years can participate. There are only 29 players competing. Professionals and celebrities play in the same groups. Professionals compete in stroke play, while celebrities use a modified Stableford scoring system.

Daniel Kang is taking a selfie with the trophy right after winning last year's 'King of Kings' HGVTOC.

This tournament has lost momentum due to the absence of many top-tier players. Among the world’s top 10 ranked players, seven are missing: No. 1 Lydia Ko (New Zealand), No. 3 Minjee Lee (Australia), No. 4 Atthaya Thitikul (Thailand), No. 5 Ko Jin-young, No. 6 Lexi Thompson (USA), No. 8 Jeon In-ji, and No. 9 Kim Hyo-joo. All Korean players are absent. Even those qualified to participate, such as Park In-bee and Ji Eun-hee, have declined.

World No. 2 Nelly Korda (USA) is the strong favorite to win. She debuted on the LPGA Tour in 2017 and has accumulated eight wins, including one major championship. She has also held the No. 1 world ranking and won a gold medal at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Recently, Korda joined the Nike team with the highest sponsorship deal ever in women's golf. She has been strong in this tournament, finishing 3rd in 2019 and 2021, and tied for 5th in 2022, making the top 5 three times.

Daniela Kang (USA) is aiming for a second consecutive win. She recalls the memory of reaching her sixth career victory last year. Kang faced difficulties last season, taking a two-month break mid-season to treat a spinal tumor. After returning to the field, she showed her resilience by finishing runner-up at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship in September last year.

World No. 7 Brooke Henderson (Canada) and No. 10 Nasa Hataoka (Japan) will also compete. Other dark horses include 2020 champion Gaby Lopez (Mexico) and last year’s Portland Classic winner Andrea Lee (USA). Retired golf legend Annika Sorenstam (Sweden) and NBA star Vince Carter (USA) are participating as celebrities. MLB stars such as 2019 and 2020 winners John Smoltz and defending champion Derek Lowe (both USA) have also joined.