A preview of the Chevron Championship — Quotes from Houston
By Addie Parker
The IX: Golf Thursday with Addie Parker, April 18, 2024
Happy Golf Thursday! We have another weekend of major championship golf ahead of us — so here’s what you need to know about the Chevron Championship.
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The course
This will be the second year the championship is hosted at The Club at Carlton Woods; the tournament was previously held at the infamous Mission Hills Country Club (for a record 51 years), where the jump into Poppy’s Pond became a beloved tradition in women’s golf.
Following in the footsteps of MHCC is a challenging task (combating a long history is never easy), but The Club at Carlton Woods, on paper, is a championship-caliber venue. It’s a testy 6,889-yard par 72, with over 60 bunkers and TONS of water.
The finishing hole is a daunting 500-yard dogleg par 5 with water down the right-hand side.
The course will demand players to minimize mistakes, limit bogeys, and find ways to keep dry (more than half the holes have water that comes into play).
The field
It’s only fitting that the first major of the season brings out the best of the best.
Headlining the 132-player field this week are defending champ and World No. 2 Lilia Vu, World No. 1 Kelly Korda (who has an opportunity to make history this week), last year’s runner-up Angel Yin, Lydia Ko, ANWA winner Lottie Woad, along with 10 other past champions.
Here are some players to watch this weekend.
A bigger purse
Before the first tee shot was struck, the tour and title sponsor of the tournament, Chevron, announced a dramatic purse increase and partnership extension through 2029.
The purse elevated to $7.9 million in 2024, an increase of $4.8 million over the last three years with Chevron’s title sponsorship, in addition, players who miss the cut will receive $10,000 (up from $5,000 in 2023) to cover expenses.
What to expect
The first round is already underway, and it will be interesting to see which players come out the gate swinging. The weather over the weekend calls for rainy conditions, primarily on Saturday, with temperatures dropping nearly 20 degrees compared to Thursday’s forecast—so the first two rounds played in good weather is crucial for scoring.
All eyes will be on Nelly Korda this week, and with so much attention on her, it potentially relieves pressure from the other players to fly under the radar, making waves on the leaderboard.
With the demands of the golf course, I don’t think we’ll see super-low numbers, we can expect to see a similar range of 9-11 under par at the conclusion of the tournament (Vu won last year at 10-under).
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This week in women’s golf
If you have links you wish to share for Golf Thursday, sources for golf news, or want to talk about anything at all, you can email me at addieparker25@theixsports.com ! Discussion of any kind is always welcome…I mean it…MESSAGE ME!
LPGA News
Can Korda top the field at The Club at Carlton Woods for five in a row?
Introducing the ‘Inside the LPGA’ podcast
An inside look at Lilia Vu’s Champions Dinner at Chevron, featuring renowned chef Thomas Keller
Nelly Korda rides streak of four wins into LPGA’s first major, but where can she take the tour?
Rose Zhang hires new instructor ahead of first 2024 LPGA major, the Chevron Championship
What golf legends are saying about Nelly Korda’s sensational streak
LET News
Epson Tour News
New tour YouTube series: All Access Episode One
NCAA/Amateur News
2024 NCAA women’s conference championship dates and results
Five at The IX: Pre-tournament quotable moments
Nelly Korda on how aware she is on what she’s achieving with her four-win streak in consecutive starts
“In 2021 I went on a run, and then in 2022 and 2023 golf really humbled me. I think [that’s] sports; there are ups and downs. Every athlete goes through the rollercoaster, and that is what makes the sport so great. You mature and grow so much and learn more about yourself. You never take these weeks for granted. You always try to appreciate and become very grateful for them. It makes just all the hard work so worth it.”
Lilia Vu’s mindset on her first major championship title defense
“I’m going to be honest, I’m not trying to put too much pressure on myself. I think I’m going to look at this tournament as a new opportunity to win and not put too much pressure of trying to defend my title. I feel like that kind of comes up time and time again, but trying to enjoy myself out here. Played the front nine [Monday]. Feel really calm out here, good memories, so looking forward to this week.”
Atthaya Thitikul on returning to competition for the first time since November and what time off did for her
“I had not been able to like hit the ball for two months. And then, you know, it kind of reminds me how much I love golf and also reminds me like my mind still wants it. I’m still hungry to be able to be here, hungry for the win, hungry for everything still in my career.”
Lottie Woad, recent Augusta National Women’s Amateur (ANWA) champion on if she’s jump into the lake (and Chevron tradition) if she wins on Sunday
“I mean, I saw it. It’s not the most clean, but if I win I’ll jump in, yeah. Why not?”
So Yeon Ryu on her announcement to retire, making Chevron her last event of her career
“I wasn’t really sure about it. I started to look back on all of my career. If I only have to pick one word to describe my career that was “grateful”. I’m so grateful for everything, so for that I definitely needed to come back to say thank you to all of my family. Golf has taught me so many great lessons. I actually didn’t know I was going to be little emotional but now I feel little emotional.
I’m really glad that I made the decision to retire at this event. It’s been really nice few days. I’ve met so many of my [fans], and I would like to say thank you to all people that reached out to me and congratulated and supporting all of my career.”
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