Leading
Ladies
The 2018 LPGA Tour Schedule
T
he LPGA Tour doesn’t shy away from marketing itself
as a worldwide tour, and it shouldn’t, considering how
diverse the field is. But LPGA commissioner Mike Whan
has emphasized growing the domestic schedule, and with two
new California tournaments in 2018, there are now 19 U.S. events.
Included is the Kingsmill Championship, one of two profession-
al tournaments contested at VSGA clubs in 2018. The LPGA also
added a new event in China, part of a seven-event Asia swing in the
fall. A closer look at the schedule:
JANUARY
Jan. 25-28: Pure Silk-Baha-
mas LPGA Classic | Ocean
Club GC | Paradise Island,
Bahamas | $1.4M | Brittany
Lincicome
FEBRUARY
Feb. 15-18: ISPS Handa
Women’s Australian Open |
Royal Adelaide GC | Adelaide,
Australia | $1.3M | Ha Na Jang
Feb. 22-25: Honda LPGA
Thailand | Siam CC Pattaya
(Old Course) | Chonburi, Thai-
land | $1.6M | Amy Yang
MARCH
March 1-4: HSBC Women’s
World Championship | Sento-
sa GC (Searapong Course) |
Singapore | $1.5M | Inbee Park
March 15-18: Bank of Hope
Founders Cup | Wildfire GC
at JW Marriott Phoenix Desert
Ridge Resort & Spa | Phoenix
| $1.5M | Anna Nordqvist
›› The LPGA returns to Amer-
ican soil for the first time for
the run-up to the season’s first
major, the ANA Inspiration.
Nordqvist posted a sizzling
third-round 61 on her way to
victory last year.
26
March 22-25: Kia Classic |
Aviara GC | Carlsbad, Calif. |
$1.8M | Mirim Lee
March 29-April 1: ANA Inspi-
ration | Mission Hills CC | Ran-
cho Mirage, Calif. | $2.8M | So
Yeon Ryu
›› Lost in the shuffle of the
Lexi Thompson Rules kerfuffle
was Ryu’s strong play down
the stretch. She became the
third South Korean since 2012
to win the season’s first major.
The Sunday closing stretch is
great primetime TV viewing.
APRIL
April 11-14: LOTTE Champi-
onship | Ko Olina GC | Kapo-
lei, Hawaii | $2M | Cristie Kerr
April 19-22: HUGEL-JTBC
Championship | Site TBA |
Greater Los Angeles | $1.5M
| New event
April 26-29: Name TBA | Lake
Merced GC | San Francisco |
$1.5M | New event
MAY
May 3-6: Volunteers of Amer-
ica LPGA Texas Classic | Old
American GC | The Colony,
Texas | $1.3M | Haru Nomura
V I R G I N I A G O L F E R | J A N UA R Y / F E B R UA R Y 2 0 1 8
Kingsmill Championship tournament
director Matthew Schulze hands the trophy
to champion Ariya Jutanugarn in 2016.
May 17-20: Kingsmill Cham-
pionship | Kingsmill Resort
(River) | Williamsburg | $1.3 M
| Lexi Thompson
›› Despite the lack of a title
sponsor, Kingsmill retained
its LPGA Tour stop, with the
course and fans making it a
favorite for many of the top
touring pros. Thompson’s
20-under total last year was
the lowest in tournament his-
tory, one stroke better than
Annika Sorenstam’s winning
score in 2008. Superstars
tend to win in Williamsburg.
Thompson, Sorenstam, Cris-
tie Kerr, Se Ri Pak, Grace Park
and Karrie Webb are among
the champions.
May 24-27: LPGA Volvik
Championship | Travis Pointe
CC | Ann Arbor, Mich. | $1.3M
| Shanshan Feng
JUNE
May 31-June 3: U.S. Wom-
en’s Open | Shoal Creek
G&CC | Shoal Creek, Ala. |
$5M | Sung Hyun Park
›› The LPGA’s oldest major
also features the Tour’s big-
gest purse. Since 2008, the
champion has been either
American or South Korean.
This is the first time the U.S.
Women’s Open has been
played in the deep South
since 1999, when Juli Inkster
shot a record 16 under to win
at Old Waverly Golf Club in
Mississippi.
June 8-10: ShopRite LPGA
Classic presented by Acer |
Stockton Seaview GC (Bay
Course) | Galloway, N.J. |
$1.75M | In-Kyung Kim
June 14-17: Meijer LPGA
Classic for Simply Give |
Blythefield CC | Grand
Rapids, Mich. | $2M | Brooke
Henderson
June 22-24: Walmart NW
Arkansas Championship
presented by P&G | Pinna-
cle CC | Rogers, Ark. | $2M |
So Yeon Ryu
June 28-July 1: KPMG Wom-
en’s PGA Championship
| Kemper Lakes GC |
Killdeer, Ill. | $3.65M | Danielle
Kang
›› Kang became the first
American since Cristie Kerr in
2010 to win this major cham-
pionship, shooting 13 under
to win by a stroke in 2017.
vsga.org
Dates | Tournament | Course | Location | Purse | Defending Champion