In the world of women's golf, each year unfolds with remarkable individual and team achievements, the emergence of new stars, record-breaking moments, and inevitable controversies, which all contribute to the excitement of the sport. Here's a selection of the biggest stories in 2023.
Rocky Start
The Hilton Grand Vacation Tournament of Champions, the LPGA’s season-opener, didn’t get off to the best of starts because players were told they would be unable to use the locker rooms at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club.
It was reported by Golfweek that the renowned Florida club does have a men's locker room that would provide ample space for the 29 competitors in the field, but due to the hospitality arrangement, it is to remain open to the public. American player Ryan O’Toole told Golfweek: "I’m not mad at the club; I’m not mad at the sponsor. I’m annoyed at the LPGA for that just being an overlooked factor."
All Change!
January is the month when new equipment is released and professionals change their allegiances to other brands and manufacturers. In 2023, two big names in the women’s game, Nelly Korda and Brooke Henderson signed a multi-year deal to use TaylorMade clubs and balls. The pair fit in nicely with TaylorMade’s strategy to obtain and retain the best players in the world. Korda was formally affiliated with Titleist, while Henderson had used Ping clubs for a very long time.
Parting Of The Ways
In February, three-time Major winner Anna Nordqvist cut ties with Saudi Oil company Aramco. She decided to end the relationship and revealed to TT News Agency that the reason for the termination was due to the "incredible amount of hatred and mean comments from people." Although Aramco has invested heavily in the women's game, it is primarily owned by the Saudi Arabian state, which has been accused of using its wealth to “sportswash” its human rights record.
Incredible Albatross
An albatross in golf is rare, so when Japan’s Yuka Saso made the LPGA Tour’s first albatross in three years during her second round at the Drive On Championship, this was newsworthy. On the par-5 2nd hole, the former US Open winner hit her drive down the middle and was faced with 217 yards in for her second shot. The 21-year-old pulled out her hybrid and hit a fantastic shot with the ball landing on the green perfectly and never looked like missing as it rolled into the hole.
Transgender Debate
The transgender debate in golf hit the headlines in April when 32-year-old Breanna Gill won the Australian Women’s Classic. A viral tweet from the Women’s PGA Tour of Australasia showing Gill with the trophy was viewed over seven million times before being deleted. The comments had been turned off but that didn’t stop almost 3,000 quote tweets.
One To Watch
At just 14-years-old, Angela Zhang canned a 25-foot birdie putt in a playoff to grab a spot in the US Women’s Open at Pebble Beach. Shooting 70-73 at Shannopin Country Club in Pittsburgh, Zhang then produced her birdie putt at the second playoff hole to bag a place in the field. It was the first ever staging of the US Women’s Open at the iconic Pebble Beach Golf Links and a memorable experience for Zhang, although she missed the cut after shooting 79 in the first round and 76 in the second for an 11-over-par 155.
Law Less Than Happy
Back in May, Bronte Law criticised Charley Hull and Georgia Hall after they withdrew from the International Crown team event without informing their England teammates. Hull and Hall cited illness and injury respectively as the reasons behind their decision to skip the biennial event, but Law was left less than impressed and spoke out about what she felt was a lack of decency that she and Jodi Ewart Shadoff had to learn the news from other players, “Through Chinese whispers, if you’d like to call it that,” said Law.
Rising Star
Following an historic amateur career, including a record of 141 consecutive weeks at the top of the World Amateur Golf Ranking, American Rose Zhang turned professional in May and what an entrance she made to the pro scene. Just a week later, at the Mizuho Americas Open, the 20-year-old became the first player to win an LPGA Tour event on professional debut since 1951, beating Jenifer Kupcho on the second hole of a tense playoff.
What A Finish!
2023 is certainly a year to remember for Chinese star Ruoning Yin. The 20-year-old became a first-time winner in March at the DIO Implant LA Open, joining Shanshan Feng as just the second player from China to win on Tour. She then added a Major title at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Baltusrol in June, winning by one stroke from Japan’s Yuka Saso.
In September she became the third player to reach World No 1 in the Rolex Rankings at the age of 20 or younger. Yin finished in the top four seven times this season, including her two wins, and had three additional top-20 finishes,
Record Breaker
In June, 15-time LPGA Tour winner Jin Young Ko set the new record for most career weeks spent at World No. 1 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings. June 26 marked her 159th week in the top spot, surpassing the previous 158-week benchmark set by Lorena Ochoa in 2010. We’re not talking consecutive weeks, here, but that’s still over three years of being the best female golfer in the world.
End Of An Era
Michelle Wie West’s career came to an end at the US Women’s Open. She finished her second round on the 18th hole at Pebble Beach by sinking an incredible 31-foot putt, but it ended up being the final shot of her golfing career as she had not done enough to make the cut. It was still an amazing moment for Wie West who claimed five LPGA titles, including the 2014 US Women’s Open, over her 14 years on the tour.
Major Payout
In just her second season on the LPGA Tour, American Allisen Corpuz won the US Women’s Open at the iconic Pebble Beach Golf Links. She was the only player in the field to shoot four rounds under par for a total nine-under 279, and secured Major victory by three strokes clear of Charley Hull and Jiyai Shin. It was her first career tour title that came with a record $2 million prize payout.
Players Penalised
It would be a miracle if a year passed by without any players breaching golf rules. Mel Reid received a one-stroke penalty during the third round at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship after she lifted her ball thinking it was on the green.
At the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, defending champion Anna Davis was penalised four strokes on the 1st hole after mistakenly marking and cleaning her ball in the rough after thinking it was preferred lies everywhere.
Meanwhile, Gabby Lemieux ended up being disqualified during stage one of LPGA Qualifying School having signed for an incorrect scorecard, but said she had been caught up in a rules incident relating to another player. Having called out a player for marking and replacing her ball incorrectly, while she was in the scoring area and working out how to deal with the incident, a lack of concentration led to her signing a wrong scorecard.
Slow Play
The Amundi Evian Championship, became the focus of slow play in July, and while Jessica Korda was not competing in the Major due to a back injury, she weighed in on the subject via X (formally Twitter) in support of the players.
One of the holes she commented on was the par 3 16th. She wrote: “Guys.. 16.. it’s a stressful hole - always - and now you get to sit on the tee-box for 10-15th or more and watch the carnage that’s happening in the group in front. No wonder the rounds are 6+ hrs. Don’t blame slow play on the players today.”
Two In A Row
It was back-to-back titles for France’s Celine Boutier, who followed up her Major glory on home soil at the Amundi Evian Championship by clinching the Freed Group Women’s Scottish Open. These tournament wins are bookended with a victory at the LPGA Drive-On Championship and a dramatic 9-hole playoff that awarded Boutier the trophy at the Maybank Championship, making her and Lilia Vu the only players on tour in 2023 with four titles to their name.
Meteoric Rise Of Lilia Vu
2023 is the year that Lilia Vu arrived on the world stage. Vu claimed her maiden LPGA title at the Honda LPGA Thailand and followed this up with victory at The Chevron Championship and AIG Women’s Open, becoming the first American to win two Majors in a single season since Juli Inkster.
In November Vu also won The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican tournament. From being ranked 1,330th in the world in 2020, Vu’s AIG Women’s Open triumph propelled her to World No 1 and fully deserves the 2023 Rolex Player of the Year Award.
Sensational Solheim
The Solheim Cup never disappoints and the 2023 match will go down in history as one of the best ever. In a tight-fought battle that went down to the wire in the Sunday singles, defending champions Europe retained the trophy after drawing level with the Americans at 14-14.
The match was thrilling enough, but as it was ultimately tied, this did raise the question of whether or not there should be a playoff to determine an outright winning team. A reporter also received short shrift in a post-match press conference when he asked Lexi Thompson to talk through her shanked chip on the par-5 18th in the day one fourballs, which ultimately cost the Americans the match against Georgia Hall and Leona Maguire.
Thompson Plays On PGA Tour
Lexi Thompson became only the seventh female to compete on the PGA Tour after she received a sponsors’ invitation to compete at the Shriners Children’s Open in Las Vegas in October. The 11-time LPGA winner’s aim was to become the first woman to make the cut at a PGA Tour event since 1945, but she narrowly missed out by three strokes after finishing with a credible score of level par with rounds of 73 and 69.
Age Is No Barrier
The beauty of golf is that it can be played at any age and Marjorie Curtin from Cumbria, England, might well have entered the record books as the oldest player to win a club medal competition. The 93-year-old, playing off a 34 handicap put together a fantastic round that included eight net-birdies and an incredible net-eagle for a total 104, and this was enough to win the competition at Carus Green Golf Club on countback.
Augusta National Beckons
In November it was announced that golfing legend Annika Sörenstam has become the first LPGA professional to be invited to join Augusta National Golf Club as a member. This makes the 53-year-old just the seventh female member of the iconic club, which had traditionally been male-dominated. It was in 2012 when Augusta National invited the club’s first women members, former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and South Carolina philanthropist Darla Moore.
