A dozen Thai players, led by former champion Patty Tavatanakit and world No.5 Atthaya Thitikul, will compete in the year’s first major tournament, the Chevron Championship, which tees off in Texas today.
Patty won the tournament when it was known as the ANA Inspiration in 2021, and finished joint fourth last year.
After a long slump in form, the 23-year-old Thai came close to winning her second LPGA title at the LA Open earlier this month when she finished joint third.
However, it will be a new challenge for Patty and other players as the event shifts this year from Southern California desert to the Club at Carlton Woods in suburban Houston, near the coast of the Gulf of Mexico.
Atthaya, 20, will make her third appearance in the tournament where she was the low amateur in 2018.
The Ratchaburi native, who has won two LPGA titles, is the highest-ranked Thai.
The other Thais in the field are two-time major champion Ariya Jutanugarn, Moriya Jutanugarn, Pajaree Anannarukarn, Pornanong Phatlum, Wichanee Meechai, Pavarisa Yoktuan, Arpichaya Yubol, Jasmine Suwannapura, Natthakritta Vongtaveelap, and amateur Eila Galitsky.
Rookie Natthakritta could be a dark horse as she got off to a good start to her LPGA career.
She was runner-up in her LPGA debut at the Honda LPGA Thailand in February and was tied for sixth at last week’s Lotte Championship.
World No.2 Nelly Korda and LPGA prize money leader Georgia Hall both said on Tuesday they were confident heading into the Chevron Championship.
US standout Jennifer Kupcho defends crown she won last year on a much-different layout.
“I think the biggest thing is probably the length of the golf course. It’s really long,” Kupcho said. “We’re going to have a lot of long irons into the par-4s and the greens are definitely a lot trickier versus in the desert.
“It’s going to be a lot windier. Texas is generally windy, though, so you expect that. The humidity, the ball doesn’t quite go as far here as in the desert, so that contributes to the length.”
It promises a major challenge for England’s 10th-ranked Hall and US star Korda, who each have four top-10 finishes in five LPGA starts this year.
Hall said she felt good.
“In the US, it’s definitely the most comfortable that I’ve felt,” she said. “It’s the best I’ve been playing. I’m No.1 on the money list. I’ve never been this comfortable, I think, before a major.”
Korda, who snuck in a visit to the final round of the Masters and some practice time last week, said she feels like she’s playing well but not yet shown her best shotmaking.
“It’s positive and negative that I’m playing well and I don’t think that I’ve had my best stuff yet,” Korda said. “So hopefully I can continue working on my game and peak in the right moments.
“When I’m really not hitting it well, then I’m putting and my short game is pretty on point. I’ve been kind of lucky to miss in areas where it’s better to miss.”
Reigning Olympic champion Korda, the 2021 Women’s PGA Championship winner, was fourth at the Tournament of Champions, sixth at Thailand and a runner-up in Singapore before sharing fifth in Los Angeles. “I practised all of last week, just getting into playing mode, tightening up some loose ends,” Korda said. bangkok post/afp
