Why does Chevron Championship 2023 increase players?
Before returning to The Club, Chevron Championship, despite many titles, for 50 years was still at Dinah Shore course of the Mission Hills golf complex in California. Both courses are par72.
Going to a new battlefield, the LPGA Tour chose the frame from April 20 to 23 to deploy the 2023 match, three weeks later than usual in Mission Hills. At The Club currently, the sun sets at 19:50 while last year's Dinah Shore at 19:05.
And thanks to the late "sleeping" sun, the governing organization selected 132 players for the 2023 Chevron Championship, about 10% higher than the 2022 period.
"The three-week delay and the new geographic location allow us to increase the number of players, thereby increasing the opportunity to compete in the major," an LPGA Tour spokesman explained.
The list of Chevron Championship contests from 2020 to 2022 ranges from 115-119 players, while the average of the past five years stands at 114.
The bonus fund this period was raised to $ 5.1 million, closing before the LPGA Tour decided to choose 132 players, including all the top 10 in the world women's golf rankings Rolex Rankings.
On the afternoon of the opening day, the Organizing Committee postponed the match for nearly an hour because of bad weather. Before that, a herd of about 10 deer suddenly appeared. They crossed the green on hole 18, then paused for a moment to listen around, and then were chased by volunteers into the woods surrounding the yard.
At the end of the first round, the top of the group was at -5, belonging to Chien Peiyun - a 32-year-old Taiwanese (China) player who is ranked 189th in the Rolex Rankings.
Chien started on hole 10, took the birdie lead with a chip from outside the green on hole 8 and kept par on hole 9.
Right behind Chien are six hands standing T2 (-4), including world number two Nelly Korda. Meanwhile, defending champion Jennifer Kupcho, the American has not "warmed up" in the opening stage, shown by two birdies to compensate two bogeys. With this form, Kupcho stood at T37 (even par). Last year on the Dinah Shore field, she won -14 and won 750,000 USD.
