Pebble Beach, Calif. – It’s been 72 years since the world’s best golfers played a competitive round on one of the most famous golf courses in the history of the game. The 1951 Weathervane Transcontinental Women’s Championship at Pebble Beach Golf Links, won by Patty Berg, was the last LPGA event at the iconic venue, hosting the US Women’s Open.
The importance of the women playing here is finally not lost on anyone. The venue that has hosted countless PGA Tour events and the US Men’s Open six times will now welcome the game’s greatest women to its home turf, providing a unique test that will give the golf world a different look at Pebble Beach through the shots of some of the ball’s best forwards. the world.
“I watched Tiger win the US Open, and Gary Woodland, he won the US Open, so I watched everything,” said world number one Jin Yong-koo. “I’m really excited to play this golf course. I really wanted to play this golf course.”
From established stars to rising phenoms, no matter who emerges victorious, one thing is for sure: a women’s event in Pebble Beach has been long overdue.
Here are four must-watch story events for this week:
Major droughts for major stars
The top three players in the world rankings – Nelly Korda, Jin Yong Ko and Lydia Ko – all have their spots in those places, but it’s been a while since each of them lifted any major trophy of some kind.
Korda, who may be the face of the women’s game right now, has had three top-10 finishes in the major championships in the past two years, but her only major win came in 2021 at the Women’s PGA Championship. Coming back from a back injury at the PGA this year, Korda said she was 100% healthy but missed the loss – her first major tournament loss since the 2021 US Women’s Open.
“I fouled two ways on Baltusrol, and I didn’t make any shots either,” Korda said. “I spent a lot of time on the run.”
Ko caught fire during last season’s finale and finished inside the top 10 in three of last year’s finals. She added three LPGA wins in 2022 as well, but missed the score and finished 57th in her major appearances so far in 2023. Her latest major championship win? Chevron Championship 2016.
“I think that’s why it’s so hard to win, because there’s a much larger pool of names in contention,” Koe said of the depth on the tour while acknowledging that her play lately hasn’t been up to her standards. “I think it’s closer than it was two months ago… We’re moving in the right direction.”
Ko is the latest group winner, having finished first at the Founders’ Cup in May as well as the HSBC Women’s World Championship in March. However, she wasn’t able to add to her main tally, which stands at two, after winning both the Chevron and Evian tournaments in 2019. When asked on Tuesday if she felt any urgency to win a major, Ko didn’t hesitate.
She said “no”. “I just want to have fun with my family and friends. That’s my goal right now.”
It’s a testament to the depth and youthful flourishes of the game (more on that in a bit) that the best players in the game haven’t been able to add to their main stack, yet it’s clear that these three players have always been a cut above the rest of the field. Even if there was no explicit urging to win another major, they all made a lot clear about the importance of playing that major in this niche. Adding him to their main bio means more than just a number.
Michelle West’s Last Dance
Although it is felt that Wie’s departure from the world of golf came during last year’s US Open at Pine Needles, Pebble Beach would be a fitting site for her true final competitive tournament as she retired after an 18-year professional career.
“It would be weird because when I finished Pine Needles, I was like, Oh, but I have a Pebble next year,” Wee West said. “There is no pebble next year.”
The extended end of her career allowed Wie West to gain a great deal of reflection and perspective on her time in the sport. And although she said she wanted the 18th finalist to be in the final group on Sunday, she also acknowledged a more realistic goal this week was to enjoy the swan song of a tournament that also served to showcase her legacy and role as a flyer. An ambassador for the women’s game.
During the run-up to Pebble, Wie West was front and center, not only touting the depth of the women’s game as well as some of its rising stars, but also championing and affirming the importance of women’s play. Same places as men. This year, the PGA Championship is held in Baltusrol, and the USGA will be taking the women’s game to places like the Riviera, Oakland Hills, Oakmont, and the LACC for the next 20 years.
“I think being in premium venues is a more sustainable improvement to the tour, because it increases media value, and you have to increase media value to make more money,” Wee West said. “The fans drive the value of the media. They love to watch TV and learn about the courses we play in.”
Perhaps most notably, Wie West is now the host for a new LPGA event – the Mizuho Americas Open, which Zhang won on her professional debut – and which featured AJGA players earning a travel stipend from the tournament. Wie West also said she is in constant contact with LPGA Commissioner Molly Marco and is willing to be involved in developing the women’s game as much as possible as she enters full retirement.
“I just hope to be a sounding board whenever I need it or whenever anybody on tour needs it,” Wee West said. “They all know I want help, and I just let them come to me whenever they need.”
As far as coming right after Pebble Beach, the 2014 US Women’s Open winner is sure to have at least one of them.
She said, “I’m going to put my club in the darkest corner of my garage.” “Let her sit there for a bit.”
Rose Chang Show
As Wei West waved goodbye, Zhang said hello. The most decorated amateur player in the history of the sport arrives at the US Open with plenty of intrigue surrounding her after hitting a record-breaking 63 on the Pebble during the 2022 Carmel Cup.
Two tournaments and one win in her professional career, Zhang has already made an impressive first and second impression and is the betting favorite this week. At Baltusrol during the PGA Championship, she nearly took out the leaders and finished tied for eighth while not playing her personal best. The result added more fuel to the fire that it’s only a matter of time before it gets a major hit.
After watching Zhang dominate the amateur ranks and then translate that into a win at a Wie West event, such thoughts don’t seem misguided. So far, it seems impossible to somehow underestimate and overestimate it. Her ceiling has not yet materialized, and her play has made the hyperbolic sense workable.
Not only does Pebble provide a main stage, but it also offers one that fits its game well. Although it will be interesting to see how she handles the length of the course (especially if the wind catches up), her stability and accuracy will shine through and give her the chance to hit the little Pebble over and over again.
“Looks like I hit all 18 greens [in regulation],” she said nonchalantly about that historic Carmel Cup run. It’s just been a very dreamy week. “
Ironically, Chang’s even-handed demeanor contrasts with the attention and excitement that seems to surround her. To hear people talk about it, that’s a concerted choice.
“I always had in mind that professional golf would be very difficult,” said Chang. “I’ve already prepared myself for all the scenarios of just being able to grind, and not have the most luck, and that puts me in a position where I expect it all. When things come right out, I deal with it.”
It will be fascinating to watch the evolution of this approach, especially if it continues to win. Doing so in a venue like Pebble at a tournament like the US Open could turn the hype train into overdrive if it isn’t already there and cement her status as the sport’s superstar.
The youth movement continues
While Zhang may be in the forefront of the titles, if the last few majors point to another major first-time winner, especially a small one. Eight of the last 10 major winners were all first-timers and six of them were 25 or younger at the time of their victories.
“I love that all the big heroes are so young,” Wee West said. “It means the next generation is here.”
For all the talk about Zhang, she is far from the only person who has achieved success at a young age. Runing Yin just won the 2023 PGA Championship at just 20 years old, while the 2023 Chevron Championship winner, Lilia Fu, is 25.
Amare Avery, an 18-year-old whose stardom extends far beyond the golf course, is leading a field of 28 amateurs this week, including Saki Baba, who won the 2022 U.S. Women’s Amateur and Anna Davis, who already has the Augusta National Women’s Amateur. Nickname for her 17-year-old. At 14 years old, Angela Zhang is the youngest player ever to compete in the US Women’s Open.
“They’re playing better than me now,” Coe said of the younger players on the tour. “I think it’s really cool to see different names come up on the leaderboard. I think names that might not be so familiar to other people who are kind of new to the LPGA. It’s great to have that variety and diversity among the players.”