Daniel Kang ‘Title Defense’ Challenge LPGA Tour Season’s Opening Game ‘Tee-off’
The LPGA Tour begins the 2023 season.
The Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions in the opening game of the LPGA Tour 2023 season will be held at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club (par 72) in Orlando, Florida, from the 20th (Korea time). Only those who have won the LPGA Tour in the last two years can participate in the competition. Therefore, it is a competition of the character of the King of Kings. The number of participating players is also small at 29.
The competition is played in two ways. The professional division, which involves 29 players, will determine the winner with a 72-hole stroke play. The celebrity category, in which celebrities compete, will be held in a modified stable pod method, in which separate points are given according to the score and added up.
Daniel Kang, who has six wins on the LPGA Tour, will play a title defense match. They are trying to win two consecutive games that no one has achieved in this tournament. Daniel Kang lifted the trophy last year, beating Brooke Henderson by three strokes with a 16-under 272 total. Since then, he has devoted himself to treating spinal tumors and returned through the CP Women’s Open in August last year. He was runner-up at the September Walmart Arkansas Championship.
Nellie Corda, the world’s second-ranked women’s golf player, is also a favorite. Koda rested half of the season last year due to thrombosis. However, he succeeded in defending his title at the Pelican Championship in November and showed off his skills. He reached the top of the Gainbridge LPGA held on this course in 2021.
In particular, Koda will receive Nike sponsorship from Hanwha Q Cells starting this year. The club also changed to TaylorMade. Attention is also being paid to what kind of performance he will show in this tournament.
South Korean players Ji Eun-hee, Jeon In-ji, Ko Jin-young, Park In-bee and Kim Hyo-joo, who are eligible to participate in the tournament, have all decided not to attend. This year is the first time that no South Korean player has appeared in the tournament. Top rankers such as world No. 1 Lydia Ko and Ataya Titian will also be absent.
In the celebrity category, golf “legend” Annika Sorenstam and NBA (NBA) Vince Carter (MLB) Roger Clemens will participate.
