New LPGA Tournament Begins In Palos Verdes

PALOS VERDES ESTATES, CA — The inaugural $1.5 million Palos Verdes Championship begins Thursday at Palos Verdes Golf Club, the second of unprecedented back-to-back LPGA tournaments in Los Angeles County.

The field includes seven of the top 10 players in the Rolex Women's World Golf Rankings, led by the No. 1 player, South Korean Jin Young Ko, who is seeking to rebound from a disappointing performance in last week's DIO Implant LA Open at the Wilshire Country Club.

Ko shared the lead through two rounds with eventual champion Nasa Hataoka of Japan, then fell out of contention with a quadruple bogey on the par- 4 17th hole Saturday. She shot a 4-over 75 Sunday to finish in a six-way tie for 21st, 13 shots off the lead.

Ko has won six of her last 13 starts dating back to July and recently set the LPGA Tour record with 34 consecutive rounds under par.

There are eight USC alumni in the field, including Sophia Popov, the winner of the 2020 AIG Women's Open, one of the five major tournaments in women's golf. There are seven UCLA alumni in the field, including Patty Tavatanakit, the 2021 winner of what is now The Chevron Championship, another of the majors.

Anna Davis will be making her LPGA Tour debut, 25 days after winning the Augusta National Women's Amateur.

"I'm not that nervous," the 16-year-old said. "I'm kind of just trying to treat it as any other event. Just trying to have fun out here."

Although Davis lives in the East San Diego County community of Spring Valley, she said this is her first time in the Los Angeles area. When asked at a news conference Tuesday if she done anything fun, she responded, "Not yet. Sit in traffic. That's fun."

This will be the first professional tournament at the Palos Verdes Golf Club, whose course was designed in 1924 by the renowned team of George C. Thomas and William P. "Billy" Bell who also designed the courses at the Riviera Country Club, the Bel Air Country Club and the Los Angeles Country Club's North Course.

Fairways and rough are Kikuyu grass. The greens, firm and fast, are composed of bent and poa annua grasses.

The course makes extensive use of natural hazards and puts a premium on accuracy rather than length with small greens, extensive bunkering and narrow fairways with strategically designed landing areas.

"You have to really think your way around the golf course," said Popov, who played on the course in college for the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge. "It's not just straightforward. You need to know where to miss the shots into the green, you need to know where to miss your drives, if you do miss them."

The field will be reduced to the low 70s and ties following the conclusion of Friday's second round.

A daily ticket is $25 and a weekly ticket is $45.

Admission is free for all military members, veterans and their families with valid military identification.

Children under 17 are admitted free with a paid adult.

The tournament will be televised on Golf Channel from 3:30-6:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday and 4-6:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Coverage will be available from 3:30-6:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday on the NBC Sports app and golfchannel.com.

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