Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G
Kenwood Country Club (Kendale Course) | Cincinnati, Ohio | Sept. 8-11, 2022
Tuesday Pre-Tournament Notes
Sept. 6, 2022
LPGA TOUR RETURNS TO CINCINNATI FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 33 YEARS FOR INAUGURAL KROGER QUEEN CITY CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY P&G
For the first time since the 1989 LPGA Championship (now KPMG Women’s PGA Championship), the LPGA Tour returns to Cincinnati, Ohio for the inaugural Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G. The tournament will be contested on the Kendale Course at Kenwood Country Club, a venue that has previously hosted the 1963 U.S. Women’s Open presented by ProMedica, won by Mary Mills. The field will be competing for a purse of $1.75 million with a $262,500 winner’s check and features four of the five 2022 major champions, including Minjee Lee, Jennifer Kupcho, Brooke Henderson and Ashleigh Buhai.
Ten other 2022 LPGA Tour winners will tee it up in the Queen City, most notably last week’s Dana Open presented by Marathon champion Gaby Lopez, 2021 European Solheim Cup team member and Rolex First-Time Winner Leona Maguire and Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions winner Danielle Kang. Fourteen-year-old amateur Gianna Clemente is also set to compete after she successfully Monday qualified for the third consecutive week, matching a record last set by Hee-Won Han in 2001. Augusta National Women’s Amateur champion Anna Davis, Epson Tour winner Jillian Hollis and Xavier University women’s golf team member Emma McMyler will play as sponsor exemptions.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE KROGER QUEEN CITY CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY P&G
- This is the first playing of the Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G; the last time the LPGA Tour played in Cincinnati Ohio was the 1989 LPGA Championship
- This is the second time that Kenwood Country Club has hosted an LPGA Tour event; the 1963 U.S. Women’s Open presented by ProMedica was held at Kenwood with Mary Mills as the champion
- Fourteen 2022 LPGA Tour winners are in the field, including major champions Minjee Lee, Jennifer Kupcho, Brooke Henderson and Ashleigh Buhai
- Six of the top ten players in the world will tee it up, including Lee (No. 3), Henderson (5), Atthaya Thitikul (6), Lexi Thompson (7), Hyo Joo Kim (8) and Nasa Hataoka (9)
- Fourteen-year-old Ohio native Gianna Clemente (a) Monday qualified for the Kroger Queen City Championship for the third consecutive time; she won the qualifier with a 7-under 65
- Augusta National Women’s Amateur champion Anna Davis (a), Epson Tour winners Jillian Hollis, and Xavier women’s golf team member Emma McMyler (a) are competing as sponsors exemptions
GABY LOPEZ LOOKING TO BE “LIMITLESS” FOR THE REST OF 2022 SEASON
The fist pump was huge and the roar was loud on Sunday at the Dana Open presented by Marathon, rightfully so considering the struggles that Gaby Lopez has gone through this season. The 28-year-old captured her third LPGA Tour win last week in Sylvania, Ohio, and considering she’s battled two injuries – one in her wrist and one in her neck – and it was her first win since the 2020 Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, this title meant just as much, if not more, to the Mexican.
“It’s been tough. It’s been dark. It has been negative. I’ve been not myself outside the golf course because I’ve been impatient. I’ve been frustrated. At some points it just gets in your head: am I going to be able to win again? Am I going to be able to compete? This past weekend just proved to myself that I’m not only a great player but I’m a great competitor,” said Lopez, who shot an 8-under 63 on the final day to tie her career-low LPGA Tour round and win by one. “Very exciting to be able to finally close it out. I just deep down believe that the best years of my golf are just getting to the surface. I’m not sure when or how far or how long it’s going to take me or how far I’m going to get, but I just deep down believe that that’s what I feel.”
As she turns her attention to this week’s Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G, Lopez hopes to carry her hot hand to the Kendale Course at Kenwood Country Club, a new venue on the LPGA Tour, and is looking forward to the excitement that comes with a new tournament. It’s the first time in 33 years that the Tour will tee it up in Cincinnati, Ohio and Lopez is feeling confident in the face of unfamiliarity. She’s got a renewed faith in her ability as a result of Sunday’s triumph and with eight events left on the schedule, Lopez has decided to throw the goals she set for herself at the beginning of the year out the window, opting instead to focus on how far she can go.
“I’m really excited to keep the momentum. I feel that having a brand-new tournament just brings more energy and more excitement to the Tour. Honestly, it’s just really exciting to be able to be back and just compete for the first time in Cincinnati,” said Lopez. “Before (the win), I was picturing myself in the top 10 in the world and top 10 on the LPGA. But honestly, after yesterday and after Sunday, I really don’t want to put a number. I want to be limitless. I want it to be as far as I can go. Let me surprise myself.”
ANNA DAVIS REFLECTS ON YEAR OF OPPORTUNITY CULMINATING AT THE KROGER QUEEN CITY CHAMPIONSHIP
“I think when I go back to like normal events, it’ll probably hit me and be like, wow, I did that. Yeah, it’ll hit me eventually.”
The year 2022 has been a wild ride for Anna Davis. Almost a year to the day of her first amateur victory at the Heather Farr Classic, Davis wrote her name – and bucket hat – in the history books as the youngest winner of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur. The victory was a catalyst of what was to follow, including, most notably, exemptions into events on the LPGA Tour. Along with appearances in major championships like the U.S. Women’s Open presented by ProMedica and the AIG Women’s Open, Davis picked up more starts along the summer, most recently at the CP Women’s Open, and now this week at Kenwood Country Club at the Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G. In six total starts, Davis has made four cuts, notching a career- and season-best T50 result at the Cognizant Founders Cup, and all of her weeks on Tour have contributed to a year of learning for the 16-year-old.
“Just from all of the events I’ve learned a lot, even just about like my golf game in general, which has been super cool. Like with me, especially being like a teenager, you think you know everything but you don’t, so that’s what I’ve been learning: I don’t know everything,” said Davis. “Just learning about my golf game and the mental game, too. It’s huge out here.”
As for the rest of the year, Davis said she’s keeping all her options open. The high school junior, who is still working on getting her driver’s license, is exploring what the college and professional pathways are to see what is best for her future. But for now, she just plans on enjoying another opportunity among the world’s best golfers in Cincinnati.
“It’s been super fun. Just the opportunities that have been given to me, I’m so thankful for them,” said Davis. “I know that in the next couple years I’m definitely never going to forget the year I’ve had for sure. It’s definitely been one of the best years of golf for sure.”
ESPN+ TO STREAM FEATURED GROUPS AT KROGER QUEEN CITY CHAMPIONSHIP, FIRST OF TWO LPGA TOUR EVENTS IN SEPTEMBER, EXCLUSIVELY FOR SUBSCRIBERS
ESPN+ will cover the LPGA Tour’s Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G with an exclusive Featured Groups feed starting Thursday, September 8, at 8:30 a.m. ET.
- The Kroger Queen City Championship at Kenwood Country Club in Cincinnati, September 8-11, is the first of two LPGA Tour events ESPN+ will cover this month.
- ESPN+ will also stream exclusive Featured Group coverage of the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G at Pinnacle Country Club in Rogers, Ark., September 23-25.
Coverage of the tournaments on ESPN+ marks the first time Featured Groups at LPGA Tour events are streamed live on any platform. One feed will showcase the complete rounds of two Featured Groups in both the morning and afternoon waves on each tournament day.
Featured Groups at the Kroger Queen City Championship will include 18 of the world’s top 30 players, with four of the Tour’s 2022 major champions and 14 season-long winners.
Thursday Featured Groups
Brooke Henderson/Paula Creamer/Minjee Lee | 8:36 a.m. ET
Leona Maguire/Stacy Lewis/Sei Young Kim | 8:47 a.m. ET
Ally Ewing/Hannah Green/Andrea Lee | 1:14 p.m. ET
Paula Reto/Sarah Schmelzel/Angela Stanford | 1:25 p.m. ET
Friday Featured Groups
Lexi Thompson/Jessica Korda/Atthaya Thitikul | 8:36 a.m. ET
Danielle Kang/Jennifer Kupcho/Ashleigh Buhai | 8:47 a.m. ET
Marina Alex/Alison Lee/Gaby Lopez | 1:14 p.m. ET
Anna Nordqvist/Harigae/Khang | 1:25 p.m. ET
*ESPN+ coverage of Saturday and Sunday rounds will follow a similar schedule, determined when pairings and tee times are announced.
For more on featured hole streaming on ESPN+ at the Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G, click here: https://www.lpga.com/news/2022/espn-to-stream-featured-groups-at-kroger-queen-city-championship
AON RISK REWARD CHALLENGE – THE PAR-5 12TH AT KENWOOD COUNTRY CLUB
The 12th hole at Kenwood Country Club’s Kendale Course will test a player’s decision making from the first shot, with most of the field attempting to cut the dogleg right. For players able to clear the fairway bunker, a downhill landing area will add distance and provide a great position to go for the green in two. The water on the right side of the green will influence every approach shot, causing some players to bail out to the left, finding the greenside bunkers.
On the LPGA Tour Aon Risk Reward Challenge, there are eight events remaining until a Challenge winner is crowned. Aon ambassador and the current no. 1 ranked player in the Race to CME Globe standings, Minjee Lee, continues to sit in first place. A look at the leaderboard heading into the Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G:
For more on the Aon Risk Reward Challenge, click here: https://www.lpga.com/statistics/aon-risk-reward-challenge
RACE TO THE CME GLOBE UPDATE
The season-long Race to the CME Globe continues through the Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G. Heading into the week in Cincinnati, Minjee Lee holds a narrow lead over Brooke Henderson in the Race to the CME Globe standings. Lee has earned 2,509.703 points in 15 events while Henderson has 2,357.291 points through 17. Lydia Ko remains in third with 2,215.550 points over Jennifer Kupcho (2,035.050 points) and In Gee Chun (1,804.803 points.
With her third career win at the Dana Open presented by Marathon, Gaby Lopez shot up the standings from 50th to 23rd with 1,001.661 points. Other big movers include Caroline Masson, who went from 69th to 49th, and Ruoning Yin, whose career-best T4 finish last week helped get the LPGA Tour rookie into the top 100 (93) from No. 142 with 197.262 points.
The Race to the CME Globe is a season-long points competition with LPGA Tour Members accumulating points in every official LPGA tournament to qualify for the season-ending tournament, CME Group Tour Championship. The player who wins the CME Group Tour Championship is named the “Race to the CME Globe Champion.” Beginning in 2019, players started earning points at each official LPGA Tour event throughout the season leading up to the CME Group Tour Championship. The top-60 points earners and ties then earn a spot in the CME Group Tour Championship with the entire field competing for a $7 million purse highlighted by a $2 million winner’s check, the largest single prize in the history of women’s golf.
SOCIAL MEDIA: #DRIVEON
Tournament: @QueenCityLPGA (Twitter), @queencitylpga (Instagram), @QueenCityChampionship (Facebook); #queencitylpga
LPGA Tour: @LPGA and @LPGAMedia (Twitter), @lpga_tour (Instagram)
TV TIMES (all times Eastern on Golf Channel)
Thursday, September 8 – 4 p.m. – 7 p.m.
Friday, September 9 – 4 p.m. – 7 p.m.
Saturday, September 10 – 2 p.m. – 5 p.m.
Sunday, September 11 – 2 p.m. – 5 p.m.
STREAMING TIMES (NBCSports.com, GolfChannel.com and NBC Sports App)
Thursday, September 8 – 4 p.m. – 7 p.m.
Friday, September 9 – 4 p.m. – 7 p.m.
Saturday, September 10 – 2 p.m. – 5 p.m.
Sunday, September 11 – 2 p.m. – 5 p.m.
ESPN+ FEATURED GROUP STREAMING TIMES
Thursday Featured Groups
Brooke Henderson/Paula Creamer/Minjee Lee | 8:36 a.m. ET
Leona Maguire/Stacy Lewis/Sei Young Kim | 8:47 a.m. ET
Ally Ewing/Hannah Green/Andrea Lee | 1:14 p.m. ET
Paula Reto/Sarah Schmelzel/Angela Stanford | 1:25 p.m. ET
Friday Featured Groups
Lexi Thompson/Jessica Korda/Atthaya Thitikul | 8:36 a.m. ET
Danielle Kang/Jennifer Kupcho/Ashleigh Buhai | 8:47 a.m. ET
Marina Alex/Alison Lee/Gaby Lopez | 1:14 p.m. ET
Anna Nordqvist/Harigae/Khang | 1:25 p.m. ET
*ESPN+ coverage of Saturday and Sunday rounds will follow a similar schedule, determined when pairings and tee times are announced.
COURTESY LPGA COMMUNICATIONS
