By Carey Van Lue

ISPS Handa World Invitational presented by Aviv Clinics

Galgorm & Castlerock Golf Club | Antrim, Northern Ireland | August 17-20, 2023

Wednesday Pre-Tournament Notes

August 16, 2023

*Please see attached the updated pairings for Rounds 1 and 2 following Bel Wardle’s withdrawl

NOTABLE PLAYERS AT THE ISPS HANDA WORLD INVITATIONAL PRESENTED BY AVIV CLINICS

Leona Maguire (Rolex Rankings World No. 14)

“I think in links in particular, I think with the winds, there’s some shots that you can hit four different clubs and there’s not really a right or a wrong club. It’s whatever you think at that moment in time. Whereas over here on this side at Galgorm it’s more target golf and you’re just going to hit it straight at the pin. An adjustment in mindset, but I think that’s the fun of it. I think it’s nice when you have to be a little bit more creative and use your imagination a little bit.” – Leona Maguire on the differences between the links course of Castlerock Golf Club and the parklands of Galgorm

• Maguire is the highest ranked play in the field this week
• She hails from Cavan, Ireland and is one of four Irish/Northern Irish players in the field
• This is her second appearance in the ISPS Handa World Invitational presented by Aviv Clinics since it became an official co-sanctioned LPGA/LET event
  • She finished solo 10th in 2022
• This is her 15th start of the 2023 LPGA Tour season
  • She has won once this season at the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give
  • She has four additional top-10 finishes this year
  • She has only missed one cut in 14 starts
• Maguire finished in the top-50 at every major championship this season
  • Her worst result in an LPGA Tour major this year is a T42 result at the Amundi Evian Championship
  • Her best major finish was a T11 result at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship
  • At least week’s AIG Women’s Open, she finished T30
• Maguire’s putting has been very strong as of late, according to the KPMG Performance Insight
  • Maguire gained more than two strokes on the field putting at the AIG Women’s Open, her second-best performance over the course of a tournament in 2023

• The pre-tournament intelligence shows that Maguire has improved her ranking in both scoring average and strokes gained total in 2023 compared to a season ago

• This is Maguire’s fourth season on the LPGA Tour
  • She has two career victories, one in 2022 and one in 2021
    • She became a Rolex First Time Winner at the 2022 LPGA Drive On Championship at Crown Colony
  • She is the only golfer from Ireland or Northern Ireland to win on the LPGA Tour
  • She has 19 career top-10s and has earned $3,918,326 on the LPGA Tour

Georgia Hall (Rolex Rankings World No. 16)

• This is Hall’s third appearance in the ISPS Handa World Invitational since it became an official co-sanctioned LPGA/LET event
  • She has earned two top-20 finishes in the event
  • In 2022 she finished solo third and in 2021 she finished T14
    • Her finish in Northern Ireland in 2022 was her best result of the season
  • • This is her 16th start of the 2023 LPGA Tour season
      • Hall has earned five top-10 finishes this season, including back-to-back runner-up results at the LPGA Drive On Championship at Superstition Mountain and DIO Implant LA Open
      • The KPMG Performance Insights show that Hall finished in the top-15 in each of her first six starts of the season, but has struggled some since The Chevron Championship

     

    Georgia Hall This Season on LPGA Tour
    	Through Chevron	Since Chevron
    Starts	6	9
    Top-15s	6	0
    Scoring average	68.88	71.96

     

    • Georgia Hall has greatly improved her performance off the tee in 2023 compared to last year, especially when it comes to accuracy – this season, she’s 58th in percentage of fairways hit, up 60 spots from just a season ago

     

    Georgia Hall Off the Tee Ranks – 2022 vs 2023
    	2022	2023
    SG: Off the tee	71st	36th
    Driving accuracy	118th	58th
    Total driving	55th	17th

     

    • Hall has ranked in the top-ten in a tournament field in strokes gained putting three times this season and two of those times, she finished runner-up

     

    Georgia Hall Best SG: Putting Tournament Ranks in 2023
    	SG Putting	Tournament Finish
    SG: Off the tee	1st	2nd
    Driving accuracy	9th	2nd
    Total driving	10th	T12

     

    • This is Hall’s sixth season on the LPGA Tour
      • She has two LPGA Tour victories including a major championship win at the 2018 AIG Women’s Open
        • She also won the 2020 Portland Classic
        • She is one of 10 players in this field this week who have won on the LPGA Tour

     

    Stephanie Meadow (Rolex Rankings World No. 92)

    “I mean, that was such an amazing memory to have all my friends and family here. My husband was on the bag. To do it at a golf course where I took lessons up on the range there when I was 10 years old, I mean, talk about a transformation. Obviously a super special memory and I’m excited to be back here again.” – Stephanie Meadow on earning her first professional win at the 2019 ISPS Handa World Invitational, before it was an official LPGA/LET co-sanctioned event

    • This is Meadow’s second start at the ISPS Handa World Invitational since it became an official co-sanctioned LPGA/Let event
      • She missed the cut in the 2022 playing of the event
      • She won the event in 2019 when it was a women’s invitational
    • Meadow hails from Jordanstown, Northern Ireland and is one of four Irish/Northern Irish golfers in the field this week
      • Meadow is a member at nearby Ballyclare Golf Club and Royal Portsrush Golf Club
    • This is her 15th start of the 2023 season
      • She has earned one top-10 finish this season, a T3 result at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship
        • It was her best finish in an LPGA Tour major since a solo third result at the 2014 U.S. Women’s Open
      • This is her fourth event in a row
        • She finished T61 at the Amundi Evian Championship, missed the cut at the FREED GROUP Women’s Scottish Open presented by Trust Golf and finished T56 at last week’s AIG Women’s Open
    • This is her eighth season on the LPGA Tour
      • She has two solo-third results on Tour, her best career finish
        • In addition to her third-place finish at the 2014 U.S. Women’s Open, she earned the same result at the 2020 The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican
      • She lost LPGA Tour priority status in 2018 and played primarily on the Epson Tour
        • Finished sixth in the Epson Tour’s Volvik Race for the Card to re-earn LPGA membership for the 2019 season
        • She had 13 top-25 results in 2018 on the Epson Tour including a win at the IOA Championship presented by Morongo Casino Resort and Spa

     

    ON LPGA.COM

    Five Things to Know About the ISPS Handa World Invitational

    Field Breakdown: ISPS Handa World Invitational

    How To Watch The 2023 ISPS Handa World Invitational

    Path to the Solheim Cup Winds Through Northern Ireland

    Megan Khang Clinches Spot on United States Solheim Cup Team

    Gabriela Ruffels Secures 2024 LPGA Tour Membership Through the Epson Tour’s Race for the Card

    Lilia Vu Becomes No. 1 in Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings

    Lilia Vu Wins Rolex ANNIKA Major Award

     

    SOCIAL SNAPSHOT

    Drive On: LPGA All Access Episode 7

    Featured Groups at the ISPS Handa World Invitational

    Hitting the Links with Leona Maguire

    There’s great things to learn from both sides of the competition

    Nial Horan is looking forward to an exciting week at the ISPS Handa World Invitational

    Gabriela Ruffels earns her 2024 LPGA Tour Card

    Proud bestie moments for Gabi Ruffels

• SOCIAL MEDIA: #DRIVEON

  Tournament – @World_Inv_Golf (Twitter, Instagram)

   

  LPGA Tour – @LPGA and @LPGAMedia (Twitter), @lpga_tour (Instagram)

   

  LET – @LETgolf (Twitter, Instagram)

   

  DP World Tour – @DPWorldTour (Twitter, Insatgram)

   

  TV/STREAMING TIMES

  (all times EDT)

  Thursday, August 17

  Round 1

  8:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.– NBC GOLF Channel, Peacock, International

   

  Friday, August 18

  Round 2

  8:00 a.m.- 1:00 p.m. – NBC GOLF Channel, Peacock, International

   

  Saturday, August 19

  Round 3

  8:30 a.m.- 12:30 p.m. – NBC GOLF Channel, Peacock, International

  12:30-1:30 p.m. – Peacock/International/Digital

   

  Sunday, August 20

  Final Round

  6:00- 11:30 a.m. – NBC GOLF Channel, International

   

  Live Coverage can also be found on Digital:

  NBC – NBC Sports App, NBCSports.com, golfchannel.com

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