The first LPGA tournament of the 2023 season, the Hilton Grand Vacations ToC in Lake Nona, was won by Canadian Brooke Henderson, in her ninth season on the tour and her 13th victory, cashing a check for $225,000.
Henderson, who until last year was a Ping player, inaugurated the new Taylor Made equipment right in Lake Nona, not affected in any way by her change, on the contrary, holding the lead of the tournament for all four days.
Lpga, situation
“After the way I played this week” – said the Canadian – “I feel that anything is possible”.
From these words we can reasonably think that her next goal is to become the new n. 1 in the world ranking or win the Rolex Player of the Year.
Nelly Korda also unveiled her new Taylor Made outfit, but it seems she’s had more problems than Henderson. She also says that she instinctively woke up in the middle of the night between Saturday and Sunday to check the score of her brother Sebastian engaged in the Australian Open: “When I saw that you were ahead at the tie break, well, it was impossible to continue sleeping” . In any case, fourth place is a great result.
Charley Hull from England and Maja Stark from Sweden took advantage of Nelly Korda’s small collapse during the final round. It is evident that both are thinking of the Solheim Cup in September. Hull confirms the excellent form, which last October led her to victory at the Volunteers of America Classic and the playoff, then lost, against the German Chiara Noja, at the Aramco Team Series Jeddah.
Maja Stark half-jokingly says, “I still feel like a loser around LPGA tournaments.” The reason? Fans have mistaken her for Charley Hull, Brooke Henderson and Jennifer Kupcho. “I still can’t figure it out.” Dear Maja, I’m sure everyone will soon recognize you.
But the 2023 edition of the TOC will go down in history for the “cabinet dispute”.
The players were able to use the toilets and showers in the small women’s locker room, but without the possibility of having a locker to store their belongings during the match.
A tour official said that due to the layout of the clubhouse, the men’s locker room (which would have provided full facilities for female players) had to remain open to the public to use the toilets and they were unable to provide a private locker room and safe for female LPGA players. The club had offered a basement room where temporary lockers could be placed (but without a toilet area), but the tender committee then decided not to pursue this alternative.
The protests of the players did not take long to be heard. Matilda Castren of Finland said it is impossible to imagine such a situation on the PGA Tour. Former PGA Tour winner Grant Waite, who was present at Lake Nona as coach of Jody Ewart Shadoff, confirmed that he has never seen anything like this in the PGA. Ryann O’Toole said she was “annoyed” by the LPGA for neglecting this important aspect.
All this forced LPGA to partially backtrack, and on Wednesday 18th 36 lockers arrived in Lake Nona to be placed in the basement room (without bathrooms or showers, however).
LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan, who in the past has repeatedly emphasized guaranteeing the highest level of organization for the professionals taking part in the Tour, has officially apologized, assuring that such an error will never happen again (it seems, however, that had been made aware of the matter).
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