Prize funds in the world of professional golf have grown at an enormous rate since the post-World War II era. During the 1950s and early 1960s the purses grew minimally. When Sam Snead won the Byron Nelson Golf Classic in 1945 he pocketed $2,000. When former Lake County resident Johnny Pott won there in 1960, the winner’s paycheck was $3,500. Then the sporting world discovered Arnold Palmer and televised golf, and the money behind the game began to grow. Ten years after Pott’s victory, Jack Nicklaus defeated Palmer in a playoff and took home $20,000. Some 20 years later Payne Stewart made $180,000 for his victory in the ’90 Byron Nelson. Then along came Tiger Woods and things went through the roof. More than anything, corporate America and its advertising resources were big fans of professional golf.
At one time local chambers of commerce were behind the prize funds coupled with ticket sales at pro events. The chamber would hustle up its membership to sponsor the event. The old Sacramento Open on the PGA Tour of the 1930s sometimes relied on 40 or more local businesses to fund the tourney. As time went on, tournaments got greater recognition by aligning themselves with celebrities such as Bing Crosby and Bob Hope. In time the corporate world became quite advantageous to PGA Tour finances and tournaments suddenly took on the name of their principle sponsor such as Honda, Wells Fargo and John Deere.
This past weekend, the top golfers in the world of women’s professional golf teed it up at the Chevron Championship at The Woodlands in Texas. The Chevron is the first of five major tournaments this year on the LPGA calendar. For those of you who might seem perplexed by a tournament sponsored by Chevron in Texas that has major championship status, this tourney has been commonly known as the Dinah Shore and has had a myriad of title sponsors, including Colgate-Palmolive, Nabisco and ANA Inspiration. From its inception in 1972, the Dinah Shore always paid out more than the other LPGA majors. This year its total purse had ballooned to $5.1 million. The Chevron also had some generous side purses. In Gee Chung made a hole-in-one during third-round play Saturday and the bonus payout was a cool $1 million.
One of the changes that came about with the Chevron sponsorship was the relocation of the tournament from Southern California to Texas. Every previous version of the Dinah had been held in the Palm Springs area at the Dinah Course at Mission Hills. It was also a big gathering, most notably for women. Along with an LPGA major championship, there was the Dinah Shore Weekend with concerts, comedy shows, art fests and parties. It was a big boost to the Palm Springs economy. Lastly it had developed a sense of tradition from the Dinah Shore statue, the dive into Poppie’s Pond alongside the 18th green by the champion, and the past winner’s dinner.
Yet time moves on and this past Sunday marked the final round of the Chevron Championship. Going into that final round nine golfers were within two strokes of one another. Americans Allison Corpuz and Angel Yin were tied atop the leader board at 10-under-par. There was a lot of inexperience within the top nine as five of them were going for their first victory on the LPGA Tour and seven had never won a major title. Then again, when Jennifer Kupcho won last year at Mission Hills, it was her first win as well as her first major.
Sunday’s final round was overcast and cooler than it had been earlier in the week and the wind was active. A lightning delay was also a factor. The course was set up with difficult pin placements and par-3s playing to their maximum distance. The 54-hole leaders were at 10-under-par and anything under par on their scorecard would have resulted in a victory at the Chevron. Such was not the case as the leaders faltered and golfers from outside the top 10 made big charges. It was a classic final round of a major championship.
Thailand’s Atthaya Thitkul worked her way from 10th place to atop the leader board with just one hole to go. Her third shot on the final hole splashed into the water just short of the 18th green, she made double-bogey, and finished at 8-under-par when a birdie would have sealed the win. Nelly Korda needed a final-round 70 to jump from a tie for sixth place to a tie at the top, but she couldn’t make a defining putt coming down the stretch and finished one shot back. Angel Yin was 11-under-par standing on the 16th tee but made two bogeys in a row. A birdie on the final hole got her to 10-under-par and into a playoff. Coming from outside the top 10, Lilia Vu shot a most impressive final-round 68 to charge up the leader board and join Yin at 10-under-par.
The ensuing sudden-death playoff featured two 20-somethings from the Los Angeles area in Lilia Vu and Angel Yin. They had experienced up and down professional careers at a young age. Vu went to UCLA, was the No. 1-ranked female amateur in the world in 2018 and 2019, and was destined for great things. Or so she thought. After making just one cut in her first nine tourneys, she lost her tour card, and was relegated to the minor-league Symetra Tour. She did win three times on the Symetra in 2021, regained her LPGA card, had a decent 2022.This past February Lilia won the Honda LPGA Thailand. She was ranked 12th in the world rankings.
Angel Yin was the California State Women’s Amateur champ at age 12. She was 13 years old when she qualified into the 2012 U.S. Women’s Open. She turned pro in 2017, was the LPGA rookie of the year, and was the youngest player on Team USA in the 2017 Solheim Cup. By 2020 it started to all go south. She lost her golf game, a situation that continued into the Chevron. Angel had pocketed $3,256 in earnings in 2023 and was ranked 172nd in the world.
In the sudden-death playoff, Yin found the water with her second shot on the par-5 18th hole. Vu safely hit her second shot over the green and got up and down for birdie and the win. It was her second career win and her first major triumph. Her bank account received a big-time boost of $765,000 while Yin earned $479,680 for her runner-up status. Even those golfers who missed the 36-hole cut made $5,000 for their less-than-successful efforts. A nice gesture.
The first LPGA major of 2023 is now in the record books. While the all new Chevron Championship lacks some of the tradition of the Dinah Shore at Mission Hills, it certainly wasn’t lacking for drama at The Woodlands with the pressure of a major, the ever-changing leader board, and the final-hole exploits. This year’s version of The Dinah was as entertaining as ever.
