Monday, February 1, 2021
The top 25 finishers in last week's Diamond Resorts Championship in Orlando are among the 115 players who have already committed to the LPGA's Drive On Championship to be played at the par-72 Golden Ocala from March 4 through 7th. The tournament, with a purse of $1.5 million, will be at 72 holes beginning on Thursday.
It's hard to believe it's been six years (2015) since Ha Na Jang won the second edition of the Coates Championship at Golden Ocala, and seven (2014) since Na Yeon Choi won the inaugural in an event that was universally applauded by the players, management, spectators, local businesses and the media.
The roster of 115 is listed below, and all the marquee players are prominent, such as Choi, Lexi Thompson, the Korda sisters, who finished 1 and 3 in Orlando, Brooke Henderson, long-time English star Laura Davies, Brittany Lincicome (who gave me a lift to the media parking lot last time on her way to Horse 'N Hounds), Lydia Ko, University of Miami veteran Cristie Kerr, ex-Gator Sandra Gal, Caroline Masson, Stacy Lewis, whose instructor is former Ocala teacher Joe Hallett, Anna Nordqvist, Orlando runner-up Danielle Kang, Carlota Ciganda, Charley Hull, Brittany Lang and a host of others - but this paragraph is too long already.
Of course, I don't want to forget my favorite name in all of golf - Sarah Schmelzel, who hails from Phoenix. And, Marina Alex, with whom I had breakfast the last time the LPGA was in town.
There are nine entered who currently make their home in Florida. Two crowd favorites conspicuous by their absence are Michelle Wie, who is pictured on the upper right hand corner of this page but has long being suffering from a wrist injury, and Christina Kim, who is fifth on the alternate list (LPGA calls it "reserve") and still has plenty of time to get in.
These are the 115 players who have committed to the Drive On - with their hometowns:
Marina Alex . . . Wayne, N. J.
Brittany Altomare . . . Shrewsbury, MA
Pajaree Anannarukarn . . . Bangkok, Thailand
Aditi Ashok . . . Bangalore, India
Celine Boutier . . . Montrouge, France
Nicole Broch Larsen . . . Hillerod, Denmark
Ashleigh Buhai . . . Johannesburg, South Africa
Tiffany Chan . . . Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Jennifer Chang . . . Cary, NC
Ssu-Chia Cheng . . . Taipei, Chinese Taipei
Chella Choi . . . Seoul, Republic of Korea
Na Yeon Choi . . . Seoul, Republic of Korea
In Gee Chun . . . Seoul, Republic of Korea
Carlota Ciganda . . . Pamplona, Spain
Cydney Clanton . . . Concord, NC
Jenny Coleman . . . Rolling Hills Estates, CA
Daniela Darquea . . . Quito, Ecuador
Laura Davies . . . Ripley, England
Perrine Delacour . . . Laon, France
Lindy Duncan . . . Plantation, FL
Austin Ernst . . . Seneca, SC
Jodi Ewart Shadoff . . . North Yorkshire, England
Ally Ewing . . . Fulton, MS
Maria Fassi . . . Pachuca, Mexico
Dana Finkelstein . . . Chandler, AZ
Sandra Gal . . . Dusseldorf, Germany
Kristen Gillman . . . Austin, TX
Jaye Marie Green . . . Jupiter, FL
Georgia Hall . . . Bournemouth, England
Nasa Hataoka . . . Ibaraki, Japan
Muni He . . . Chengdu, China
Caroline Hedwall . . . Stockholm, Sweden
Brooke M. Henderson . . . Smiths Falls, Ontario
Jillian Hollis . . . Rocky River, OH
Daniela Holmqvist . . . Jupiter, FL
Wei-Ling Hsu . . . New Taipei City, Chinese Taipei
Charley Hull . . . Woburn, England
Mi Jung Hur . . . Daejeon, Republic of Korea
Caroline Inglis . . . Eugene, OR
Jiwon Jeon Daegu . . . Republic of Korea
Eun Hee Ji . . . Seoul, Republic of Korea
Tiffany Joh . . . San Diego, CA
Danielle Kang . . . Las Vegas, NV
Haeji Kang . . . Seoul, Republic of Korea
Sarah Kemp . . . Sydney, Australia
Cristie Kerr . . . Scottsdale, AZ
Megan Khang . . . Rockland, MA
Katherine Kirk . . . Sunrise Beach, Australia
Cheyenne Knight . . . Aledo, TX
Lydia Ko . . . Auckland, New Zealand
Nanna Koerstz Madsen . . . Smoerum, Denmark
Jessica Korda . . . Jupiter, FL
Nelly Korda . . . Bradenton, FL
Jennifer Kupcho . . . Westminster, CO
Brittany Lang . . . McKinney, TX
Bronte Law . . . Stockport, England
Esther Lee . . . Artesia, CA
Jaclyn Lee . . . Calgary, Alberta
Jeongeun Lee . . . Seoul, Republic of Korea
Jeongeun Lee6. . . Gyeonggi-Do, Republic of Korea
Stacy Lewis . . . The Woodlands, TX
Xiyu Lin . . . Guangzhou, China
Brittany Lincicome . . . Seminole, FL
Pernilla Lindberg . . . Bollnas, Sweden
Yu Liu . . . Beijing, China
Gaby Lopez . . . Mexico City, Mexico
Leona Maguire . . . Cavan, Ireland
Caroline Masson . . . Gladbeck, Germany
Stephanie Meadow . . . Jordanstown, Northern Ireland
Wichanee Meechai . . . Bangkok, Thailand
Giulia Molinaro . . . Treviso, Italy
Haley Moore . . . Escondido, CA
Azahara Munoz . . . San Pedro de Alcantara, Spain
Elizabeth Nagel . . . DeWitt, MI
Yealimi Noh . . . Concord, CA
Haru Nomura . . . Kanagawa, UT
Anna Nordqvist . . . Eskilstuna, Sweden
Ryann O'Toole . . . San Clemente, CA
Annie Park . . . Levittown, Long Island
Hee Young Park . . . Seoul, Republic of Korea
Sung Hyun Park . . . Seoul, Republic of Korea
Katherine Perry-Hamski . . . Cary, NC
Pornanong Phatlum . . . Chaiyaphum, Thailand
Gerina Piller . . . Roswell, NM
Sophia Popov . . . Heidelberg, Germany
Beatriz Recari . . . Pamplona, Spain
Robynn Ree . . . Redondo Beach, CA
Mel Reid . . . Derby, England
Madelene Sagstrom . . . Enkoping, Sweden
Lizette Salas . . . Azusa, CA
Sarah Schmelzel . . . Phoenix, AZ
Alena Sharp . . . Hamilton, Ontario
Jenny Shin . . . Seoul, Republic of Korea
Sarah Jane Smith . . . Sunshine Coast, Australia
Jennifer Song . . . Orlando, FL
Angela Stanford . . . Saginaw, TX
Lauren Stephenson . . . Lexington, SC
Jackie Stoelting . . . Vero Beach, FL
Linnea Strom . . . Hovas, Sweden
Jasmine Suwannapura . . . Bangkok, Thailand
Elizabeth Szokol . . . Chicago, IL
Emma Talley . . . Princeton, KY
Patty Tavatanakit . . . Bangkok, Thailand
Charlotte Thomas . . . Guildford, England
Lexi Thompson . . . Delray Beach, FL
Maria Fernanda Torres . . . San Juan, Puerto Rico
Yani Tseng . . . Taoyuan, Chinese Taipei
Alana Uriell . . . Carlsbad, CA
Albane Valenzuela . . . Geneva, Switzerland
Anne van Dam . . . Arnhem, Netherlands
Lindsey Weaver . . . Celina, TX
Suzuka Yamaguchi . . . Kanagawa, Japan
Jing Yan . . . Shanghai, China
Amy Yang . . . Seoul Republic of Korea
Angel Yin . . . Arcadia, CA
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