LPGA Drive On Championship Set for Thursday at Golden Ocala
Wednesday, March 3, 2021

    The LPGA Tour returns to Golden Ocala Golf & Equestrian Club for the first time since 2016 when the venue hosted the second playing of the Coates Championship presented by R+L Carriers won by Ha Na Jang. In 2015, Na Yeon Choi captured the inaugural Coates Championship presented by R+L Carriers. This time around, Golden Ocala is set to host 120 players beginning Thursday, including World No. 1 Jin Young Ko.

    With the previous event having been played in Orlando, the entire field has been at Golden Ocala since Monday morning, spread out over the course, the driving range and the two practice greens. 

    Most recent LPGA Tour champion Nelly Korda also highlights the field, as she ventures to Marion County fresh off her victory at the Gainbridge LPGA. She is one of two LPGA winners so far in 2021, joined by her sister Jessica, who is also in the field this week. They are two of eight players competing who call Florida home. Nelly earned $300,000 for her Orlando victory - she finished at 16 under par.

    Both winners of the LPGA Drive On Championship events of 2020 - Danielle Kang at Inverness and Ally Ewing at Reynolds Lake Oconee - are also eager to tee it up. Seven of the top-10 players in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings are at Golden Ocala.

    This is the third time the LPGA Tour has played at Golden Ocala. As a 17-year-old, Lydia Ko finished in a tie for second at the 2015 Coates Golf Championship to climb to No. 1 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, her first time at the pinnacle of the rankings. She still holds the record for youngest player ever to reach No. 1 in the world (male or female).

    Esther Henseleit and Laura Restrepo earned the final two spots in the field via Monday qualifying, and Marissa Steen gained entry via a top-10 finish in Orlando last week. 

    The field will be teeing off in threesomes Thursday morning on both nines beginning at 7:05. Stacy Lewis goes off No. 1 at 7:49, and Jin Young Ko at 8:11 from No. 1 alongside the Kordas. Hall of Famer Laura Davies will begin from No. 10 at 12:03, and Brooke Henderson from No. 10 at 12:25.

    Lydia Ko goes at 12:36 from No. 10 with Ally Ewing and Lexi Thompson. Gator Sandra Gal goes at 12:47 from No. 1. Lexi and Lydia tied for second last week at 13 under and took home $158,959 each.  

    TV for the first two days is slated for 10 a. m. to 1 p. m. on Golf Channel, and from 2:30 to 5:30 on Saturday and Sunday.  

    The inaugural LPGA Drive On Championship at Golden Ocala is one of five tournaments on the 2021 LPGA Tour schedule to be contested in the Sunshine State, along with the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions (Lake Buena Vista), Gainbridge LPGA (Orlando), Pelican Women’s Championship (Belleair) and CME Group Tour Championship (Naples).

    Golden Ocala Golf & Equestrian Club features eight masterful tribute holes from historic courses around the world including No. 4 (Royal Troon, No. 8), No. 5 (Muirfield, No. 9), No. 6 (Augusta National, No. 16), No. 11 (Augusta National, No. 12), No. 12 (Augusta National, No. 13), No. 13 (Old Course at St. Andrews, No. 17), No. 14 (Old Course at St. Andrews, No. 1) and No. 15 (Upper Course at Baltusrol, No 4).

Leave a comment below
comments powered by Disqus