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LET eyes growth after crowning Aramco Team Series winner

(courtesy of Aramco Team Series)

Jessica Korda and Sophia Popov left the 17th hole arm and arm after a tense double-hole playoff to conclude the Aramco Team Series. What the two talked about is something Korda, who took home the team trophy at Glen Oaks, says will stay between the two competitors and friends.

“Sophia and I are great friends and playing anything against any of your best friends is tough,” said Korda, “but golf is golf and friendship is more important.”

The moment may have been a quiet exchange between friends, but the scene was apropos for a week focused on the expansion of the Ladies European Tour to U.S. soil and a return to team golf following the dramatic Solheim Cup. Popov and Korda found themselves on opposite teams, just as they did in Ohio for September’s Solheim contest between the U.S. versus Europe, with Korda walking away victorious this time around.

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Team Korda take a selfie with the ATS trophy (courtesy of Aramco Team Series)

The Aramco Team Series, held over three days in Glen Oaks Club, Long Island, marked the first-ever Ladies European Tour event in the United States. The move is all part of a growing synergy between the LPGA and LET after the two entities signed a 50-50 merger in 2019. The joint venture seeks to grow the game and especially in Europe, where the tour was once struggling to put events on the calendar. Weathering the pandemic shutdown, the LET appears to be on the upswing, a point many competing in the Aramco Team Series were keen to point out.

Catriona Matthew, who captained Europe to back-to-back Solheim Cup wins in 2019 and 2021, says events like the one at Glen Oaks is “great exposure” for European players “who wouldn’t normally get the chance to play here in the States.”

“Obviously, with the LPGA and LET merging now, I think you’ll hopefully see this a little more over the next few years,” said Matthew, adding, “It’s a win-win for both tours. Obviously, the LPGA played in New Jersey last week and we’ve got the likes of Lexi [Thompson], Jessica [Korda], Nelly [Korda], and Danielle [Kang] this week and, again, that’s a good thing for the LET to have these top players playing.”

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Sophia Popov in action at Glen Oaks (courtesy of the Aramco Team Series)

Alexandra Armas, the CEO of the LET, was present for the groundbreaking New York series, an event she couldn’t have imagined only a few years ago.

“On the back of where LET was, and it was struggling in the last few years, and then we had this big vision of where we wanted to take it and the collaboration with the LPGA and then COVID hit, we didn’t know how we wanted to get through that,” Armas admits.

In collaboration with Golf Saudi, the Aramco Series started in Jeddah in 2020 as a COVID solution for the Tour, growing to a four-leg event following the success of the contest in Saudi Arabia. The competition added a critical string of events to the LET and a prize fund of $1 million for each of the New York, Sotogrande, Jeddah, and London tournaments. The Series’ innovative set-up features teams of four, including three pros and one amateur, a format Armas hopes will attract new eyeballs to the sport.

“We have to, and on the back of COVID especially, be more creative about how we become relevant, how we appeal more,” said Amras, “you know it’s easy for the PGA Tour, it’s established, they don’t have to be that creative, but we have to be, we have to be kind of be modern with the game and try to get more attention and fan base and grow.”

Without the same coverage and television rights deals as men’s golf, Armas says the Tour is just at the beginning of their journey, making commercial partnerships, like the one with Aramco, imperative to the growth of the game.

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England's Charley Hull with her ATS winner's trophy (courtesy of Aramco Team Series)

Charley Hull, who took home the individual trophy at Glen Oaks for her third LET title and first since 2019, agrees with Armas, praising the competition for its role in progressing the sport.

“The backing these Aramco Team Series events gets is so important to supporting and growing the game, and they are all done really well.”

Fellow LET and LPGA competitor Anna Nordqvist echoed Hull’s sentiment, calling the New York competition “one of the most professional events I have ever been a part of,” a major statement from a golfer that has been on the Tour for over a decade.

“For companies to believe in women’s golf and wanting to give girls an opportunity, I think that’s massive,” said Nordqvist, adding, “I think it’s changed a lot of girls on the European Tour’s life and the fact that they can play and go to these amazing places.”

World No. 1 Nelly Korda summed up the underlying and pervasive conversation around investment succinctly, stating, “Aramco also invests in men’s sports, so the fact that they equally support women is important. I like seeing companies step up and support men and women… because what we do is just as fun as what the men do.”

The 2021 Aramco Team Series makes its final stop in Jeddah next month at the Royal Green Golf and Country Club, with the future of the competition looking bright. Armas says she hopes to be back in New York next year to put on another Aramco Series, with a date yet to be announced.

Mallory Swanson returns to Chicago’s starting lineup in season opener

(Isaac Hale-USA TODAY Sports)

Mallory Swanson made her NWSL return on Saturday, after having missed the majority of last season with a knee injury. 

It was her first game with the Red Stars in 349 days, after she tore her patella tendon playing with the USWNT last April. She made her return to the USWNT earlier this year, coming in as a training camp player ahead of the Concacaf W Gold Cup. Interim head coach Twila Kilgore said that Swanson looked “phenomenal” in training. 

On Saturday, Swanson got to showcase just how far she’s come in her recovery, being named to the Red Stars’ starting lineup. 

Chicago got the 2-0 road win over Utah, and perhaps more importantly, Swanson looked like she hadn’t missed a beat. She wound up playing 80 minutes, which included two shots (one on target), passing accuracy of 81%, four crosses, four possession wins and two clearances. 

All in a day's work for the USWNT and Chicago striker.

Lorne Donaldson, who coached Swanson during her time with youth club team Real Colorado, took over as the Red Stars coach in the offseason. 

‘‘I haven’t seen the toughness in any player that I have seen in Mal,’’ Donaldson told the Chicago Sun-Times  ahead of the match. 

The fact that Swanson played 80 minutes means that she could be back to a full 90 sooner rather than later, which itself could lead to a full USWNT call-up and cap.

OL Groupe completes sale of Seattle Reign

(Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports)

The Seattle Reign have officially been sold, with OL Groupe announcing on Monday the team has signed an agreement with a group that includes the Seattle Sounders ownership group.

The transaction still needs to be approved by the NWSL and MLS Board of Governors. Global investment firm Carlyle joins the Sounders ownership group in the purchasing of the club.

OL Groupe’s entire stake in the club will be sold, which amounts to 97% of the club’s share capital. They originally purchased the club in 2019 for approximately $3.5 million. 

“The sale price is $58 million for 100% of the shares,” they said in a statement. Last October, Sportico had valued the club at $49 million.

According to OL Groupe, the sale is part of their strategy to refocus on men’s soccer. Recently, the group sold the women's side of Olympique Lyonnais to Washington Spirit owner Michele Kang.

"OL Groupe is delighted with this transaction as it ensures a locally-led group will continue OL Groupe's successful development of the Seattle franchise," the holding company said.

The Reign aren’t the first club to be sold this year, with the sale of the San Diego Wave for $113 million being announced last week. In August of last year, the Red Stars were sold to a group led by Laura Ricketts for $35.5 million and in January the Portland Thorns sold for $63 million, which was at the time the highest price ever paid for an NWSL team. 

Angel City, the league’s most valuable team, is also reportedly exploring a sale of a controlling number of shares.

Kansas City makes history with ‘standard setting’ stadium opener

CPKC Stadium. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

The Kansas City Current opened their new stadium on Saturday, which is believed to be the world’s first stadium purpose-built for a women’s professional team. 

It was a full circle moment with the game being played against the Portland Thorns, 11 years after the two teams played the first-ever NWSL game at a high school football field in Overland Park, Kansas.

The game was a sellout, with the Current putting on a show in front of 11,500 fans, taking down Portland 5-4 in a chaotic, back-and-forth match. For both the league and Kansas City, it was a monumental moment. 

"I've only heard people talk about our game [Saturday] and not about Sporting [Kansas City, playing a MLS home game later that night],” Lo’eau LaBonta told ESPN. “Don't get me wrong, I love Sporting as well and I've been related to them [through marriage to Sporting player Roger Espinoza] for a while now, but that's what I'm hearing, and that's already different.

"Our faces are in the airport, on the streetcars. That would have never happened [before]. I bet you back in the day, not one person could name the team or when our game was gonna be on the weekend."

Members of the 1985 USWNT were in attendance, as the club celebrated the first-ever U.S. women’s national team. They also have a special spot in the stadium, recognizing their accomplishments. 

It was a day of many firsts, as Vanessa DiBernardo had the first goal in the stadium’s history. Alex Pfeiffer also got on the scoresheet with what would turn out to be the game winner, becoming the youngest player to score in NWSL regular season history at just 16 years old. 

“I think what this club is doing and setting the standard, and building this stadium, and people showing up and supporting it, and just women’s soccer growing in general, I think it’s just super special,” DiBernardo said. “Where we started with this league and where we are now, it just shows the growth and how much players have put into it and really pushed the standard, and how much we’ve kind of really had to fight for ourselves. And it’s just the start.”

Others celebrities were in attendance as well, including Brittany and Patrick Mahomes, who are also co-owners of the team. The duo kicked off the game with the stadium’s first “KC, baby!” chant.

"We've been saying if you build it they will come internally," NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman told ESPN at halftime. "And then coming here and actually seeing what it means to actually invest in brick and mortar physical infrastructure, it's a game-changer."

Possible LSU, Iowa rematch headlines women’s March Madness bracket

LSU's Angel Reese points at her ring finger behind Iowa's Caitlin Clark in celebration of the Tigers' NCAA championship win. (Ben Solomon/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)

The 68-team bracket for March Madness was revealed on Sunday, with Iowa facing a difficult road to the Final Four. 

As expected, Iowa was named a 1-seed – the team’s first since 1992 – and will host the first two rounds of the tournament at home. But they’re joined by No. 2 seed UCLA and No. 3 seed LSU in their quadrant, setting up a number of possible blockbuster showdowns before they even reach the Final Four. That includes a possible national championship rematch with the Tigers in the Elite Eight. 

They could also find themselves up against No. 4 seed Kansas State, a team that they played twice this season – and that beat them once. 

"They’ve got the hardest road in my opinion. This is the hardest road," ESPN analyst Andraya Carter said during the selection show with Rebecca Lobo in agreement.

Other storylines in the region include a possible matchup between LSU guard Hailey Van Lith and her former team Louisville in the second round after the Cardinals were drawn in the Baton Rouge regional. 

"Initially, I just thought, 'Oooh, this is a tough, tough region,'" LSU coach Kim Mulkey said of her first reaction to the bracket.

"You really have to go game to game. After you get out of the first round, every team is basically a top-25 team," Clark said. "You need a little luck, a good draw, need to be playing your best basketball, but I think the biggest thing for me is just enjoying every single second because this is the most fun basketball.”

Other No. 1 seeds include South Carolina, who earned the No. 1 overall seed, USC and Texas. Stanford dropped to a 2-seed following their Pac-12 tournament final loss, and are joined by UCLA, Ohio State and Notre Dame. UConn, NC State and Oregon State join LSU as 3-seeds. 

Columbia will be going dancing for the first time in school history, earning an at-large play-in bid against Vanderbilt. This is just the second time the Ivy League will have two teams in the NCAA tournament. 

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