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LPGA preview: Golf’s best rivalry headlines the 2022 season

Nelly Korda and Jin Young Ko enter the 2022 season as the No. 1 and No. 2 players in the world. (Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

​​The LPGA Tour marches into 2022 with a new commissioner at the helm, a record purse and 34 tournaments on the schedule, the most since 2017.

Only nine weeks removed from Jin Young Ko’s thrilling finish to win LPGA Player of the Year over Nelly Korda, the best women’s golfers in the world tee off at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions in Orlando this weekend. As the calendar year begins, here’s what we’re looking forward to in the tour’s 72nd season.

Korda versus Ko, Part Two? Not so fast

Ko’s victory at the CME Group Tour Championship in mid-November put the finishing touches on a budding rivalry between the No. 1 and No. 2 players in the Rolex World Rankings. Ko and Korda closed out the season as if they were competing in a heavy-weight boxing match, combining to win the final four events. Ko came away with the Player of the Year award, her second in the last three years, as well as the money title for the third consecutive year.

As the golfers enter the 2022 season, however, past returns don’t guarantee future results.

The last time the top two players with the most victories repeated the following season was in 2015, when Lydia Ko and Inbee Park (and Stacy Lewis) won three times each in 2014 and then five times each in 2015. Other than that, you have to go back to 2002-03, when future Hall of Famers Annika Sorenstam and Se Ri Pak led the tour in victories in back-to-back years. Sorenstam had 11 wins in 2002 and five in 2003, while Pak recorded five in 2002 and three in 2003 alongside Candie Kung.

Achieving that level of success in consecutive seasons isn’t easy against the LPGA’s deep field of challengers. Korda begins her season at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions on Thursday, while Ko works with her coach, Si Woo Lee, in Palm Springs, Calif.

The lingering Vare Trophy question

The LPGA Tour has two end-of-season awards that factor into a player’s selection to the Hall of Fame: the Player of the Year award and the Vare Trophy. The player with the lowest scoring average on tour wins the Vare. So, after Ko and Korda dominated the LPGA in 2021, it would be reasonable to assume those awards ended up in their hands.

Korda did finish the season with the lowest scoring average on tour, 68.774, edging out Ko’s 68.866. Lydia Ko, however, won the Vare because she met the minimum-round requirement for the award. To be eligible for the Vare, a player must record 70 rounds or 70 percent of the official tournament rounds. Even though five canceled events during the 2021 season removed 20 possible rounds, 70 remained the lesser number. As a result, Ko (67 rounds) and Korda (62) each narrowly missed eligibility for the Vare.

What’s even harder to swallow about their disqualification is it causes them to miss out on an LPGA Hall of Fame point. The LPGA requires that a player win a season-ending award or a major to be eligible for the Hall of Fame. Players earn one point for a regular tour win and one for securing either of the two season-ending awards, the Vare Trophy or the Player of the Year. Players gain two points for major championship victories.

In total, a golfer must accumulate 27 points and ten years of tour service to enter the Hall of Fame.

With seven LPGA victories and a major title, Korda has eight points. Ko, meanwhile, has seventeen points thanks to 12 LPGA victories, two majors and three end-of-season awards (2019 Vare; 2019 and 2021 Player of the Year).

Only four players have played their way into the LPGA’s Hall of Fame since the turn of the century: Annika Sorenstam (2003), Karrie Webb (2005), Se Ri Pak (2007) and Inbee Park (2016). Lorena Ochoa meets the points requirement, but not the years of service.

LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan acknowledged the controversy surrounding Vare Trophy eligibility during a media roundtable at the CME Group Tour Championship in November.

“It’s not the first time that’s happened,” she said. “I think over the years, there have been top players who have not been eligible for the trophy … Now that the purses are bigger, the players can play fewer events and still make a really good living.

“So, we have to step back and evaluate. Are those the right numbers? Are we allowing our best players to win this really prestigious award? We’re really open to evaluating that in the offseason.”

As the first tournament of the season gets underway this week, there have been no updates to the award’s requirements.

How far will the purse go?

On Jan. 7, former LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan made one of his first landmark decisions as United States Golf Association CEO, adding Promedica as a presenting sponsor of the U.S. Women’s Open and nearly doubling the tournament’s purse from $5.5 million to $10 million this year. Over the next five years, it will rise to as much as $12 million.

The U.S. Women’s Open represents the crown jewel of recent LPGA purse surges, with the full-schedule purse up to $90.2 million from $69.2 million last season. The AIG Women’s Open leapt from $4.5 million in 2020 to $6.8 million in 2022. Likewise, the CME Group Tour Championship increased its purse from $5 million in 2021 to $7 million this year.

Chevron took over as presenting sponsor of the first major of the year in March, and increased the purse of the tournament from $3.1 million to $5 million.

Marcoux Samaan, who’s seeking to bridge the pay gap between the LPGA and PGA Tours at all levels, said recently that she expects more purse increase announcements.

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Patty Tavatanakit is poised for a breakout 2022 season. (Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images)

Thailand’s rise to LPGA prominence

At the 2021 ANA Inspiration, Patty Tavatanakit blitzed the field with a 323-yard driving average to claim her first LPGA Tour victory and deliver Thailand its second-ever LPGA major championship. She also became the first rookie to win the ANA Inspiration since Juli Inkster in 1984.

Tavatanakit, Ariya Jutanugarn, Moriya Jutanugarn and Pajaree Annanarukarn form the group of Thai players who won on the LPGA last year, the second-most champions from any country behind the five from the United States (Nelly Korda [4], Austin Ernst, Ally Ewing, Jessica Korda and Ryann O’Toole.) South Korea had three winners last year (Ko [5], Inbee Park, Hyo Joo Kim), and Japan had two (Nasa Hataoka [2], Yuka Saso).

Atthaya Thitikul first made a statement five years ago, when she became the youngest player ever to win a professional golf tournament at 14 years and four months old at the Ladies European Thailand Championship. She nearly left her mark on the LPGA last season, but Ariya Jutanugarn ripped the victory out of her hands when she shot a 63 on Sunday at the Honda LPGA Thailand. Instead, Thitikul dominated on the Ladies European Tour, winning twice and finishing in the top 10 in 13 of her 17 starts. After earning her LPGA status through Q-Series, the tour’s qualifying school, Thitikul is 20th in the Rolex World Rankings, the second-highest ranking for a Thai player behind Tavatanakit (12th).

Thitikul is also the second-highest ranked 2022 LPGA rookie, with Ayaka Furue of Japan behind her at 14th. Hinako Shibuno, who declined LPGA status after winning the 2019 AIG Women’s Open, also earned her card through Q-Series and is 37th in the world.

The race for No. 1

Since the creation of the Rolex Rankings in 2006, only Jin Young Ko (2020), Lydia Ko (2016), Yani Tseng (2012) and Lorena Ochoa (2008, 2009) have held onto the No. 1 spot for an entire calendar year. In the 16 years of its existence, fifteen players have earned the label as the best player in the world. The rankings formula uses an average weight of points earned from each tournament, with more points available at majors than at regular events. And the stronger the field, which is based on the rankings of the players in the tournament, the more points a player can earn.

Korda enters the 2022 season having spent 27 weeks atop the world and counting, the most ever for an American. She and Ko are in a tier of their own, averaging 9.73 and 9.64 points, respectively, ahead of Lydia Ko’s third-place 5.78 average.

While the top two players have a notable lead, it’s not an insurmountable difference, as Korda showed last year. Korda entered 2021 with a 6.34 point average and sat third in the rankings before her win at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship vaulted her to No. 1.

The most room for ranking volatility comes in June, when two majors are played over the course of the month. The U.S. Women’s Open will be held at Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club from June 2-5, followed by the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Congressional Country Club from June 23-26.

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LPGA icon Annika Sorenstam might not be done just yet. (Rich Schultz/Getty Images)

The return of Annika Sorenstam?

Golf is one of the few sports where an all-time great can return years later and still hold their own. Last January, Sorenstam made the cut at the 2021 Gainbridge LPGA — held at her home course of Lake Nona Golf Club — in her first LPGA start in 13 years. It was the Swede’s 297th made cut in 308 career LPGA starts, and 50th consecutive made cut.

Now Sorenstam, a 72-time LPGA champion, can prove her return is official in 2022. Sorenstam earned her status for the 2022 U.S. Women’s Open by winning the U.S. Senior Women’s Open last year. While she has yet to commit to play, the script is set for her to enter. Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club, the home of this year’s U.S. Women’s Open, is where Sorenstam won her second major title in 1996.

The 51-year-old is playing in the celebrity division of the Tournament of Champions this week.

Kent Paisley is a contributing writer at Just Women’s Sports covering golf and the LPGA. He also contributes to Golf Digest. Follow him on Twitter @KentPaisley.

USC’s McKenzie Forbes: From Gap Year to the NCAA Tournament

As part of our 1-v-1 video series, USC’s India Otto sat down to interview her teammate McKenzie Forbes. 

Here are five things to know from our conversation with the graduate transfer from Folsom, California.

#1 Inspired by USC’s Head Coach, Lindsay Gottlieb, McKenzie wants to be a basketball coach or work in the front office in the future.

When weighing in on what makes a good coach, McKenzie said x’s and o’s are important but “Coaching is a lot of relationship managing and people managing. I think you have to be a good people person and be able to build those relationships, but also in that same breath, you can’t be afraid to have people dislike you in moments. I think that’s a big part of leadership.”

#2 McKenzie says the trajectory of her career changed when she made the decision to transfer from Cal to Harvard.

 In order to transfer, she was forced to take a gap year and spend a lot of time in the gym. “I completely transformed my body and, going into the Harvard season, felt like I was a completely different player. Going to Harvard and playing in a more mid-major conference, I had the ball in my hands a lot more than I might have if I transferred to another Power 5. It really developed other parts of my game.”

#3 How does McKenzie think USC will do in the Women’s College Basketball Tournament?

“I’m not going to give a typical interview answer. I want a Final Four. We have that potential and capability. Like why not? Why not us? I think we have all the pieces.”

#4 Her older brother, Marcus, was her biggest mentor growing up.

“He was basically my trainer from Elementary school on until he went to college.”

#5 Fun facts about Forbes:

She can juggle and she was the quarterback of her Pop Warner football team. “I was slow but I could throw it!”

Watch the full conversation on the Just Women’s Sports YouTube channel.

Christen Press back training with Angel City FC

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 15: Christen Press #23 of Angel City FC waves to fans following a game between the Portland Thorns and Angel City FC at BMO Stadium on October 15, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Katharine Lotze/Getty Images)

Christen Press continues to inch her way back to a return, having returned to training with her club team Angel City. 

Angel City FC coach Becki Tweed said on Wednesday that Press is back with the team full-time as she continues to make her way back from an ACL injury. While she’s still working on rehab, her being back with the team gives staff a better picture of her progress. 

"Christen [Press] is back with us full time which is amazing,” she said. “Having her in and around the team every day, continuing to work hard on rehab ... she's in a space where being in with the team is really important to her and her progression as well.”

The status update comes days after Press posted videos to social media that featured her doing lateral movement in cleats on grass. 

“Look out world she’s on the move !” Press captioned it. 

Press has been sidelined with an ACL injury since 2022, which caused her to miss the 2023 World Cup. She’s since had four separate surgeries to help repair her ACL.

Press told The Athletic a month ago that she’s been “relentless” in her optimism with her recovery despite it being a “slow process.”

“I have a bit of relentless optimism,” she told The Athletic. “I never, ever doubted that I would make it back on any of the timelines I’ve been on."

"Every single time I’ve heard, ‘You have to have surgery,’ I’m completely shocked,” she said. “When somebody asks me how it’s going, I’m like, ‘It’s going great. And it was going great every time. So I don’t know what to tell you anymore!’”

Sophia Smith re-signs with Portland on record deal

(Troy Wayrynen-USA TODAY Sports)

Sophia Smith is now the NWSL’s highest-paid player. 

The Portland Thorns announced on Wednesday that they have signed Smith to a new contract through the 2025 season, with an option for 2026. While the terms of the deal were not disclosed, the team did reveal that Smith is now the highest-paid player in the league on an annual basis.

It’s the latest in what has been a series of record-breaking contracts in the NWSL offseason. 

Chicago Red Stars forward Mallory Swanson, Bay FC forward Racheal Kundananji, and Orlando Pride forward Barbra Banda all signed multi-year deals worth between $2 million and $2.5 million in total. While Smith’s contract is shorter and not worth as much over the long-term, the annual worth is higher. 

“We are over the moon to have Soph commit again to the Thorns. She is a proven, world-class talent and one that we are excited to have contribute to the team’s continued success,” said head coach Mike Norris in a statement. “We look forward to working with her in a Thorns jersey as she continues to shine as one of the top strikers in the world.”

In just four seasons in the NWSL, Smith has led the Thorns to five trophies – including the 2022 NWSL championship – while winning league and championship MVP in 2022. In 61 appearances with Portland, she has 34 goals – including a brace to start this season against Kansas City. 

She’s also a member of the USWNT, having scored 16 goals in 44 international appearances.  Set to become a free agent at the end of this season, she told ESPN she “thought of all the options” but ultimately Portland felt like the right decision.

"There is no place like Portland," Smith said in a small roundtable interview that included ESPN. "I don't believe there's an environment like Portland to play in and it's a city that's so special to me and a city that I feel like I've grown up in almost and become who I am."

She also told ESPN that the team’s new ownership “changes everything.” The club is now led by the Bhathal family, who bought the club after Merritt Paulson was forced to sell it following his part in the NWSL’s abuse scandal. 

"Since I've been here there has been a lot of things going on with this club -- a lot of not-great things going on with this club -- and I have just been waiting for some stability and some reassurance that this club is headed in the right direction, and the Bhathal family coming in is doing exactly that, if not more,” Smith said. 

"Their vision for this club is so exciting, and you can just tell how passionate they are about making this what it should be and continuing to push the standard in women's soccer globally.”

Caitlin Clark offered $5 million to compete in Ice Cube’s league

IOWA CITY, IOWA- MARCH 25: Guard Caitlin Clark #22 of the Iowa Hawkeyes celebrates as time runs out in the second half against the West Virginia Mountaineers during their second round match-up in the 2024 NCAA Division 1 Women's Basketball Championship at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on March 25, 2024 in Iowa City, Iowa. (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images)

Caitlin Clark has been offered $5 million to play in Ice Cube's Big3 league, he confirmed on social media Wednesday after the offer leaked.

"We intended the offer to remain private while Caitlin Clark plays for the championship," Ice Cube wrote on social media. "But I won't deny what's now already out there: BIG3 made a historic offer to Caitlin Clark. Why wouldn't we? Caitlin is a generational athlete who can achieve tremendous success in the BIG3."

While there has yet to be a women's player in the league, both Nancy Lieberman and Lisa Leslie have been part of the league as coaches and won championships.

"The skeptics laughed when we made Nancy Lieberman the first female coach of a men's pro team, and she won the championship in her first year," Ice Cube continued. "Then Lisa Leslie won it all in year two. With our offer, Caitlin Clark can make history and break down even more barriers for women athletes."

Ice Cube, whose name is O’Shea Jackson, says that the offer was made with the intention that Clark be able to compete in the WNBA “offseason.” Clark is largely expected to be the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA draft in April. But it’s unclear how the scheduling of the two leagues would work. 

The 2024 Big3 season is set to tip off on June 15, with 10 games spanning through mid-August. The WNBA regular season, meanwhile, begins on May 14 and ends on Sept. 19.

On “The Pat McAfee Show” on Wednesday, Jackson said that the league has yet to hear back from Clark. 

“We just need an answer, as soon as they are ready to give it to us,” he said. “It’s always 50-50 till we get a no. At the end of the day, it’s a generous offer.”

The offer – as well as the confusion on Jackson’s part about the timing of the WNBA season – caused some current WNBA players to react. 

"It's funny cause I be seeing his son at W games.. they don't talk?" wrote former No. 1 pick Rhyne Howard

"So no other women's basketball player has came to mind in the last 7 years?" wrote Lexie Brown, adding that she'd support if Ice Cube wanted to build a women's iteration of the league. She later discussed it on the Gils Arena Show, noting that his reasoning of wanting to “uplift and support WNBA players and women athletes” is a “cop out.”

Kalani Brown, meanwhile, told Clark to "take that money" and start a women's Big3.

WNBA salaries has been a talking point in recent months as more collegiate stars declare for the league. WNBA stars have often made more money playing abroad than they have in the WNBA. Clark is expected to be the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft on April 15, with a rookie salary of $76,535 for lottery draft picks (Nos. 1-4) that rises to $97,582 by her fourth season. But she also has an NIL valuation of almost $3.5 million.

Diana Taurasi famously skipped the 2015 WNBA season at the request of her Russian club, who paid her more to sit out than she would have made in the W. Her contract with the club was reportedly near $1.5 million per year.

Jackson also seemed to suggest that his league could be an alternative to going abroad

“America’s women athletes should not be forced to spend their off seasons playing in often dismal and dubious foreign countries just to make ends meet,” he wrote. Although it’s unclear whether or not the rapper intends to make offers to additional WNBA players. 

While the league does hold prioritization rules in its CBA, those typically apply only to players playing in overseas leagues. It’s unclear whether or not that would prevent Clark’s participation in the Big3 league.

WNBA players that don’t want to go overseas currently have the option of playing in Athletes Unlimited, which competes in the WNBA offseason.

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