NAPLES, Fla. — The QBE Shootout will become a true mixed event next season, with more LPGA stars joining their PGA counterparts.
So, besides more men being able to take lessons in tempo and balance and their short game (more on that later), perhaps a few will gain some fashion sense.
That already started this year with Denny McCarthy pairing with Nelly Korda for the first time.
“She sent me a few J.Lindeberg outfits that I don’t quite have the color scheme for, we’re a little different,” McCarthy said before Friday’s first round. “So we were trying to coordinate some outfits. I don’t know if my outfits are going to match up to hers; she’s got some pretty wild color schemes.”
McCarthy and Korda join Maverick McNealy and Lexi Thompson as the only mixed groups in this year’s field of 24. The Associated Press recently reported that the shootout will become a true mixed-team event starting next year, the first one since the JCPenney Classic in 1999.
The only question is, what took so long?
The event falls at the perfect time for both tours with the women on a break and still a month away from the start of the next season, and the men in the middle of the relaxed wraparound portion of their season. Or what is known as the “silly season.”
Adding players such as Thompson, Korda, Annika Sorenstam, Lydia Ko, Brooke Henderson, Danielle Kang, Stacy Lewis, Jessica Korda, Anna Nordqvist, Jennifer Kupcho and others to the field with a PGA teammate would make for a more interesting weekend and more reasons to turn on the TV.
And a lot more fun for the participants.
“I think it’s a nice season finisher,” said Korda, No. 2 in the world. “And for us to be put on a stage with the men I think is also exciting. For viewers, it’s just a little bit something different.”
The 2022 QBE Shootout purse is $3.8 million, modest by PGA standards but topped by just six LPGA events next season. And the more unique an event, the more intrigue to sponsors and the more opportunity to increase the money.
“Golf being such an individual sport, we want more team events but definitely mixed women’s and men’s,” said Thompson, ranked seventh in the world. “I think it will be great for the game of golf. I think team events bring a lot bigger fan base. I think people absolutely love watching us play and fist pump and just be there for each other.”
Annika Sorenstam was a pioneer in mixed golf
The history of women in the shootout starts with…
..
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Golfweek…