After last week’s team event, the International Crown at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco, which saw Thailand outclass Australia, the LPGA Tour heads east to New Jersey’s Upper Montclair Country Club for the Cognizant Founders Cup.
Once again, many of the world’s best players are in the field, including defending champion Minjee Lee. The Australian held off the challenge of Lexi Thompson to win by two shots in 2022, and the World No.6 will be confident of claiming her ninth LPGA Tour title this week.
To achieve that, she will need to finish ahead of eight other players in the world’s top 10. After the US team finished third in last week’s tournament, World No.1 Nelly Korda will be looking to put that disappointment behind her with her first win since the Pelican Women’s Championship last November.
Last year’s runner-up also appears along with another player with realistic aspirations of winning the tournament, World No.2 Lydia Ko. The New Zealander makes her first start since missing the cut at the first Major of the year, the Chevron Championship at Carlton Woods.
Perhaps the greatest threat to Lee’s hopes of retaining her title comes from Jin Young Ko. The World No.3 has won the tournament twice, most recently in 2021, and is looking for her second win of the year after her HSBC Women’s World Championship triumph in March.
Lilia Vu is one of the breakout stars of 2023 with two wins to her name so far, most recently in the Chevron Championship, and the World No.4 also plays. Others in the top 10 in this week’s field are former World No.1 Atthaya Thitikul, Canadian Brooke Henderson and World No.9 Georgia Hall, who returns to action after pulling out of last week’s tournament with injury.
Other in-form players appearing include Celine Boutier, who won the LPGA Drive On Championship in March and Hannah Green, who claimed her third LPGA Tour win in the JM Eagle LA Championship in April after a dramatic playoff. Elsewhere, World No.13 Xiyu Lin plays after she was edged out by Green in that tournament along with World No.15 Nasa Hataoka, who finished tied for 11th.
Ashleigh Buhai, who won the AIG Women’s Open in 2022, also plays. Other former winners include Anna Nordqvist, who claimed victory in 2017, and Sei Young Kim, who won the tournament the year before.
Players will be eyeing a share of the $3m purse. Of that, the winner will receive $450,000, while the player finishing second will claim $282,976.
Below is the full prize money…
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