After a spell on mainland USA, the LPGA Tour moves to Hawaii for the Lotte Championship at Hoakalei Country Club in Ewa Beach.
World No.9 Hyo-Joo Kim is the defending champion, having won last year’s tournament by two shots over Hinako Shibuno, and both players return this year.
Kim, in particular, has been in excellent form in 2023, and has yet to finish outside the top 10 on the LPGA Tour since the turn of the year, although she did only manage a tie for 18th in the LET’s Aramco Saudi Ladies International. If she successfully defends her title this week, it will be her sixth on the LPGA Tour.
If Kim is to achieve it, she will have to overcome some formidable opponents, including World No.7 Brooke Henderson. The Canadian is a two-time winner of the tournament, having achieved back-to-back victories in 2018 and 2019, and she’ll be confident of adding to her haul of 13 wins on the Tour this week.
To do so, she’ll need to rediscover the form that saw her win January’s Hilton Garden Vacations Tournament of Champions. Her three starts since then have underwhelmed, with ties for 44th and 48th coming before she missed the cut in last month’s LPGA Drive On Championship.
The winner of that tournament was Celine Boutier, and she makes her first appearance since after beating Georgia Hall in a playoff. Hall also appears this week as she goes in search of her third LPGA Tour victory.
The home crowd’s hopes will largely rest on the performance of World No.33 Allisen Corpuz. The Hawaiian finished tied for third in the HSBC Women’s World Championship last month and she’ll be keen to capture some of that form as she looks for her maiden win on the Tour.
Other players of note include World No.13 Nasa Hataoka, 2017 winner Cristie Kerr and Team USA Solheim Cup captain Stacy Lewis.
Players will compete for a $2m purse – the highest of any so far in the LPGA Tour this season. The winner will bank $300,000.
Below is the prize money breakdown and field for the 2023 Lotte Championship.
Lotte Championship Prize Money
| Position | Prize Money |
|---|---|
| 1st | $300,000 |
| 2nd | $188,651 |
| 3rd | $136,853 |
| 4th | $105,866 |
| 5th | $85,211 |
| 6th | $69,718 |
| 7th | $58,356 |
| 8th | $51,127 |
| 9th | $45,962 |
| 10th | $41,831 |
| 11th | $38,731 |
| 12th | $36,149 |
| 13th | $33,877 |
| 14th | $31,812 |
| 15th | $29,952 |
| 16th | $28,300 |
| 17th | $26,855 |
| 18th | $25,615 |
| 19th | $24,582 |
| 20th | $23,755 |
| 21st | $22,930 |
| 22nd | $22,103 |
| 23rd | $21,278 |
| 24th | $20,450 |
| 25th | $19,728 |
| 26th | $19,005 |
| 27th | $18,281 |
| 28th | $17,558 |
| 29th | $16,836 |
| 30th | $16,216 |
| 31st | $15,596 |
| 32nd | $14,976 |
| 33rd | $14,356 |
| 34th | $13,736 |
| 35th | $13,221 |
| 36th | $12,704 |
| 37th | $12,189 |
| 38th |
..
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Golf Monthly RSS Feed…