Major champions Lydia Ko, Minjee Lee and Hyo Joo Kim are expected to see action in the Meijer LPGA Classic firing off 19 June at Blythefield Country Club in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Ahead of the season’s second major, the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, the Meijer Classic is allowing players to get in one last competitive stint and gauge where their game stands ahead of the major test that awaits the following week.
Michigan has produced some of the most thrilling finishes on the LPGA Tour since its inception in 2014. From its very first year, playoffs have been woven into the history of the tournament.
Mirim Lee won the inaugural edition by beating LPGA Tour Hall of Famer Inbee Park on the second extra hole for her first win on Tour.
The following year, Lexi Thompson came from four strokes back on the final day to capture her fifth career win.
In 2016, the outcome was once more determined in extra holes as Sei Young Kim defeated Carlota Ciganda with a birdie on the first playoff hole.
The next season, Brooke Henderson captured her first of what would become two wins in three years at Blythefield by holding off Michelle Wie West and Lexi Thompson to win by two strokes.
In 2019, Henderson won for the second time and made history as the victory marked her ninth career win on the LPGA Tour, making her the winningest Canadian golfer, male or female.
Between Henderson’s wins, So Yeon Ryu won the Meijer LPGA Classic by coming from two strokes back on the final day in 2018.
And over the last two years, extra holes were once more required to determine the outcome, with both editions involving Nelly Korda and Leona Maguire. The two squared off for the first time in 2021, when Korda prevailed for her first of back-to-back wins as she used the victory as a springboard to win the following week at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
One year later, the two again went to a playoff in Michigan but that time Jennifer Kupcho was also involved. It was ultimately Kupcho who prevailed on the second extra hole to win the first of what would be three victories in the 2022 season.
Kupcho is one of four past champions of the Meijer LPGA Classic that return to Grand Rapids this year, as she’s also joined by Henderson, Thompson and Ryu. They headline an impressive field of 144 players who will compete in the ninth edition of the tournament in Michigan for a $2.5 million purse.
