With the dust now settled on last week’s Solheim Cup, attention for the LPGA now turns to Cincinnati for the third edition of the Kroger Queen City Championship. It will be a debut on the LPGA for host venue, TPC River’s Bend for the 144-strong field over four days from the 19th to the 22nd.
Leona Maguire will be among the pack as she looks to bounce back from her limited involvement in the loss to Team USA.
Maguire comes into the week with a point to prove, sitting in 47th on the OOM with just one top 10 to her name on Tour this season. She has one victory on the LET at the Aramco Team Series this year but, by her high standards, will look to crack on over the final ten events, heading to November. She will begin her tilt at the week in the early groups in Ohio. A first tee start, at 8.31AM for the Cavan woman as she is joined by Anna Nordqvist and Grace Kim for her first two days on River’s Bend.
Minjee Lee arrives as defending champion and this was the tournament that kickstarted her 2023 season, defeating Charley Hull on a second playoff hole. With 10 events left of the regular season, the scramble for the top 60 bubble really begins to heat up with the Race To CME Global points becoming ever more valuable as the season rolls on. The top 60 in November will earn the right to compete at the CME Group Tour Championship, with a record $11 million prize purse including $4M for the winner.
The defending champ was on hand to look ahead to the week’s action and to give her thoughts on how to unpick this new venue. “Yeah, I mean, obviously the playoff which Charley. It was quite a lot fun those couple holes,” she reflected. “Yeah, no, obviously remember playing Kenwood and just like the course and the fans out there. It’s always like a nice crowd, so always nice to have crowd support when you’re playing well. Yeah, just we’re at a different venue this year and looking forward to the week.”
She gave her initial thoughts on the course, saying, “Yeah, so I’ve seen all 18 now and I think the greens are quite tricky. Off the tee it’s not as tight, but like I think your iron play will be really important this week, and obviously getting the speed right with the greens being on the quicker side.”
“I think the front nine there is a little bit more water that comes into play,” she went on to add. “And obviously the back nine it’s just playing a little bit longer. So, I think just getting obviously the yardages correct, because it’s such like, tight landing spots on the greens because they’re so small and quite undulating. I think that will be quite important as well.”
Nearly half of the players who competed last week are making the trip to Cincinnati, including Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings No. 1 Nelly Korda. Her teammates Rose Zhang and Lexi Thompson are also in the field, along with European Solheim Cup Team members Hull, Maguire, Georgia Hall, Linn Grant, Esther Henseleit, Anna Nordqvist, Madelene Sagstrom and Albane Valenzuela.
Having moved venue from Kenwood Country Club, TPC River’s Bend will be a new challenge for many of the field as it makes it’s Tour debut. Situated just 30-mins from downtown Cincinnati, and overlooking the Little Miami River, River’s Bend will put up a per-72 7180-yard test for the field to navigate. The Arnold Palmer designed course is situated cut into a hillside with picturesque waterfalls and gentle elevations changes, providing the perfect backdrop to the weeks action.
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