By TIM IRVING
Women’s professional golf has been a fixture in Rochester for 46 years.
For most of that time, the top players in the LPGA came to Rochester every summer. Now, those players are on The Road to the LPGA, the Symetra Tour.
And that road is turning into a Super Speedway.
Four players have gone from playing at the Danielle Downey Credit Union Classic at Brook Lea Country Club in Gates to LPGA major title winners and there’s more to come.
Brooke Henderson played in the inaugural tournament in 2015 and that same year, won the first of her nine LPGA titles and is currently ranked fifth in the Rolex World Rankings. She won the 2016 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. Her sister, Brittany, played in the 2015 DDCUC as well and has been her caddy since she started playing full time on the LPGA Tour.
Australian Hannah Green won the 2019 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, one of two LPGA titles since her rookie season in 2018 and played in Rochester in 2017, finishing third behind a record performance from Nanna Koertz Madsen, who is also full time on the LPGA Tour.
Sophia Popov was scheduled to make her third appearance in Rochester last season and even came to Rochester to promote the event before the pandemic caused it to be canceled. Popov was struggling with her game but qualified for the AIG Women’s British Open. She then surprised everyone and won the event and since then, she has risen to #22 in the World.
The most recent of the major winners, Patty Tavatanakit, won the ANA Inspiration in her first start in the event this April. She is the reigning Downey Classic Champion, winning the title by seven shots, highlighted by an eagle on the par 4 eighth hole in the final round.
Nelly Korda, now a five-time LPGA champion, having won the Meijer LPGA Classic this past weekend in Grand Rapids, Michigan, is up to third in the World Rankings. In 2016, she earned her way to the LPGA by playing on the Symetra Tour and finished five shots behind champion Clariss Guce, who edged out Popov and Ally McDonald for the title. McDonald has since married Charlie Ewing and Ally Ewing has won twice this season on the LPGA Tour.
Of the top five at the Meijer Classic this week, increasingly becoming the norm, are players who have been on the Symetra Tour and played at Brook Lea. Two shots behind Korda in second place was Leona Maguire, who made her debut in Rochester out of Duke and tied for third, Brittany Altomare, who also played in 2015 in Rochester.
The only question left to answer is, how many future LPGA stars will make a run at this year’s Downey Classic Championship?
Leave a Reply