Ninety of the top 100 players on the LPGA’s money list have made early commitments to play in the inaugural HUGEL-JTBC LA Open, tournament organizers announced today. The tournament will be played April 16–22 at historic Wilshire Country Club.
Among the early commitments are nine of the last ten major winners, including Danielle Kang, So-yeon Ryu, Brooke Henderson, Lydia Ko and Anna Nordqvist. The field also includes every season-ending money leader since 2010, highlighted by Stacy Lewis, Sung Hyun Park, Ariya Jutanugarn, Inbee Park and Yani Tseng.
The field also features every winner of the Race to the CME, the LPGA’s season-long points contest that began in 2014, including 2017 winner Lexi Thompson. Eighteen of the top 20 finishers in the 2017 Race to the CME will be on hand next month.
Other notable early commitments include World Golf Hall of Famer Juli Inkster, as well as crowd favorites such as Michelle Wie, Paula Creamer, Morgan Pressel, Cristie Kerr and Christina Kim.
“We are thrilled to be able to host one of the best fields on the LPGA tour in our first year at Wilshire,” said JS Kang, tournament director. “We’re extremely excited to see these early commitments from the greatest golfers in the world and we look forward to seeing them in Los Angeles.”
The final field of 144 players will compete over 72 holes at Wilshire Country Club for a share of the $1.5 million purse. The tournament will be televised live on Golf Channel.