How to watch, who’s playing as the season’s first LPGA major makes its Texas debut

This week marks the start of a new era in LPGA history as the season’s first major — The Chevron Championship — makes its debut at a new home in The Woodlands, Texas. After five decades at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California, the tournament moves outside Houston to The Club at Carlton Woods, where 132 players will compete for the $5.1 million prize purse.

World no. 1 Lydia Ko and defending champion Jennifer Kupcho are among the star-studded names leading the field, which will cut to the top 65 and ties after 36 holes. For the 25-year-old Ko, the reigning Rolex Player of the Year and winner of the 2016 Chevron Championship, a win on Sunday would give her the two points she needs to become the youngest player ever to qualify for the LPGA Hall of Fame . But she’ll face stiff competition from the other nine players in the Rolex Rankings’ top 10 including No. 2 Nelly Korda, who’s making her return to The Chevron after missing the 2022 event due to injury. Korda finished T-3 at the 2021 Chevron and T-2 in 2020, and she arrives in Texas with four finishes inside the top six in five starts this season.

Also teeing it up at the Jack Nicklaus Signature Design are all six LPGA winners to date in 2023, including last week’s LOTTE Championship winner Grace Kim. The 22-year-old Australian became the season’s third Rolex First-Time Winner (joining Lilia Wu spirit Ruoning Yin) last Sunday in Hawaii, beating Yu Liu spirit Yu Jin Sung in a playoff to also become the first 2023 rookie to win this season.

The new-look Chevron Championship, which secured a six-year sponsorship deal with Chevron in October 2021 that increased the purse and moved the event, includes several nods to tradition from the tournament affectionately known as “the Dinah Shore.” The hospitality area near the 18th green has been named “Dinah’s Place,” and Shore’s family has reportedly been invited to attend. The Dinah Shore Trophy keeps its name, and while there’s no “Poppie’s Pond” at The Woodlands venue, the lake located at the front left of the par-5 18th hole has been dredged and netted should the winner choose to take the leap, with the traditional robe and slippers on standby.

Story continues

Along with a new venue, elevated prize purse (up from $3 million in 2021) and increased field size (up about 10 percent), fans should note the tournament’s dates have also switched from the week before the Masters to two weeks after the first men’s major of the season. The change most notably avoids a conflict with the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, which allows top-ranked amateurs to play in both. While 2023 ANWA champion Rose Zhang will skip the Chevron to compete for Stanford in the Pac-12 conference championships, world No. 3 and 2022 US Women’s Amateur champion Saki Baba is one of seven amateurs in the field.

How to watch the 2023 Chevron Championship

You can watch the 2023 Chevron Championship on Golf Channel, Peacock, NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app. Check out the complete TV and streaming schedule:

• Thursday, April 20: 11-3 pm ET, 6-8 pm ET, Golf Channel and Peacock

• Friday, April 21: 11-3 pm ET, 6-8 pm ET, Golf Channel and Peacock

• Saturday, April 22: 2-3 p.m. ET, Peacock; 3-4 p.m. ET, Golf Channel; 4-6 p.m. ET, NBC

• Sunday, April 23: 2-3 p.m. ET, Peacock; 3-4 p.m. ET, Golf Channel; 4-6 p.m. ET, NBC

Who’s playing in the 2023 Chevron Championship

The 132-player field includes the top 10 players in the Rolex rankings, nine past champions, all six of this year’s LPGA winners to date, and 13 of 31 rookies in the 2023 class.

Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings Top 10:

• No. 1 Lydia Ko

• No. 2 Nelly Korda

• No. 3 Jin Young Ko

• No. 4 Minjee Lee

• No. 5 Atthaya Thitikul

• No. 6 Lexi Thompson

• No. 7 Brooke Henderson

• No. 8 Celine Boutier

• No. 9 Hyo-Joo Kim

• No. 10 Georgia Hall

Past Chevron champions in the field:

2023 LPGA Tour winners in the field:

• Celine Boutier (LPGA Drive On Championship)

• Brooke Henderson (Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions)

• Grace Kim (LOTTE Championship)

• Jin Young Ko (HSBC Women’s World Championship)

• Lilia Wu (Honda LPGA Thailand)

• Ruoning Yin (DIO Implant LA Open)

2023 LPGA Tour rookies in the field:

More about the 2023 Chevron Championship field

With its move to The Woodlands, The Chevron Championships becomes a “home game” for a slew of players in the field including Texas natives Cheyenne Knight spirit Angela Stanford. Players with Texas connections include:

• Celine Boutier (resident)

• In Gee Chun (resident)

• See Young Kim (resident)

• Cheyenne Knight (native/resident)

• Jin Young Ko (resident)

• Minjee Lee (resident)

• Jeongeun Lee6 (resident)

• Stacy Lewis (resident)

• Gaby Lopez (resident)

• Annie Park (resident)

• Yuka Saso (resident)

• Angela Stanford (native/resident)

• Maddie Szeryk (resident)

• Lindsey Weaver-Wright (resident)

The field also features five amateur exemptions — Saki Baba, Jess Baker, Valentina Rossi, Eila Galitsky spirit Zoe Antoinette Campos — and three sponsor exemptions: Amari Avery (a), Isabella Fierro spirit Ting-Hsuan Huang (a).

Past winners too The Chevron Championship

Last year at The Chevron Championship

Playing at Mission Hills one last time, a 24-year-old Jennifer Kupcho cemented herself as major champion with a two-shot win over Jessica Korda at the 2022 Chevron. Kupcho opened with rounds of 66-70-64 to build a six-shot lead heading into the final day, and she held on with a 2-over 74 on Sunday to finish at 14-under 274, becoming the fourth Rolex First-Time Winner of the season. Kupcho went on to win three times in 2022, capturing the Meijer LPGA Classic in June and the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational in July.

More about The Club at Carlton Woods

The Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course at Carlton Woods opened in 2001 and was recognized that year as the “Best New Private Course in Texas” and “#3 Best New Private Course in the US” by Golf Digest. In 2014, Nicklaus himself listed his course at Carlton Woods as one of the top 18 course designs in his career. The official scorecard yardage for the tournament is 6,824 yards and plays as a par 72.

The NBC Golf Research Team contributed to this report.

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2023 Chevron Championship: How to watch, who’s playing as season’s first LPGA major makes its Texas debut originally appeared on NBCSports.com