France’s Celine Boutier beat England’s Georgia Hall in a playoff that decided the LPGA Drive On Championship´s winner, and both are now at the top of the world rankings to form the European team for the Solheim Cup 2023
The LPGA Drive On Championship, which marked the LPGA’s return to the U.S. after its tour of Asia, was clearly dominated by Europe, with France’s Celine Boutier and England’s Georgia Hall playing for the title in a thrilling play-off.
Boutier was the final winner, getting her third LPGA title after the 2019 ISPS Handa Vic Open and the 2021 ShopRite Classic, and making her the French golfer with the most victories on this circuit.
With this outcome, Boutier and Hall have also placed first and second respectively in the world ranking that will give the right to enter the European team for the Solheim Cup 2023, ousting from the first place the Irish player Leona Maguire, who has moved to the third position.
As for the LET ranking, this week there has been no tournament in the European Women’s Tour, so Ana Peláez continues in third position behind Sweden’s Maja Stark and Linn Grant.
Discreet performance of the Korda sisters
As far as the qualifiers for the U.S. team for the 2023 Solheim Cup are concerned, the Korda sisters remain at the top of both rankings despite not performing well at the LPGA Drive On Championship.
Nelly Korda, first in the LPGA rankings, finished in 57th place, which allows her to continue with a comfortable lead over Lilia Vu, who has ousted Lexi Thompson from the second position.
The tournament played in Arizona was very different for Jessica Korda, as she missed the cut and did not score any points, she reduced her gap with Allisen Corpuz in the world ranking to 26 tenths of a point.
Finally, it should be noted that the best American golfer in the LPGA Drive On Championship was Ally Ewing, after finishing in fifth place, followed by the captain of the U.S. Solheim Cup team, Stacy Lewis, and Lilia Vu, who shared seventh place.
The Solheim Cup 2023, an event of exceptional public interest whose official venue is Finca Cortesin, is sponsored by PING, Costa del Sol and Rolex as global partners; and by the Consejería de Turismo, Cultura y Deporte de la Junta de Andalucía, with co-financing from the European Union, Acosol, the Marbella Town Hall and the Benahavís Town Hall as official partners, and Reale Seguros as official sponsor. Solán de Cabras, Eversheds Sutherland, Casares Town Hall, Toro, Vithas, E-Z-GO and Jet Set Sports are official suppliers. Peninsula is sustainability partner. Marca and Radio Marca are official media. Promoted and organised by Deporte & Business. LET, LPGA, RFEG, CSD and RFGA collaborate in its organisation.
More information on the website www.solheimcup2023.eu, on the Twitter account @SolheimCup2023, on the Instagram account @solheimcup2023esp and on the Facebook page Solheim Cup 2023.
