RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. — Sunday’s final round of the Chevron Championship will mark the end of a 51-year relationship between the LPGA and its desert home in the Coachella Valley.
The tournament, dripping with history, is always the first major championship on the golf calendar and the winner’s leap into Poppie’s Pond has become a moment that fans remember and players dream of. But starting in 2023, the tournament will move to Houston and likely be played in May.
LPGA veteran Christina Kim has always spoken passionately about causes she believes in and that includes the fate of the desert’s LPGA event.
In an interview with The Desert Sun on Friday after missing the cut and therefore playing her final round at the Dinah Shore Tournament Course at Mission Hills Country Club, the 38-year-old from San Jose had strong words for the golf power-brokers that she believes didn’t do enough to keep the event here.
“It’s very bittersweet. This tournament’s been very important to me over the years for a lot of reasons, and I’m really sad to be leaving,” Kim said. “I wish that there was more willingness from all parties including the people (making decisions) here to have found a way to make it work so that we could’ve stayed here.”
New title sponsor Chevron has stepped in to breathe new life into the tournament that has struggled to stay afloat in recent years as ticket sales lagged even before the pandemic, and as TV ratings have taken a hit with new competition from the Augusta National Women’s Amateur event which is held simultaneously.
Many current players have weighed in on the move with varying levels of vitriol. Some are outraged that the powers that be in women’s golf couldn’t rally around the iconic event, others consider it a frustrating necessity to keep the tournament alive.
Christina Kim of the United States hits her tee shot on the eighth hole during the second round of The Chevron Championship at The Westin Mission Hills Golf Resort & Spa on April 01, 2022, in Rancho Mirage, California. (Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images)
Kim is certainly in the first camp.
A 20-year veteran of the LPGA Tour, Kim’s most pointed criticism was saved for Augusta National. She believes the power players behind the Masters, in essence, pushed the desert tournament out by creating counterprogramming to the LPGA major that includes the ANWA from Thursday to Saturday.
Whether intentionally or unintentionally, the Masters treating the weekend of the Chevron Championship as a de facto preview to the following week’s Masters has hurt the LPGA major.
“Truth be told, I’m not gonna lie. I’m really upset with Augusta National. Because there’s no reason why we couldn’t continue to have this tournament be the first major in professional golf,” Kim said. “And I think it’s absolutely disgusting what they’re doing and I have no problem saying that. It’s bull hockey what they’re doing.”
Even the way ANWA is run, where the amateurs are allowed one practice round at Augusta but then have to qualify to play a competitive round on the fabled course, irks Kim.
“It barely qualifies as the bare minimum of allowing those girls one practice round and giving them a playoff to see who’s going to make the cut into the final round at that place,” she said.
Gutted to have missed the cut this week @Chevron_Golf. Horrific play yesterday set the pace, but always lovely to walk to fairways (for the final time
) at Mission Hills. Wish ALL involved could have kept the first major of golf the first major of golf. Thank you to all the fans pic.twitter.com/T4vjgqIjs2
— Christina Kim (@TheChristinaKim) April 2, 2022
Kim said she appreciates Chevron stepping in with sponsorship and wanting to elevate the tournament, but before it got to that point, she would’ve liked to see a more concerted effort by everyone involved to give more consideration to the history of this event and its ties to its California home.
Changing the weekend it is played to earlier in the calendar is an option she would’ve been in favor of, but finding the right TV window was an issue, as were potential scheduling conflicts at Mission Hills.
“I know there were attempts made to try and see if the date could change because Augusta was doing what Augusta does,” she said. “But it did not work for the region here either, so unfortunately, it would be easy to say there’s no one to blame other than Augusta National, but that’s neither here nor there. Everyone could have worked … I’m sure everyone did everything they think that they could’ve done to keep the tournament here. But the reality is we’re not coming back.”
After a slight pause, Kim added “For now at least.”
Kim, who has three career LPGA wins and two top-10 finishes at this tournament, said you never know what could happen three or five years down the road.
“Maybe a big corporation will step up and see — like the American Express did for the men — that the women belong here in the desert,” Kim said. “The golf here is incredible, the people here are amazing, the culture here is fun, it’s artsy, it’s inclusive, it’s diverse and it fits right in with the ethos of the LPGA so there’s no reason why they shouldn’t have a tournament here. It’s just very bittersweet.
Christina Kim of the United States walks on the seventh hole during the second round of The Chevron Championship at The Westin Mission Hills Golf Resort & Spa on April 01, 2022, in Rancho Mirage, California. (Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images)
“The foundation has already been established. The people. The ones that really matter. The heart and soul of the LPGA coming to the desert are the fans. One can always hope that something can come out of this.”
Kim wanted to make one last clarification before the interview was over.
“I have no problem saying all that on the record. You can tell because I said ‘Bull hockey’ instead of what I really wanted to say.”
Shad Powers is a columnist with The Desert Sun. Reach him at [email protected].