Christina Kim blasts Augusta National as LPGA major is forced to move

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. — Sunday’s final round of the Chevron Championship will mark the end of a 51-12 months partnership concerning the LPGA and its desert household in the Coachella Valley.

The match, dripping with heritage, is constantly the 1st important championship on the golfing calendar and the winner’s leap into Poppie’s Pond has turn into a instant that followers recall and gamers dream of. But setting up in 2023, the event will move to Houston and very likely be performed in Could.

LPGA veteran Christina Kim has usually spoken passionately about causes she believes in and that contains the destiny of the desert’s LPGA party.

In an interview with The Desert Solar on Friday after lacking the lower and for that reason playing her final round at the Dinah Shore Match System at Mission Hills Country Club, the 38-calendar year-outdated from San Jose had sturdy phrases for the golfing ability-brokers that she believes didn’t do sufficient to retain the celebration in this article.

“It truly is incredibly bittersweet. This tournament’s been quite significant to me over the decades for a lot of good reasons, and I’m genuinely sad to be leaving,” Kim claimed. “I wish that there was much more willingness from all events which include the individuals (creating selections) below to have uncovered a way to make it do the job so that we could’ve stayed here.”

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New title sponsor Chevron has stepped in to breathe new everyday living into the match that has struggled to keep afloat in the latest decades as ticket gross sales lagged even before the pandemic, and as Television set rankings have taken a strike with new level of competition from the Augusta National Women’s Beginner celebration which is held at the same time.

Lots of present-day players have weighed in on the shift with varying stages of vitriol. Some are outraged that the powers that be in women’s golfing couldn’t rally all over the legendary occasion, many others look at it a discouraging requirement to maintain the tournament alive.

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Kim is undoubtedly in the 1st camp.

A 20-calendar year veteran of the LPGA Tour, Kim’s most pointed criticism was saved for Augusta National. She thinks the electric power gamers at the rear of the Masters, in essence, pushed the desert event out by generating counterprogramming to the LPGA key that incorporates the ANWA from Thursday to Saturday.

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No matter if deliberately or unintentionally, the Masters treating the weekend of the Chevron Championship as a de facto preview to the pursuing week’s Masters has hurt the LPGA important.

“Fact be instructed, I’m not gonna lie. I’m definitely upset with Augusta Nationwide. Due to the fact there’s no reason why we could not go on to have this match be the to start with big in specialist golfing,” Kim said. “And I imagine it really is totally disgusting what they’re executing and I have no problem indicating that. It truly is bull hockey what they are carrying out.”

Even the way ANWA is run, in which the amateurs are allowed a single practice round at Augusta but then have to qualify to enjoy a competitive spherical on the fabled system, irks Kim.

“It scarcely qualifies as the bare least of allowing for these women a person exercise round and supplying them a playoff to see who’s likely to make the reduce into the last spherical at that put,” she reported.

Kim claimed she appreciates Chevron stepping in with sponsorship and wanting to elevate the tournament, but prior to it obtained to that position, she would’ve appreciated to see a a lot more concerted exertion by absolutely everyone included to give extra thought to the background of this function and its ties to its California residence.

Altering the weekend it is played to previously in the calendar is an alternative she would’ve been in favor of, but locating the correct Tv set window was an problem, as have been probable scheduling conflicts at Mission Hills.

“I know there were being makes an attempt produced to try and see if the day could transform since Augusta was performing what Augusta does,” she claimed. “But it did not function for the location here both, so however, it would be effortless to say there is no one to blame other than Augusta Countrywide, but that is neither listed here nor there. Absolutely everyone could have labored … I am sure everybody did every little thing they assume that they could’ve carried out to keep the match below. But the truth is we are not coming back.”

After a slight pause, Kim extra “For now at the very least.”

Kim, who has three career LPGA wins and two major-10 finishes at this event, mentioned you in no way know what could occur a few or five yrs down the highway.

“Perhaps a major corporation will action up and see — like the American Express did for the males — that the women belong below in the desert,” Kim mentioned. “The golfing right here is extraordinary, the people right here are remarkable, the culture right here is entertaining, it’s artsy, it really is inclusive, it’s varied and it suits correct in with the ethos of the LPGA so you can find no motive why they shouldn’t have a tournament listed here. It truly is just extremely bittersweet.

“The basis has currently been recognized. The persons. The ones that definitely make any difference. The heart and soul of the LPGA coming to the desert are the followers. Just one can usually hope that some thing can come out of this.”

Kim needed to make a single final clarification prior to the interview was about.

“I have no dilemma stating all that on the file. You can notify simply because I explained ‘Bull hockey’ instead of what I definitely wanted to say.”

Shad Powers is a columnist with The Desert Solar. Reach him at [email protected].

This report at first appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sunshine: Christina Kim blasts Augusta National as LPGA major moves from desert