LPGA players left in awe as Match Play event looks to 2022

Angela Stanford and Stacy Lewis have seen a lot in their combined 33 years on the LPGA Tour, but the veterans were overwhelmed with their week in Las Vegas at the Bank of Hope LPGA Match Play.

To say the inaugural event at Shadow Creek was a success from a player’s perspective would be a huge understatement. From the course to the way they were treated by sponsors, players had nothing but praise.

“It’s been outrageous,” Stanford said of the five-day event. “They’ve done the little things this week to make us feel so special. It’s the little things, baby steps, that get us to the big steps. Man, this week feels different.”

Lewis said players who skipped the week really missed out, and she has no doubt many will not make that mistake in 2022.

Among the big names bypassing Las Vegas were Nelly Korda, Lydia Ko, Lexi Thompson and Jessica Korda.

Neither Stanford nor Lewis made it out of the qualifying rounds and into the weekend, but players knew coming in that 75 percent of them would be leaving on Friday.

Or at least they were supposed to. Amy Olson didn’t play the weekend, but she was on the course as a fan for Sunday’s finale.

“From the minute I set foot on this course, I absolutely loved it,” Olson said.”Every single hole has so much visual interest, whether it’s a stream or the bunkering or a rock formation. It’s absolutely stunning.”

Danielle Kang, who calls Shadow Creek her home course, hopes it lands a major championship in the coming years. It’s that special, she said.

And her peers agreed.

“It’s a really good test of golf,” Olson said. “You’ve really got to place your shots in the right spot, and there are places you don’t want to miss. You’ve really got to think your way around this course.”

Nobody did that better than champion Ally Ewing, who snuck into weekend play by the thinnest of margins, then dominated play in the knockout rounds.

But for Ewing and others, it was the way players felt and were treated that made all the difference, starting with being welcomed to Las Vegas with limo service to their hotels and custom-made Golden Knights jerseys with their names on them.

“We had gifts outside our lockers almost every day. Great food. Just world-class treatment,” Ewing said. “They’ve run the golf tournament really, really well, and I think they’ve set a pretty high standard for just the special treatment that we have gotten this week.”

Kevin Kim, CEO of Bank of Hope, and leaders at MGM Resorts were thrilled with the week and already looking ahead to 2022.

“The Bank of Hope Match Play event was a tremendous success,” said Lance Evans, MGM’s Senior Vice President of Sports and Sponsorships. “We look forward to hosting future LPGA events at Shadow Creek.”

One thing that will be different in 2022 is spectators. The LPGA has been one of the last sports leagues to let up on coronavirus restrictions, so season No. 2 will certainly have a different atmosphere.

“I think players are going to be super excited to come back with how we’ve been treated,” Ewing said.

Cejka Wins Again

One month ago, Alex Cejka was just looking for status on a tour so he could play regularly. Fast forward four weeks and the Las Vegas resident is now the front runner for Champions Tour Player of the Year.

Cejka won his second major in a month on Sunday, taking the Senior PGA Championship at famed Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by four shots over Tim Petrovic. It comes just three weeks after he won the Regions Tradition.

To say Cejka is in elite company would be an understatement. He is the first player to win his first two major starts on the tour since Arnold Palmer in 1980, and the first rookie to win two majors in a season since Jack Nicklaus in 1990.

Greg Robertson is a freelance reporter who covers golf for the Review-Journal. He can be reached at robertsongt@gmail.com .