Season in review: 10 surprises on the LPGA Tour in 2023

Coming off a two-win 2022, which included a major championship, Brooke Henderson promptly won the first event of the ’23 season, the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions.

And that was that. She didn’t earn another top-10 until finishing second in her Amundi Evian Championship title defense and earned only one other top-10 the rest of the way. The most notable thing to happen to Henderson on the course after leaving Orlando in January was donning prescription glasses.

Lilia Vu was not among the usual suspects. She wasn’t in that lineup of Player of the Year candidates. And why would she have been? Vu was closer to quitting the game than ascending it.

Her breakthrough in Thailand, her first start of the year, was a well-earned win for a player who had struggled with her game and her confidence since turning pro in late 2018.

That maiden victory, however, wasn’t Vu crossing the finish line; it was her jumping out of the gate. She went on to win three more times, including two majors (Chevron, AIG Women’s) and became both POY and world No. 1.

After a frustrating, painful end to last season, Jin Young Ko appeared primed for a bounce-back campaign, winning two of her first seven starts. But the summer and fall weren’t kind as she finished no better than T-20 over the final four majors and had just one top-10 after title No. 2. Her season ended with a withdrawal from the CME Group Tour Championship, where she was sporting a brace on her left knee.

Vu’s biggest challenge for POY came from an equally surprising source: Celine Boutier. The Frenchwoman had two career LPGA wins entering the year but there was no reason to expect her to double that output. At least not from the public. Much like Vu, Boutier altered the way in which she inwardly approached the game in ’23, trying to lessen expectations and burden, and increase enjoyment. And much like Vu, Boutier won four times, including a major — the Amundi Evian in her homeland. Boutier held the POY edge until the penultimate event of the season, earned nearly $2.8 million and moved to No. 3 in the world at season’s end.

If Ruoning Yin’s season was overshadowed, it’s because of the success of Vu and Boutier. Or, because she enjoyed being in the shadows. Yin earned her first LPGA victory in L.A. in April and then, two-and-a-half months later, captured the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. The most popular narrative of her season involved her being fellow pro Xiyu (Janet) Lin’s Orlando tenant. Yin didn’t seem to mind the spotlight being on others. She admitted at the season finale that when she was recognized by fans while with her mother in her native China, Yin ran away. Literally.

She didn’t shrink from the competition, however, as she earned four top-3s after her major triumph and rose to No. 2 in the world.

It’s been a long time since a player — in the women’s or men’s game — has turned professional which such fanfare and expectations as those placed on Rose Zhang. Arguably the greatest amateur in modern women’s history, Zhang shouldered that weight and won in her pro debut. The hype grew exponentially: She wasn’t just going to be the best player on the LPGA; she was going to forever change the landscape of women’s golf.

But life as a professional took its toll. Outside of the outsized expectations, Zhang had to learn to deal with sponsor obligations, travel woes, media requests, and weighing when and where to say ‘no’ (which she didn’t do often). Zhang didn’t win again in ’23 (she had four top-10s in her first five starts and one in her last nine) and said at the Tour Championship that she looked forward to an extended break which would include a return to the books for some winter classes at Stanford.

You could have gotten pretty good odds if you had bet on Vu to win four times and be Player of the Year. You would have gotten even better ones if you had bet on these players not winning at all: Nelly Korda, Lydia Ko and Atthaya Thitikul.

After a one-win 2022, this felt like the Year of Nelly. She was healthy and motivated, and seemed on the cusp of opening the floodgates. Korda finished T-6 or better in six of her first seven starts, but she couldn’t get the valve open. The win — let alone multiples — never came.

More baffling was what happened with Ko. She revived her career in ’22, winning three times and again becoming world No. 1. She closed last year with a Tour Championship triumph but she didn’t even get the chance to defend her title. Ko had only two top-10s in 20 starts in ’23. Her driving distance and accuracy (never her strengths) worsened, but nothing like her iron play. She went from 26th on tour in GIR in ’22 to 111th this year.

And then there was Thitikul. The Thai was consistent, rarely finishing out of the top 10 and winning the Vare Trophy for lowest scoring average. But a victory never materialized.

If Korda, Ko and Thitikul left a void, it was occupied by Grant, Khang and Yin.

Linn Grant, who had won multiple times on the Ladies European Tour and even on the DP World Tour in a 2022 mixed-gender event, dominated the Dana Open to earn her first (of presumably many) LPGA trophies.

Meanwhile, Megan Khang and Angel Yin both finally broke through for their maiden victories. Khang was brilliant at the CKPC Women’s Open in Canada and Yin was equally impressive in China at the Buick LPGA Shanghai (defeating Vu in a playoff to avenge her Chevron OT loss).

There were 12 first-time winners on tour this season, a new LPGA record. That list also included Allisen Corpuz, who was a worthy champion in the U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach.

As far an single-event surprises, two players tied for the top thanks to their out-of-nowhere victories in a three-week stretch.

First, there was Alexa Pano. In her rookie season, she had missed six cuts in 10 individual starts and had one finish inside the top 50. Then, after opening in 76, she shot 70-69-66 to win the ISPS Handa World Invitational in Northern Ireland (on her 19th birthday, no less). It was her only top-10 finish of the year.

Two weeks after that surprise, Chanettee Wannasaen authored another head-scratcher. The fellow 19-year-old had missed seven cuts in 10 individual starts and had nothing better than a T-51. She then shot 68-66-65-63 to dominate the Portland Classic. And just like for Pano, that was the Thai’s only top-10 in ’23.

That Europe retained the Solheim Cup was no surprise. They were the two-time defending champions and the event was being contested on home soil in Spain. What was stunning was the start to the matches.

The American swept the morning foursomes, 4-0.

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From there, it was a display of European resiliency and determination. They cut it to a 2-point deficit by the end of Day 1 and then evened it up entering Sunday singles. On the final day, the Euros got a couple of huge late W’s from Carlota Ciganda and Caroline Hedwall to secure a 14-14 deadlock and retention of the cup for another year (they’ll be back at in 2024 as the event returns to even-numbered years).