Brooke Henderson, Jeeno Thitikul and Minjee Lee lead a loaded Meijer LPGA Classic field in Michigan with KPMG Women’s PGA Championship stakes looming.
The Meijer LPGA Classic returns to Michigan this week with more than just another trophy on the line.
For Brooke Henderson, Jeeno Thitikul, Minjee Lee, Jin Young Ko, Lexi Thompson and several other big names, Blythefield Country Club is the final live-fire test before next week’s KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Hazeltine National Golf Club.
That makes this week feel a little louder.
Nearly a dozen players ranked inside the top 25 of the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings are in the field, giving the Meijer LPGA Classic the look of a major tune-up rather than a routine stop on the LPGA Tour schedule.
Blythefield should give players exactly what they need: pressure, scoring chances, risk-reward decisions and enough trouble to expose any loose parts of their games before major week.
One early group to watch is Aki Iwai, Brooke Henderson and In Gee Chun.
Iwai enters with momentum after a top-10 finish with her sister at the Dow Championship and also tied for seventh in her Meijer debut last year.
Henderson already knows how to win in Michigan, having captured this event in 2017 and 2019. Chun, meanwhile, is trending after a fourth-place finish at the U.S. Women’s Open.
The all-Australian trio of Hannah Green, Grace Kim and Minjee Lee might be the most fun group on the tee sheet.
Green is chasing her fifth worldwide victory of the season, Kim nearly won this tournament in 2024 before falling in a playoff to Lilia Vu, and Lee is using Michigan as her final competitive prep before defending her KPMG Women’s PGA Championship title.
Then there’s Jeeno Thitikul, who brings elite firepower back to Blythefield.
The world No. 2 has already posted two top-10 finishes at this event, including a tie for fifth in 2022 and a tie for eighth in 2024.
She’ll play alongside Chizzy Iwai and Lottie Woad, who is already hunting a third LPGA Tour victory this season.
The afternoon spotlight also belongs to Alison Lee, Lexi Thompson and Jin Young Ko.
Lee has been sharp, Thompson has three top-five finishes in her last four starts at Blythefield, and Ko is looking to bounce back after missing the cut here last year.
Golf Channel will carry coverage Thursday through Saturday from 3-6 p.m. ET, with Sunday’s final round airing on CBS from 1-4 p.m. ET.
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