LPGA ANA Inspiration 2015: Tee Times, Dates, TV Schedule and Prize Money
One of the LPGA Tour's biggest events has a new name and a new sponsor, but fans and golfers alike will still be hoping it provides the same entertainment and the same charms.
Thursday will see the tour swing by the Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California for the 2015 ANA Inspiration, a major tour stop previously known as the Kraft Nabisco Championship. The competition still holds championship weight as the first major of the season, and comes with a nice financial kicker to boot.
The prize money for the tournament is $2.5 million, per LPGA.com, the highest purse on the 2015 LPGA Tour thus far. According to Larry Bohannan of The Desert Sun, the winner will earn $375,000.
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The ANA Inspiration runs from Thursday, April 2nd through Sunday, April 5th.
This competition and course proved to be a breakthrough event for the young Lexi Thompson, as she earned her first major championship win at the 2014 version of the event.
For those keeping tabs on this desert golf excursion, here's a look at the tee times and TV schedule.
Tee Times
| Caroline Hedwall | 10:20 a.m. |
| Kelly Shon | 10:20 a.m. |
| Sydnee Michaels | 10:28 a.m. |
| Jane Park | 10:28 a.m. |
| Sun Young Yoo | 10:28 a.m. |
| Amy Anderson | 10:36 a.m. |
| P.K. Kongkraphan | 10:36 a.m. |
| Kris Tamulis | 10:36 a.m. |
| Tiffany Joh | 10:44 a.m. |
| Haru Nomura | 10:44 a.m. |
| Amy Alcott | 10:52 a.m. |
| Michelle Wie | 10:52 a.m. |
| Shanshan Feng | 11:00 a.m. |
| Lydia Ko | 11:00 a.m. |
| Lexi Thompson | 11:00 a.m. |
| Paula Creamer | 11:08 a.m. |
| Anna Nordqvist | 11:08 a.m. |
| Laura Davies | 11:16 a.m. |
| Karrie Webb | 11:16 a.m. |
| Hyo-Joo Kim | 11:24 a.m. |
| Amy Yang | 11:24 a.m. |
| Na Yeon Choi | 11:32 a.m. |
| Austin Ernst | 11:32 a.m. |
| Meena Lee | 11:32 a.m. |
Note: for a complete look at tee times, check out Fox Sports.
TV Schedule
| April 2 | 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. | Golf Channel |
| April 2 | 6 p.m. - 9 p.m. | Golf Channel |
| April 3 | 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. | Golf Channel |
| April 3 | 6 p.m. - 9 p.m. | Golf Channel |
| April 4 | 5 p.m. - 9 p.m. | Golf Channel |
| April 5 | 5 p.m. - 9 p.m. | Golf Channel |
Several notable tennis names in this field of 115 golfers will be looking to take the first major of the season, but only a few look to be in the right position to do so.
Thompson will certainly be hoping to repeat last year's success and Michelle Wie—despite a poor run of form as of late—is a threat due to her runner-up status from 2014. Tour veteran Cristie Kerr is coming off her 17th LPGA win at the Kia Classic and coming off a sizzling final-round score of 65 in that competition.
While the likes of Hyo-Joo Kim and Inbee Park have also been playing excellent golf to start the season, all—or at least, most—eyes will be trained on 17-year-old Lydia Ko, who Bohannan notes will be looking to set a record come Sunday:
"Pressel's record may be under pressure this week from another star in the field, 17-year-old Lydia Ko. Ko is already the No. 1 player in the Rolex Women's World Ranking and she has six LPGA wins. Ko is still looking for her first LPGA major championship. Should Ko win any of the five LPGA majors this year, she would become the tour's all-time youngest major winner.
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Ko isn't just in the spotlight because of her age and the massive opportunity she has lying in front of her on the 6,769 yards of Mission Hills Country Club course. She's also been playing great golf in 2015. Ko picked up her sixth LPGA tournament win at the ISPS Handa Women's Australian Open in mid-February. In fact, she's been excellent in every competition she's participated in this year.
| Jan. 28 | COATES Golf Championship | 273 (-15) | 2T |
| Feb. 5 | Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic | 281 (-11) | 7T |
| Feb. 19 | ISPS Handa Women's Australian Open | 283 (-9) | 1 |
| Mar. 5 | HSBC Women's Champions | 275 (-13) | 2 |
| Mar. 19 | JTBC Founders Cup | 273 (-15) | 6T |
| Mar. 26 | Kia Classic | 271 (-17) | 3 |
Wie, who knows a thing or two about withstanding the pressure and scrutiny of being a young golf phenom, was highly complimentary of Ko's game.
"A lot of people ask me what the strong point is about her game," Wie, 25, said, via Reuters' Mark Lamport-Stokes. "I think the strong point is that she really doesn't have a weakness."
At 17 years old, Ko is one of the youngest players to be featured out on the links this weekend. However, there's an even younger golfer for fans to keep an eye on in this event.
Sixteen-year-old Haley Moore of Escondido, California qualified for a spot in the illustrious field with a win at the ANA Inspiration Junior Champions Challenge, per Tod Leonard of U-T San Diego. According to Leonard, she won by four strokes, boosted by a brilliant performance on the latter portion of the course:
"Starting on the 10th hole, Moore was 1 under when she reached the 385-yard first. She said she had 120 yards to the hole, hit a pitching wedge and the ball spun back into the hole for an eagle. She made consecutive birdies after that and also birdied her final hole.
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While Moore is hardly expected to challenge for the title in Rancho Mirage, she could be a golfer to keep an eye on in the future.
Ko will likely draw the majority of the attention for her excellent play and what's at stake for her this tournament. Indeed, she's going to garner attention for much of the 2015 season. However, she will have to beat out an extremely tough field to earn a historic win, and with so much prestige and money at stake in this tournament, it should prove to be an exciting four days of golf.
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