FLORIDA: Two of the best players in the world of women’s golf are anticipating a week of strong competition and challenging conditions ahead of the Aramco Team Series presented by PIF at Trump International Golf Club, West Palm Beach, from May 19-21.
Home favorite Lexi Thompson is looking forward to adding to her success in the series after winning the Aramco Team Series in New York last year, and is confident about her chances ahead of the week.
“I’m overall just looking forward to the week,” she said. “The Aramco Team Series events are such great events to begin with, and I have a lot of support out there coming from Friday.
“It’s definitely a bonus to be here in Florida and it would mean the world to me to win to defend the title,” she said. “I have a lot of family friends coming up to support me, so overall it’ll just be a blast of a week.”
Local knowledge will likely be a deciding factor come Sunday, as Thompson looks to add to her Aramco Team Series title in New York last year. On her home advantage, the major champion, Thompson, brings a confident approach to the tournament.
“I would say it’s a little bit of an advantage being on my home course, but you still have to go out there and hit the golf shots,” she said.
Thompson faces stellar competition throughout the week, as she will be joined by world No. 3 and two-time major champion Lydia Ko, who is among those returning to the Aramco Team Series following her successful debut in Singapore in March, where she finished in third place at Laguna National Golf Resort Club.
“I really enjoyed playing the ATS Singapore,” Ko said. “There’s not that many opportunities where you get to play in the team format, and even though we are counting those individual scores, it’s nice to have that team atmosphere.”
Ko, who is making her first appearance at Trump International Golf Club, West Palm Beach, added: “The golf course is nice, it’s tricky. I had zero idea what the golf course was like before seeing the course for the first time yesterday, but there’s some longer holes and some shorter holes. It’s a really good golf course, the greens are quite small so I think when you’re on the green you’ve got a pretty good chance of having a birdie opportunity, but it’s also just as easy to not be on it.
“I think ball-striking ability is probably going to be a big key and then the greens are in really good shape. The greens are really rolling very nicely,” she said.
The Aramco Team Series on the Ladies European Tour is contested across five global destinations throughout the year. After starting the season in Singapore, the series moves this week to Florida, then on to London and Hong Kong before concluding in Riyadh in October. The Aramco Team Series Florida consists of 36 teams comprising of one amateur and three professionals who compete for a $1 million prize fund. Aside from the team event, there is a three-day individual stroke play competition contested among the professionals, which contributes to both Race to Costa del Sol and Rolex World Ranking points.
On the team format of the Aramco Team Series, Ko and Thompson gave a player’s insight on this side of the event.
Thompson said: “The format for this event, I think, is very unique too, so it’s a lot of fun. It’s not so cutthroat like an individual event, even though there is an individual aspect to it. So I think it’s different, and I think it’s great for fans to be able to come out and watch us.”
Ko added: “It’s just great to be in that different atmosphere, and even though you root for other players when you normally play, I think there is an extra little excitement when they hit good shots.”
The combined team scores over the first two rounds of the Aramco Team Series contribute to the team result, which means teams have to get off to a good start to be in contention for team honors.
