FRENCH LICK, Ind. – It all began with Nancy Lopez smashing the ceremonial first tee shot to kick off the inaugural Donald Ross Centennial Classic on Friday.

While the 144 Symetra Tour players were starting to tee off on the Donald Ross Course Lopez was hurrying over to the nearby Pete Dye Course to participate in the first of two pro-ams leading into Monday’s debut of the first Senior LPGA Championship. Lopez, recently married and winding down her competitive career, won’t play in the historic 54-hole battle but her presence was duly noted and most appreciated on the first of six straight days of championship women’s golf in this small southern Indiana town.

The Senior LPGA Championship will have two other notable absentees. Juli Inkster, relatively new to senior ranks, needs to do preparatory work for her role as a television analyst for Fox Sports at next week’s U.S. Women’s Open. A winner of The Legends Championship in 2015 at French Lick and loser of the title in a playoff to Trish Johnson last year, Inkster was at French Lick in spirit.

Amy Alcott, a Hall of Famer, was also a late withdrawal because of injury. She was replaced by Rebecca Bradley, who made 48 LPGA starts in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Betsy King, one of the four Hall of Famers left in the field, has considered herself basically retired for 11 years and played in only two previous tournaments this year. Still, she wouldn’t have missed the Senior LPGA Championship.

“It’s nice to be part of the first senior event on television,’’ said King. “I wish I was a little bit younger and that this had come about 10 years ago, but I’m still looking forward to the week. It’s nice to play in firsts, and it will be very competitive. The advantage goes to the players who still play a little on the LPGA Tour and are a little bit younger, but I can always look back on my career and say I played in the first Senior LPGA Championship.’’

The starting field of 81 players was finalized with the addition of the two players from this week’s 11-player qualifying round – Laura Shanahan Rose and Bobbi Salmon – and the final sponsor exemption – Lisa DePaulo.

Rowe, who won the 2008 LPGA Teacher & Club Professional Championship at Pinehurst, was medalist with a 76 and Salmon posted a 78. DePaulo had been the LPGA T&CP champion in 2007.

“I’ve been working so hard for the last month to get out here,’’ said Salmon. “I just so wanted to qualify that I was playing 54 holes a day in 120-degree weather in Palm Springs, Calif.’’

Salmon played in four U.S. Women’s Opens but never thought she might play on TV again. The Senior LPGA Championship will be broadcast from 4-6 p.m. Monday through Wednesday on The Golf Channel.

“When they started The Legends Tour all my friends would ask me if I’m going to be on TV,’’ said Salmon, “and I’d say, `Not unless I’m naked or catch on first.’ So, this is truly a big deal.’’

Illinois will be well-represented throughout the six straight days of tournament golf. Berwyn’s Nicole Jeray might have been able to play in both the Donald Ross Centennial Classic and Senior LPGA Championship. She played on all three women’s circuits last year and has done the same in 2017. Jeray made 10 starts on the Symetra Tour and one on the LPGA Tour in addition to her Legends appearances this season, but she’ll be in only the Senior LPGA Championship here.

“I didn’t inquire as to whether I could play in both (Ross Centennial or Senior LPGA) events,’’ said Jeray. “I don’t think I could play six straight days.’’

Jeray could have played on the LPGA Tour this week, as she qualified for the new Thornberry Creek Classic in Wisconsin. Her caddie, Jody Keepers, is working in that event, which ends on Sunday, and will be in French Lick on Monday in time to carry Jeray’s bag in the Senior LPGA Championship.

Joining Jeray in the Senior LPGA field are Nancy Scranton, formerly of downstate Centralia; Allison Finney, of Winnetka; and Audra Burks, of Springfield. Scranton will be inducted into The Legends Hall of Fame on Saturday night at the West Baden Springs Hotel.

In addition to the Illinois seniors, Winnetka’s Elizabeth Szokol was in the Symetra field on the Donald Ross Course and she got off to an excellent start, posting a 4-under-par 68 in the first round. A rookie on the Symetra circuit, Szokol finished her college career at Virginia after spending her first two years at Northwestern.

FRENCH LICK, Ind. – It all begins on Friday, the most innovative tournament concept in recent golf – and not just the women’s version.

The Symetra Tour, the Ladies PGA Tour’s qualifying circuit, will hold a $200,000 tournament on the Donald Ross Course at French Lick Resort starting on Friday to kickoff off six straight days of tournament golf in this small southern Indiana community that’s not just the boyhood home of Larry Bird.

French Lick is also a place rich in golf history, and that’s what is going to be celebrated in these days leading into the U.S. Women’s Open.

After the Symetra tournament ends on Sunday an even bigger 54-hole competition — the first Senior LPGA Championship — takes over the spotlight.

The Symetra event is called the Donald Ross Centennial Classic because it’ll be played to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the course that it’s being played on. In any other year that’d be enough to make it a big event. This is not just a focal point for historical purposes, however. The prize money is the second biggest on the Symetra Tour, with the champion receiving $30,000. This 13th event of the Symetra’s 23-tournament season will go a long way in deciding which 10 players move up to the LPGA Tour in 2018.

Underscoring the importance of this event to the players, 18 of the top 20 on the Symetra money list are in the field, and the only ones missing have good excuses.

No. 1 Nanna Koerstz Madsen wants to prepare for the following week’s U.S. Women’s Open at Trump National in New Jersey and No. 16 Rachel Rohanna got into the LPGA’s tournament in Wisconsin this week.

The Donald Ross Centennial Classic will feature 144 of the top rising stars of women’s golf and 30 countries are represented in the field.

In addition to having 10 players who are LPGA members the field includes Yu Liu of China who reflected the high quality of play on the Symetra circuit in the previous week’s Tullymore Classic in Michigan. She made 22 birdies in 54 holes in posting a 16-under-par 200 and climbed from 10th to fifth on the Symetra money list.

As exciting as all that sounds, the clear highlight of this golf extravaganza will come in the first-ever Senior LPGA Championship on the nearby Pete Dye Course. It’ll feature 81 LPGA stars of the past, most of whom are already familiar with the layout that was selected as the course-of-the-year for 2017 by the National Golf Course Owners Association. The Legends Championship has been played there since 2013.

French Lick has a five-year contract to host the Senior LPGA Championship, so it’s much more than an attempt by the LPGA to beat the U.S. Golf Association to the punch in putting on the first major championship for senior women. The USGA won’t conduct its first-even U.S. Women’s Senior Open until 2018 at Chicago Golf Club, America’s first 18-hole course.

The two majors are a little different. The USGA’s version will be for women 50 and over. At French Lick the age break starts at 45. The USGA’s is also a walking event with qualifying rounds held around the country to determine 120 finalists. How either will be accepted by the players an fans remains to be seen, but the French Lick version is committed to the tune of a $600,000 prize fund and national television coverage on The Golf Channel for its first staging.

TV coverage is made possible by the unusual weekday dates. The tournament will be played Monday through Wednesday, July 10-12, and the champion will receive $90,000.

The field fpr the Senior LPGA Championship includes five World Golf Hall of Famers—Amy Alcott, Pat Bradley, Laura Davies, Betsy King and Hollis Stacy — and players with a combined 339 career LPGA wins and 43 major championships.There are 19 players in the field who have won an LPGA major and 53 of the 81 have won at least one LPGA tournament.

A special sponsor’s exemption to the tournament is Suzy Whaley, who will become the first female president of the PGA of America in 2018.

An American scored a rare victory in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship on Sunday – but Danielle Kang wasn’t the one you would have expected.

Only four Americans have won the title in the last 20 years, and Lexi Thompson, Stacy Lewis and even Michelle Wie would have seemed the most likely to do the honors.

Lewis had the best final round among the Americans, a 67 that elevated her into a tie for ninth place. Thompson made an early charge with three birdies in her first seven holes to get within three shots of the lead but then backed off. She settled for her third straight 69 and wound up in a tie for seventh.

“On the back nine I honestly got tired. I don’t know what hit me,’’ said Thompson, who is skipping this week’s LPGA tournament in Wisconsin to rest up for the following week’s U.S. Women’s Open.

Wie needed a birdie on the last hole to shoot 73.

“It was one of those days where I mis-read every single putt,’’ she said. “I hit every dang one of them perfect, and just mis-read the speed. I had a lot of lipouts. If those would have fallen it would have been a completely different story.’’

The game’s newly-designated No. 1 player, Korean So Yeon Ryu, wasn’t dazzling either. She shot 71-72 on the weekend to finish in a tie for 14th.

WHAT’S NEXT? The LPGA players don’t have much of a wait before their next major championship. The U.S. Women’s Open, at Trump National in Bedminster, N.J., tees off on July 13, and the fourth of the circuit’s five majors I also barely a month away – the Ricoh Women’s British Open Aug. 3-6 in Scotland.

Before those biggies, however, the circuit has a regular tour event starting on Thursday – the inaugural Thornberry Creek Classic in Oneida, Wis., near Green Bay. Ariya Jutanugarn, the No. 2 player in the Rolex Rankings, heads the field. She endured a tough time at Olympia Fields, shooting 77 in the first round immediately after losing her No. 1 ranking to Ryu. Jutanugarn improved to a 68 in the second round but still missed the 36-hole cut by one stroke.

Also in the Thornberry field are Brooke Henderson, Cristie Kerr and Suzanne Pettersen.

TWO IN ONE: The LPGA’s two other circuits will combine for an even more special new event starting next week in French Lick, Ind.

The developmental Symetra Tour will compete in the Donald Ross Centennial Championship from Thursday through Sunday on the 100-year-old Donald Ross Course at French Lick Resort, then the first LPGA Senior Championship will take over the nearby Pete Dye Course for a three-day run from July 10-12.

Players in the new Senior event, all in the 45 and over age group, have been to French Lick the last four years for The Legends Championship. As was the case during Legends week, there will be an induction ceremony for the Legends Hall of Fame as part of the LPGA Senior Championship festivities. The new inductees to the Hall, located in the West Baden Springs Hotel, will be Nancy Scranton and Sandra Palmer.

KEMPER’S ON THE CLOCK: In a unusual bit of scheduling the PGA of America and LPGA decided to hold the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in the same area two years in a row but on different courses. It was played in the south suburbs at Olympia. Next year it’s in the north suburbs, at Kemper Lakes in Kildeer. That course hosted one men’s major – the 1989 PGA Championship won by Payne Stewart.

OLYMPIA FIELDS, IL. – Danielle Kang and Chella Choi are regulars on the LPGA Tour but have only one victory between them on the premier circuit in women’s golf.

Still, they are the co-leaders in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship – the second of the LPGA’s five majors of 2017. Both hit the 54-hole stop at Olympia Fields Country Club’s North Course at 10-under-par 203. Choi shot 67 in Saturday’s third round and Kang had 68.

Choi is in the hunt because of a caddie change. Her father, Ji Yeom Choi, is back on the bag this week, and Choi has taken the approach that “Father knows best.’’

“My Dad was going to retire to spend more time with my mother,’’ said Choi. “When he started as my caddie it was to save money, and I always had dreamed of having my Dad on the bag when I was an amateur.’’

They made a good team until his retirement as a caddie. Their break lasted seven weeks, then Chella was struggling with her game and called for help.

“I lost my confidence and asked him to come back,’’ she said. “I’m feeling very good now. He gives me confidence.’’

Choi played only 18 holes on the North Course – the site of many major championships, the most recent being the 2003 U.S. Open — in pre-tournament preparations. She has taken her father’s advice on every shot of every hole. That’s familiarized her with the course and clearly improved her status on the leaderboard.

Kang, who grew up in California, attended Pepperdine University and now resides in Las Vegas. She is downplaying her position at the top of the leaderboard.

“I’ve been working every day to get better, and I have to trust my game,’’ she said. “It would be incredible to be called a major champion, but I’m just trying to perform the best I can perform. I love the vibes of a major championship, but I’ve got to stick to my routine.’’

She said a change in attitude has help her improve, that change being “that winning isn’t everything.’’ Kang, though, has had calls of encouragement from three famous big-time winners – Wayne Gretzky, Caitlyn Jenner and Hollis Stacy.

Kang, 24, won back-to-back U.S. Amateurs in 2010 and 2011 but has yet to win on the LPGA Tour and her best finish in a major was a tie for 14th in the 2012 U.S. Women’s Open. Choi, 26, has one LPGA win, at the 2015 Marathon Classic. Her best finish in a major was a tie for fifth in the KPMG event in 2013, back when the tournament was called the LPGA Championship.

Jiyai Shin, who plays mainly on the Japan circuit, shot the day’s low score – a 64 – and is alone in third place, two strokes behind the co-leaders. In fourth is the defending champion, 19-year old Canadian Brooke Henderson.

“It’s the third day of a major championship, and any time you can see your name that close to the top is a really good feeling,’’ said Henderson, “especially when you know you have one day left. With a major championship it all comes down to the back nine on Sunday. It’ll be an interesting finish, and I’m just hoping that I’m a part of it.’’

Further down the list but not quite out of it yet are American stars Michelle Wie and Lexi Thompson and newly-minted No. 1 So Yeon Ryu of South Korea. They’re all five shots off the lead at 208 and in a tie for seventh.

Jiyai Shin doesn’t play on the LPGA Tour much anymore – but it’s certainly not due to a lack of talent. Her 7-under-par 64 on Saturday at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Olympia Fields proved that.

Shin, from South Korea, was paired with American star Stacy Lewis in the third round but both were far off the lead when the day started. Lewis didn’t make a move, shooting 70, but Shin made a big one.

“I’m pretty lucky because I started early in the morning,’’ said Shin. “That’s when it’s easier to make a few birdies.’’

Shin won 11 times when she played on the LPGA Tour, and that included victories in two majors – the Women’s British Open in both 2008 and 2012. For 25 weeks she held the No. 1 spot in the women’s world rankings. Now, though, she plays most of her tournament golf in Japan.

“I enjoy it because there’s less traveling and more three-day tournaments,’’ said Shin. “Physically I feel much better. But this week I’m here, so I’m for focused on the LPGA.’’

READY FOR THE BIG TIME: Sweden’s Madelene Sagstrom was the player-of-the-year on the LPGA’s developmental circuit – the Symetra Tour – in 2016.

Her play Saturday suggested she’s ready for the big time already. Sagstrom, playing one group behind Shin, posted a 5-under-par 66.

Sagstrom was clearly too good for the Symetra circuit a year ago, when she was named its rookie of the year. She set a single season earnings record ($167,064) with her three wins and 12 top-10 finishes (which was also a Symetra single-season record). Now she’s an LPGA rookie.

“It’s my first year out here, so I’m trying to figure everything out and trying to see where my game is at,’’ said Sagstrom. “I’m still going to work on some things because it’s not all there but it’s nice to just see that I can be up there.’’

NOTEWORTHY: Canadian Brooke Henderson, the 19-year old defending champion, is a perfect 13-for-13 in making cuts in LPGA major championships. Danielle Kang was the only player to go bogey-free in the first two rounds. The streak ended at 38 holes when she make bogey on the third hole Saturday.

Still, if Kang wins today she’d be only the second player to win both the U.S. Women’s Amateur and the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. Kang, co-leader after 36 holes at Olympia Fields, won the Amateur in 2010 and 2011. The only other player to win both titles was Juli Inkster who won three straight Amateurs from 1980-82 and two straight KPMGs (1999-2000). The tourney was called the LPGA Championship when Inkster won it.

LOOKING AHEAD: The KPMG Women’s PGA Championship concludes today but planning is already well underway for next year’s event at Kemper Lakes in Kildeer. Dates will be June 26 to July 1.

Tickets prices for the grounds will be $35 for any one day, $79 for the week, $15 for Tuesday and Wednesday, $25 for Thursday and Friday and $30 for Saturday and Sunday. Volunteer registration for next year will begin in just three weeks, on July 24.

HERE AND THERE

The Network of Exelon Women and The First Tee provided golf lessons for girls between the ages of 8 and 18 on Saturday at nearby Marian Catholic High School, then took the participants to Olympia Fields to watch the tournament.

Kelly Shon’s 8-under-par 63 on Friday was one for various record books. It matched the KPMG tourney record set by Patty Sheehan in 1982 (of a par-2 course) and Meg Mallon in 1999 (on a par-71, just like Olympia North). It also matched the North Course record set by Vijay Singh in the 2003 U.S. Open and Ricky Fowler in the 2007 Fighting Illini Invitational collegiate event. Shon cooled off Saturday, shooting a 71.

Ally McDonald had a rarity in Friday’s second round – back-to-back eagles. She started her round on No. 10 and made eagles at Nos. 18 and 1 – both par-5s. Like Shon, she lost her magic in the third round, posting a 73.

The biggest names in women’s golf were notably absent from the top of the leaderboard on Thursday during Round 1 of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Olympia Fields.

Korean Chella Choi, a morning starter, shot a 5-under-par 66 on Olympia Fields’ North Course and another Korean, Amy Yang, was at 5-under after playing 17 holes in the afternoon. Play was called for the day at 7:18 a.m. because lightning was detected in the area. Yang will complete her first round when play resumes at 7:15 a.m. today and the second round is to start on time, at 7:45 a.m.

American Brittany Altomare, who played in the morning, was one shot back with a 67 and Joanna Klatten of France was also a 4-under with two holes left when play was stopped on Thursday.

Canadian Brooke Henderson, the defending champion, and the enigmatic Michelle Wie shot 68s in the morning and were in a four-player group at that number, joining Alison Lee, Wie’s playing partner, and Korean Su Oh. Kim Kaufman and Emily Petersen were at 3-under and still on the course when play ended for the day.

Though not all the late starters could finish, those with afternoon tee times had better scoring conditions than their morning counterparts, who had to endure strong winds.
Such unfortunate tee times negatively affected Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn, who was ranked No. 1 in the Rolex Rankings until Korean So Yeon Ryu replaced her at her teeoff time on Thursday.

Jutanugarn, who won the U.S. Girls Junior on Olympia’s South Course in 2011, shot 6-over-par 77 and is in danger of missing the 36-hole cut, which will be made after the second round. The low 70 and ties will play on the weekend.

The morning start also made scoring difficult for Stacy Lewis, one of the top Americans. She lost five shots to par early before rallying for a 3-over 74. Playing in the afternoon didn’t greatly benefit Ryu, who shot 69 on her 27th birthday; No. 3-ranked Lydia Ko of New Zealand, who posted 70; or three-time champion Inbee Park of South Korea, who managed a 73.

“There’s 156 players in the field this week. The top 100 in the world are here. Anybody can win this championship,’’ said Henderson, who won last year at Sahalee in Washington in a sudden death playoff with Ko. “I would love to win again, but it’s a different golf course and a different year.’’

Henderson, though, is clearly in the hunt.

“I was going to take it a day at a time and see what happens,’’ she said, “but I’m in a great spot right now so I’m really excited.’’

However — based on their career records — there’s no reason to think that either Choi or Yang won’t be in contention throughout the 72-hole competition that concludes on Sunday as well.

Choi may have only one LPGA victory, but she entered 2017 with over $4 million in winnings and has had top-10 finishes in four of the LPGA’s five major championships. She tied for fifth in the KPMG event in 2013.

With her father working as her caddie Choi, 26, took command of the course that hosted the men’s U.S. Open in 2003 though she had played only 18 holes on it before the tournament.

“I don’t remember every hole,’’ said Choi. “I asked my dad for advice on every hole, every shot, and my shots were very good.’’

She plans to continue the “father knows best’’ routine for the next three days.

Yang, 27, has a record in majors that’s even better than Choi’s. She was second in the U.S. Women’s Open twice, had fourth-place finishes in both the ANA Inspiration and Ricoh Women’s British Open and tied for fifth in the KPMG event in 2013.

Her most spectacular moment, though, came in the 2015 KEB-HanaBank Championship when she became the first player in LPGA history to birdie every hole on one nine. She posted a 27 for that side and went on to claim the first of her two career victories.