Who will take the leap into Poppy’s Pond? Here’s who we’ll have our money on and everything you need to know about the first Major of the year: the ANA Inspiration.
Cancel any plans you had this weekend as the world’s top 25 players and 11 past champions race to win the first major of the year.
By Charlotte Ibbetson
Who will take the leap into Poppy’s Pond? Here’s who we’ll have our money on plus more about the ANA Inspiration.
1: The History
The ANA Inspiration was founded by Colgate-Palmolive chairman David Foster and entertainer Dinah Shore - an American singer, actress, and television personality of the 1940s.
2: The 1972 Debut
At its debut in 1972, the ANA Inspiration was the richest event in women's golf, with a purse more than double the US Women’s Open and LPGA Championships.
3: Major Moment
The tournament became a major in 1983.
4: The Battlefield
The ANA Inspiration takes place every year at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California. This year’s tournament will be played from 4 - 7 April.
5: The Defending Champion
After more than 190 tournament starts, Pernilla Lindberg claimed her first LPGA Tour win after a gruelling eight-hole Monday playoff – the first in the tournament’s history. The Swede holed a 30-foot birdie putt to seal the deal on her long-awaited victory. Can she repeat the magic again this year?
6: The Players
The field for this year’s ANA Inspiration is quite literally the who’s-who’s in women’s golf; The best 25 players from the Rolex Women’s World Rankings, 10 former world number ones, 28 major champions and 11 past champions. Among the charge of players hoping to etch their names in the Dinah Shore history books are World No 1 Sung Hyun Park, World No 2 Ariya Jutanugarn, seven-time Major champion Inbee Park and China’s first-ever former World No 1 and Major winner, Shanshan Feng. They’ll also be joined by the youngest ever world number one, So Yeon Ryu, British Open champion Georgia Hall and her compatriots, Charley Hull and Jodi Ewart Shadoff.
Who have we got our money on? Of course, we’re hoping for an overseas Major first for Georgia Hall, but Ariya Jutanugarn is one to look out for. She looked as though she had the tournament well and truly in the bag a few years ago and will be out for revenge this weekend.
7: Play-offs vs Outright winners
Since becoming a Major, there have been eight play-offs at the ANA Inspiration. The best outright win? Australian Karrie Webb won by 10 shots in 2000 – the biggest margin in the tournament’s history.
8: Back-to-Back
The only player to have won the tournament in successive years is Annika Sörenstam who won in 2001 and 2002. She then won again in 2005.
9: Poppy’s Pond
Taking a plunge into the water at the 18th green has been a winner’s tradition since 1994. It’s now named “Poppy’s Pond" after the former tournament director, Terry Wilcox.
10: Dinah’s Walk of Champions
Winners of the ANA Inspiration are honoured with their names etched on a plaque along the walkway to the 18th green, known as Dinah’s Walk of Champions.
Image credit: Robert Laberge/Getty Images
