Kupcho and Salas Team Up to Lap the Field at Dow LPGA
By Tom Lang
JULY 16, 2022 – Jennifer Kupcho might want to move to Michigan – or at least pin it as her favorite destination on Google Maps.
The former Wake Forest grad and winner of the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur has added two wins to her pro career in the span of a month – both here in Michigan – for a total of three so far in the 2022 LPGA Tour season.
Not far removed from her playoff title at the Meijer LPGA Classic in mid-June, Kupcho, who was invited to the first Dow LPGA Great Lakes Bay Invitational soon after that Augusta National victory in 2019, teamed up with Lizette Salas this week to win the Dow LPGA, with a team score of 26-under par at the Midland Country Club.
The pair successfully partnered in the Solheim Cup back in September and won at Midland by five strokes, over a field that included fan favorites Annika Sorenstam, Karrie Webb, Lexi Thompson and Stacy Lewis.
The Dow victory gives Kupcho a running total of $1,822,566 in winnings this season, as both players each won $375,000 in Midland. Kupcho has made 14 cuts in 15 tournaments this season.
“I think after I got my first win, I felt a lot more confident in my game,” Kupcho said about earlier in the season. “It's so hard to win out here, so to know that I could do it, I think that kind of helped my confidence. And then to get the second win against a really stacked leaderboard and a playoff at Meijer, it made me all that more comfortable. I think that's kind of how amateur golf was for me. I started out really slow, and then I was able to win and kind of just went off on it. It is a lot of fun to win and I am a very competitive person.”
Salas has had a much longer span between wins, despite six runners up since the last win in 2014 at Kingsmill Championship, a span of 8 years, 1 month and 28 days. Salas, who made six birdies total on her side of the scorecard Sunday, said the win was the perfect way to celebrate her birthday eve.
“It's been a long time. I couldn't have done it without her,” Salas said of her teammate. “You know, she's a great competitor, a great friend and an amazing partner on the golf course. We played some amazing golf this week. My job was, or my goal was to play well for her. We showcased how our games can complement each other. But for myself to finally get another win after eight years, it's been a long journey, lots of up and downs, and just really happy.”
Dow and the Great Lakes Bay region did a really nice job highlighting the area on national television during the CBS broadcast. Dozens of TV ads ran showing off both the Mt. Pleasant and Bay regions, even giving Central Michigan and Saginaw Valley State Universities some glowing attention, along with our golf courses and social life in mid-Michigan.
Hats off to the broadcast that provided viewers with some unique coverage with the fun team format. It was a very fine 125th anniversary party for the corporate title sponsor. This week the company also announced an extension of its sponsorship of this tournament through 2029.
