LPGA players have some hilarious team names for Dow event, and here are stories behind them
David Berding
Tex Mex. Team Biggie Smalls. Roses for Ryu. Kilted Koalas. Yamada. Hot Bob’s Girls. LA Dropouts. Team Sloth Machine. And our favorite … Jin and Ronic. They sound like team names for beer league softball, but there’s some whimsy to the Dow Championship in Michigan this week with the two-player squads coming up with their own nicknames.
They're not only offering golf but a fun little word puzzle to solve. How many can you pick out without reading further? (Answers at the end, with a few spoilers along the way.)
The Dow Championship was inaugurated in 2019, with its format similar to the PGA Tour’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Two-person teams play rounds of alternate shot and best ball, and the 72 partnerships are generally put together by the players themselves.
And big kudos to the athletes for injecting some creativity and amusement into the competition.
American partners Lexi Thompson and Megan Khang, tied for second with a 67 during alternate shot in the first round at Midland Country Club, admitted on Wednesday that they hadn’t come up with a name ahead of their pre-tournament press conference. In a text exchange just before, Thompson came up with Team Biggie Smalls—a clear reference to their considerable height difference—Thompson is 6 feet tall and Khang is 5-1.
“I was on board from the jump. I'm solid. I'm here for it,” Khang said.
After Gemma Dryburgh and Cassie Porter opened the Dow with a leading four-under 66 in alternate shot, they revealed their name—Kilted Koalas. Dryburgh is from Scotland and Porter from Australia, and so it’s a clever bit of alliteration.
Well, sort of.
“It's really original. I asked ChatGPT,” Porter, 22, admitted. “I'm really sorry, I wish I could tell you that I came up with it myself, but I didn't.”
Kids these days.
“It’s perfect,” Dryburgh added.
Porter said ChatGPT also made a logo and the players had shirts made. “Merch dropping soon,” Dryburgh joked.
We hate to admit it, but Chat GPT can be clever. For 37-year-old Jodi Shadoff and 25-year-old Heather Lin, who shot 67, they got Old Spice and Baby Slice.
Chisato Iwai and Akie Iwai, the identical twin sisters and rookies from Japan, are in their first Dow and came up with "Aki&Chizzy75," which is both recognition of the LPGA’s 75th anniversary and their July 5 birthday.
Jeeno Thitikul and Ruoning Yin are the Dow’s defending champions, having shot 22 under last year, and they not surprisingly kept the name they used for that victory: Jin and Ronic.
“So it was my coach [who] came up with this name because my coach and Jeeno's coach, they both love drinking,” Yin said.
Added Thitikul, “It's the best team name so far, to be honest to my opinion. Not being bias, but yeah.”
The champs, who are T-8 after Round 1, will get no argument here.
As for the other names: Tex Mex is Stacy Lewis and Maria Fassi; Rose for Ryu, Rose Zhang and Haeran Ryu; LA Dropouts, Patty Tavatanakit and Jennifer Chang; Yamada, Rio Takeda and Miyu Yamashita; Team Sloth Machine, Aravee Boonchant and Chanettee Wannasaen; and Hot Bob’s Girls, Lucy Li and Andrea Lee.
We have no idea where that last one came from, but we’re pretty sure ChatGPT doesn’t know Bob.