World No. 3 Saki Baba headlines the seven amateurs who will tee it up in the Chevron Championship, the first LPGA major of the year. The 2022 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion will make her debut in the April 20-23 event, held for the first time at The Club at Carlton Woods in The Woodlands, Texas.
While the championship no longer overlaps with the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, it does conflict with several NCAA conference championships. The Pac-12 and American Athletic Conference championships end on April 19 while the Big Ten, the Big 12 and several others end Sunday, April 23.
Top-ranked amateur Rose Zhang, who recently won the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, will aim for her 10th college title at the Pac-12 Championship rather than make another major championship start.
Here’s the full list of amateurs in the field:
Saki Baba
Japan’s Baba made her major championship debut last summer at the U.S. Women’s Open where she made the cut and tied for 49th. Baba tied for 34th at the LPGA event in Thailand earlier this year. She also tied for 16th on the JLPGA last month. Baba won the U.S. Women’s Amateur with a crushing 11-and-9 victory over Monet Chun.
Amari Avery
USC’s Amari Avery, No. 11 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, will make her Chevron debut after receiving a sponsor invitation. The 19-year-old will head to Texas directly from the Pac-12s on Wednesday and will tee it up without having played any kind of practice round. Avery received the invitation too late to make the trip in advance of this week.
Zoe Campos
UCLA’s Zoe Campos earned her way into the field by claiming the Chevron Silverado Showdown earlier this month. With the victory, Campos became the first Bruin since 2019 to win multiple titles in a season. Campos will also head to The Woodlands directly from the Pac-12 Championship, which ends Wednesday and will tee it up without a practice round.
Ting-Hsuan Huang
Taiwan’s Ting-Hsuan Huang will make her LPGA and major debut at The Chevron. The 2022 Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific champion also secured starts in this year’s AIG Women’s British Open and Amundi Evian Championship. The 18-year-old recently finished 22nd at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.
Jess Baker
England’s Jess Baker earned her spot in the field by winning the 2022 Women’s British Amateur. The UCF player will finish up her conference championship on Wednesday in Florida and fly straight to Texas for the first round of the Chevron. She did her prep work in the weeks leading up to the championship.
Eila Galitsky
Thailand’s Eila Galitsky played her way into the year’s first major with her victory last month at the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific. The 16-year-old, who holds dual nationality of Thailand and Canada, won by five in Singapore with three birdies over the last four holes.
Valentina Rossi
Michigan State’s Valentina Rossi, 21, earned her place at the Chevron via her victory at the 2022 Women’s Amateur Latin America Championship in her home country of Argentina. She’ll also compete in the AIG Women’s British Open and Amundi Evian later this year. Rossi will skip the Big 10 Championship to compete in the year’s first major.
