The Team Names Are Half The Reason We Love The Dow Championship

The best way to follow up a blockbuster major week in LA? Mixing things up for a fun, high-energy team event! The Dow Championship is by far the most unique event on the LPGA schedule, highlighted by the insanely clever team names these 72 pairs come up with.

As the only team event in the regular season, Dow presents a wonderful opportunity for players to have a bit of fun in front of local fans who come out in support. LPGA legend and seven-time major winner Juli Inkster, who's paired up with the Tour's resident comedian Angel Yin, said in her pre-tournament presser, "Since I started [on Tour] we have always crushed small towns. Rochester, Corning...Des Moines was great for the Solheim Cup. And because I think once you start you kind of develop this relationship with the players and community, I think the bigger markets you go it's to more of a business."

The switch up from Riv and LA to Midland, Michigan where the population is less than 45,000 residents feels a bit like whiplash, but these smaller market towns show up and support these stops in ways that big cities just don't advertise or market the same.

World No. 1 Nelly Korda is teeing it up in this event for the first time since 2022 with partner Olivia Cowan also spoke on playing in front of the mid-west crowds saying, "I feel like we get a really big community support out here during these events. It is really nice to see. I think it's exciting for them because it is a fun week in the year for them. I think it's really important to hit these smaller markets, as it is to hit bigger markets and medium markets, as you said. But it is really cool to see how the entire city comes out and supports this event."

Since 2019, Dow has been able to find that sweet spot of being both a beloved stop for fans and the players. And that energy creates a more relaxed, playful atmosphere, allowing players to showcase a side of their personalities that doesn't always come through during a typical tournament week.

Enter the oh so important component of the team names.

I think last year's duo of Jeeno Thitikul and Ruoning Yin a.k.a Gin and Ronic takes the crown for me but this year these athletes have really flexed their content creation muscles having some fun viral moments.

The newly crowned USWO champion and her Tour bestie/LET player Olivia Cowan absolutely crushed their reel announcement as an ode to the one and only Elle Woods!

Inspired by the 20th century comedic ice skating pair, the Inkster/Yin pair couldn't who would Frick and who would be Frack, which feels fitting.

But the LA girls of Alison Lee and Lilia Vu took this year's crown for best announcement with this hilarious recreation video they did.

Some other names and duos that I'm really digging are last year's runner ups Lexi Thompson and Megan Khang (Team Biggie Smalls), Danielle Kang and Lydia Ko, and rookies Leah John and Riley Smyth (Team Lost and Found) who showed up to their Wednesday presser as...siamese twins?

Here are t tee times and pairings for the first and second rounds!