The LPGA Tour will be visiting the Midland Country Club in Michigan for the fifth edition of a one-of-a-kind team event, the Dow Championship. This two-player 72-team event has had many changes for the 2024 season. The most notable is the name change from Dow Great Bay Lake Invitational to just Dow Championship.

Additionally, the LPGA Tour has also increased the team count from 64 last year. These teams will compete in a match play format in a foursomes and fourballs session to ultimately crown a winning team. Out of the 72 teams, the below five might have a better chance at winning the 5th Dow Championship.

Top 5 teams at the 2024 Dow Championship

1. Yuka Saso and Celine Boutier: Last year, this due ended up with a pretty good position on the leaderboard of the Dow Championship. The world no. 6 and Saso were only three strokes away from the winners, so they took the T3 spot at Midlands. This year, Saso has already won a major, the 2023 U.S. Women’s Open.

And although Boutier has yet to bag a win this season, she had a single runner-up finish at the HSBC Women’s World Championship with six top 25s. Undoubtedly, together they can conquer the Midlands CC for a seventh win for the French pro and a third for Saso.

2. Rose Zhang and Alexa Pano: Rose Zhang will be making her debut at the 5th Dow Championship, while Alexa Pano, will be playing only her second. In her first appearance at the 2023 edition, Pano finished T17 with Dewi Weber. The Stanford alum carded her second LPGA Tour victory at the 2024 Cognizant Founders Cup and may play out to be a better partner for Pano. Their combined talent could make them a threat on the course.

Both players on the Zhang-Pano team are relatively new on the LPGA Tour. Zhang turned pro in 2023 and Pano a year before. Will this young pair be able to defeat the veterans in the field? They might be, as the 2-time LPGA Tour winner already has Solheim Cup experience backing her up.

3. Lydia Ko and Danielle Kang: This pairing will be making a comeback after the 2021 Dow Great Bay Lake Invitational. Back then, Ko and Khang ended up finishing at T22. However, they were absent from the event for the next two years. The Kiwi pro won the HGV Tournament of Champions at the start of her 2024 season and is chasing one HOF point for LPGA Tour Hall of Fame induction.

On the other hand, Danielle Kang has had an uneventful 2024 season without any top 10s, let alone top 25s. The duo might chart the leaderboard to win the Dow Championship, favoring Kang with better momentum and Ko with HOF membership.

4. Ruoning Yin and Atthaya Thitikul: This is the youngest group on the list, with both aged 21; coincidentally, both of them have two LPGA Tour titles to their name. The Chinese and Thai pros will be playing together for the first time, but it will not be Yin’s first mojo at Midlands. The world no. 4 has played in the past two events but missed the cut both times.

As for Thitikul, the 2-time LPGA Tour winner will be making only her eighth start of the season as she started it late due to a hand injury. Yin may break the missed-cut curse and with the help of Thitikul, the duo might leave the Midlands with a trophy.

5. Lexi Thompson and Brooke Henderson: It was a disappointing ending when Lexi Thompson and Brooke Henderson partnered up last year. They unfortunately missed the cut. However, this Dow Championship might be different. Thompson has finished T9 at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, following a T2 at the Meijer LPGA Classic.

As for the Canadian pro, she was also T22 at the PGA Championship, carding the seventh top-25 finish of the year. With great momentum following the two players, the Dow Championship might not be a hard hurdle to cross. And if the two win, Thompson might change her retirement plan, as she has hinted that a victory may or may not affect it. 

Who are the defending champions, and what’s the prize purse?

For the third year in a row, the Elizabethan Knights are teaming up to defend their Dow Championship title in Midland. The pair of Elizabeth Szokol and Cheyenne Knight won the 2023 edition by one stroke over Kelly Tan and Matilda Castren. It was Szokol’s maiden victory on the LPGA Tour. While Knight carded her second win of the LPGA Tour career.

As the partnership resulted in a successful ending, the two have partnered up again to attempt to repeat the past at Midlands CC. Last year, the winning team’s player took home $326,872 after the split for the winner’s payout from the $2.7 million total prize purse.

However, this year, the prize money payout for the winner will be more as the Dow Championship prize purse has been increased to $3 million. But there will be no Rolex Ranking points allotted for the team event. Regardless, with the Dow Championship revamping itself for the 2024 season, the pros have many things to play for and win the fun event.

Who do you think will emerge triumphant at the Dow Championship for the 2024 season? Share your predictions below!