The Dow Championship, held annually at Midland Country Club since 2019, has seen a number of changes in 2024. The biggest change was the fact that the name was changed from the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational to the Dow Championship. Next, the event dates were moved from July to Jun. This was done so that the world’s top-ranked players, who want to compete at the 2024 Paris Olympics, could also find time to compete at Dow.

But the changes don’t stop here. The event will witness a significant increase in prize purse from when it first started. In the first edition, the LPGA Tour promoted $2 million for a field of 64 teams of two. However, it was increased to $2.7 million for the 2023 Dow Lakes Great Bay Invitational. 2024 will see higher prize money.

As per Golf Monthly, this year, a total of $3 million will be distributed amongst the teams (who made the cut) playing at Midlands, Michigan. What will the winner get? Unlike last year, when Elizabeth Szokol and Cheyenne Knight received $328,115 each, this year the winning team will have an increased $366,082 for one player.

There will also be 400 Race to CME Globe points at stake and the winning team. However, some things will not be on the line. Like the PGA Tour’s Zurich Classic, which didn’t have OWGR points for world rankings, the Dow Championship will also not offer Rolex Rankings points for the winning team.

Overall, 72 teams will be competing and this means the event will see 22 Major winners compete. Each team will have two members. Some of the players to watch out for are two-time Major winner Brooke Henderson and Lexi Thompson. Celine Boutier will also be present and play alongside Yuka Saso.

Further, former World No.1 Lydia Ko will team up with Major winner Danielle Kang and Rose Zhang will be seen teaming up with Alex Pano. Other names to watch out for would be Charley Hull, Georgia Hall, Ruoning Yin, and Atthaya Thitikul.

After playing the Thursday Foursomes and Fourballs on Friday, despite being a team event, a 36-hole cut was made at the Midlands. Subsequently, three prominent teams had to go home earlier than expected.

Who are the big names missing the 2024 Dow Championship weekend? 

One of the most shocking exits of a team on Friday was that of the 2024 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, Amy Yang, and her partner, Jennifer Song. The duo carded a respectable 3 over 73 in the foursomes but the next day, teams were playing just too well that the cut made was extremely high for the Song-Yang pair.

In the second round, the two were 3 under par and even out on the leaderboard, but with 5 under the cutline, they were far away from making it to the weekend. Another unfortunate team was the defending champion, Elizabeth Szokol, and Cheyenne Knight. After scoring 70-64 in the first rounds, the pair was 6 under and only one stroke away from making the cut.

Joining the defending champions was the pair of Gaby Lopez and Emily Kristine Pedersen, who were also trailing by a stroke. After shooting 3 over 73 on Thursday, Lopez and Pedersen recovered immensely on the second day for the fourballs. The team carded one of the lowest scores on Friday and was 9 under 61. However, it was not enough to make the cut.

As the Dow Championship prepares for the final round, the solo 54-hole leaders, Ally Ewing, and Jennifer Kupcho, will have a huge challenge at their hands to keep the lead-up and eventually take home the million-dollar purse with the trophies.