Kim Ready to Defend, Bank of Hope Begins Title Sponsor and More from Arizona

At the 2016 Bank of Hope Founders Cup, Sei Young Kim finished at 27-under par, matching the LPGA’s low 72-hole scoring record in relation to par set by Annika Sorenstam in 2001. Kim also set a new tournament scoring record with the help of a final-round 10-under par, 62, and thinks the Wildfire Golf Club plays to her strengths, “This course is pretty dry, and if I hit driver, little farther than other course. If I take advantage of par-5, reach green in two, which gives eagle or birdie, it’s easily make the lower score.”

The defending Founders Cup champion, five-time LPGA winner, five-time KLPGA winner and 2015 Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year has big plans for this season, “So one of the my goal is breaking and making the top 3 Rolex Ranking and be consistent more.”

2017 marks the first year with Bank of Hope as the title sponsor of the Founders Cup.

Bank of Hope CEO Kevin Kim: “When the opportunity to become the title sponsor of Founders Cup first came up, we saw so many similarities and shared values with the LPGA that we almost instantly concluded that this is a very nice and natural fit for Bank of Hope. (The) LPGA was founded by 13 visionary women, and today LPGA has grown to be the premier women’s sports organization in the world. LPGA also has maintained a very strong focus on giving back to its communities. Like the LPGA, Bank of Hope was founded by visionaries who saw a need to provide financial and banking services to the very rapidly growing immigrant communities. Today, Bank of Hope is the representative bank of the Asian-American communities in the United States. We also have maintained strong ties with our communities through mutually beneficial relationships.”

Sponsor invite and Chandler, Arizona native Hannah O’Sullivan is the only amateur in the 2017 Bank of Hope Founders Cup field and she is ready to play again in front of her hometown crowd (T33 in 2016), “I’m so excited to be here and have this opportunity to play so close to home again this year,” O’Sullivan said. “So thankful to the Bank of Hope and the LPGA for giving me this opportunity. I’m really looking forward to getting it all started on Thursday. I’ve had a lot of fun preparing, and the atmosphere is amazing, to see support from some of my friends and feel and the crowd is so supportive as well.”

MORNING:

Defending champion Sei Young Kim will tee off with World No. 1 Lydia Ko and top-ranked American Lexi Thompson (Rolex Rankings No. 7) at 7:45am off of the 10th tee.

AFTERNOON:

Reigning Rolex Player of the Year Ariya Jutanugarn is paired with 2013 Bank of Hope Founders Cup champion Stacy Lewis and top-ranked Swede Anna Nordqvist at 12:34pm off of the first tee.

Defending champion Sei Young Kim has competed in three events this season (did not play ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open) and posted a season-best third place finish at the Honda LPGA Thailand

In 2016, Kim captured two wins (Founders Cup, Meijer LPGA Classic For Simply Give) and recorded seven additional top-10 finishes, including two runner-ups

Kim has ranked in the top-10 in driving distance every year since joining the Tour, and ranks second thru four events in 2017

Hannah O’Sullivan, a Duke University commit, has made 9 career LPGA starts, making 5 cuts with a career-best T33 finish at the 2016 Founders Cup

As the 2015 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion O’Sullivan competed and made the cuts at the 2016 ANA Inspiration and the U.S. Women’s Open conducted by the USGA, and in June represented the U.S. at the Curtis Cup

O’Sullivan became the youngest player to win on the Epson Tour, at age 16 in the Gateway Classic, breaking a 20-year-old Epson Tour record set by Cristie Kerr in 1995, by firing a 3-under 69 with a three-day score of 15-under 201

The Bank of Hope Founders Cup was created in 2011 to honor the 13 women who started the LPGA. Three of the original LPGA founders will be in attendance at the tournament: Marilynn Smith, Shirley Spork and Marlene Hagge Vossler, while 89-year-old Spork will play in Wednesday’s Pro-Am.

The Bank of Hope Founders Cup has a strong charitable component that speaks to its roots, helping to raise more than $3 million for the LPGA*USGA Girls Golf Program. Throughout its 20-year history, Girls Golf has empowered a total of more than 300,000 girls through golf — now impacting 60,000 more young women each year through more than 380 Girls Golf programs.

Each year, Bank of Hope Founders Cup celebrates “Pioneers” of the LPGA, honoring their trailblazing spirit as well as their exemplary participation in the development and advancement of the LPGA Tour and women’s golf. This year, Sandra Post and Hollis Stacy are being honored.

Post is an eight-time LPGA winner/major champion, and in 1979 she was named Canada’s Female Athlete of the Year, and the Lou Marsh Trophy as Canada’s Outstanding Athlete of the Year. In her rookie season in 1968, she won the LPGA Championship for her first career victory defeating Kathy Whitworth in a playoff at age 19 and was also named Rookie of the Year. A native Canadian, Post won both the Ontario and Canadian Junior Championships three times each.

Stacy won four major championships in her 26-year career, including three U.S. Women’s Opens - she’s one of six women to have claimed the title three or more times. In total, she won 18 LPGA titles, six of which came in playoffs. From 1977 to 1983, Stacy recorded 82 top-10 finishes on the LPGA Tour. She was recognized during the LPGA’s 50th Anniversary in 2000 as one of the LPGA’s top-50 players and teachers and was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2012.