Out of the Rough: Ford Championship presented by Wild Horse Pass (2026)

The LPGA continues on with its early-season west coast swing with this week’s Ford Championship presented by Wild Horse Pass.

This year marks the third installment of the event.

The inaugural event, played in 2024, was held at the Seville Golf & Country Club.

The Ford Championship presented by Wild Horse Pass moved to the Whirlwind Golf Club at Wild Horse pass a season ago. It will once again be held at the Whirlwind Golf Club in Chandler, Arizona this season.

The Field

As the LPGA continues its West Coast swing, a star-studded field is in line for this week.

World No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul headlines this week’s field. 

She’ll be joined by Nelly Korda (No. 2,) Charley Hull (No. 3,) Miyu Yamashita (No. 5,) Lydia Ko (No. 6,) Hyo Joo Kim (No. 8,) Lottie Woad (No. 9) and Sei Young Kim (No. 10) as those within the top ten of the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings playing this week.

Hyo Joo Kim comes in as the defending champion after shooting a final round 64 (-8) after starting four-back of the lead. She forced a playoff with Lilia Vu where Hyo Joo Kim sunk a six-foot birdie to complete the comeback, making last year’s installment one of the more thrilling finishes of the entire season.

The Course

Whirlwind Golf Club’s Cattail Course will play host this week.

It is a Gary Panks design and plays as a par-72 at 6,675 yards. It opened in 2000.

Golfers will be greeted by wild horses and other native wildlife while enjoying the secluded and scenic environment.

The fairways are wide, inviting golfers to bomb it off-the-tee. However, taking on the hazards and finding the correct placement within the fairway to attack the large greens makes the course play shorter than what the scorecard suggests.

These larger-than-average greens feature subtle but tumbling undulations. 

The front-nine is rather straight forward. It opens with a shot par-four with no green side bunkers. From there, the second hole is a long par-five but scoreable, inviting an easy start to the round.

The back-nine is much more difficult and unique. Included the back nine is the long par-three tenth to open.

The closing hole, the par-four 18th is described to have the ‘most demanding drive’ on the entire golf course. Bunkers line the narrow fairway and with the unpredictable desert winds, they are brought into play off-the-tee. The 18th also features pot-bunkers. A long up-hill second shot for those who choose to not challenge the pot-bunkers is next inline on 18. In all, the 18th hole here is a fantastic finishing hole.

The Weather

As of the time of writing this, there is a zero-percent chance of precipitation across all four days. It will be hot, very hot. Temperatures will begin at 101-degrees on Thursday before settling to 100-degrees on Friday. From there, Saturday calls for 99-degrees and Sunday 96-degrees. Winds are set for eight miles-per-hour on Thursday, six miles-per-hour on Friday, nine miles-per-hour on Saturday and nine miles-per-hour on Sunday. 

Key Stats

• Strokes Gained: Approach (SG: APP)

• Strokes Gained: Putting (SG: PUTT)

• Strokes Gained: Around the Green (SG: ATG)

• Three-Putt Avoidance

• Driving Accuracy Percentage

• Ball Striking

• Scrambling

Betting Card

Sei Young Kim (+2000)

I hit on Hyo-Joo Kim last week at the Fortinet Founders Cup so let’s double down and hit on another Kim. Sei Young is currently sixth on Tour in ball striking, eighth in SG: APP, tenth in scrambling, 34th in driving accuracy percentage, 61st in SG: ATG, 84th in three-putt avoidance and 90th in SG: PUTT. Sei Young placed third last week at the Fortinet Founders Cup and prior to that placed 21st at the HSBC Women’s World Championship and tenth at the Honda LPGA Thailand. She also placed 22nd at this event a season ago. 

Chizzy Iwai (+3300)

Iwai has been great to start this 2026 season. She placed 19th last week at the Fortinet Founders Cup. Prior to that she placed 21st at the HSBC Women’s World Championship, second at the Honda LPGA Thailand and 27th at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions. She also placed 22nd at this event a season ago. Iwai is currently seventh on Tour in scrambling, ninth in driving accuracy percentage, 16th in SG: ATG, 24th in SG: APP, 38th in ball striking, 53rd in three-putt avoidance and 65th in SG: PUTT. 

Lindy Duncan (+8000)

Duncan placed fifth at this event a season ago. She placed 42nd last week at the Fortinet Founders Cup, 15th at the Blue Bay LPGA, seventh at the HSBC Women’s World Championship and 42nd at the Honda LPGA Thailand. Duncan is currently 22nd on Tour in ball striking, 23rd in both three-putt avoidance and scrambling, 31st in both SG: APP and SG: PUTT, 52nd in driving accuracy percentage and 84th in SG: ATG. 

Yu Liu (+12500)

Although she’s played just events so far this season, Liu has been great. She placed 19th last week at the Fortinet Founders Cup and fifth at the Blue Bay LPGA. She also placed 33rd here a season ago. Liu is currently 18th on Tour in SG: APP, 21st in SG: ATG, 27th in ball striking, 40th in SG: PUTT, 47th in scrambling, 58th in three-putt avoidance and 70th in driving accuracy. 

Aditi Ashok (+16000)

Ashok is currently third on Tour in driving accuracy percentage, fifth in both SG: PUTT and scrambling, 13th in SG: ATG, 28th in three-putt avoidance, 33rd in ball striking and 54th in SG: APP. Ashok placed 14th last week at the Fortinet Founders Cup and third at the Blue Bay LPGA so far this season. She missed the cut here a season ago.