Nelly Korda, the world No. 1 and reigning Player of the Year, returns to Las Vegas this week to defend her T-Mobile Match Play title at Shadow Creek.
The LPGA Tour event stands as the city’s premier professional golf attraction in 2024, filling a void left after the PGA Tour dropped Las Vegas from its schedule when Shriners Children’s Hospital ended its 18-year sponsorship last October.
It’s a significant absence for a city that’s built a reputation as a golf destination for players of all skill levels. But the PGA Tour isn’t walking away from Las Vegas permanently.
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“Vegas is a market for big events,” said John Norris, senior vice president of PGA Tour tournaments. “They don’t do anything small. You got the major sports leagues there now. You’ve got the entertainers, world-class building in the Sphere. So what we thought was we want to be back in Vegas, but we want to do it with a big event.”
The PGA Tour is eyeing a return with an early-season event that would attract golf’s biggest names, though that won’t happen until at least 2027.
What exactly this “big event” might look like remains unclear. Patrick Lindsey, former Shriners Children’s Open executive director who recently became senior VP and general manager of Las Vegas Motor Speedway, suggests an all-star format could work well.
“I think that all options are going to be on the table for them when they look at what they want to do in this market,” Lindsey said. “This is kind of a niche market for us to do something fun and exciting and different. I think that’s how they need to look at this market, to take advantage of everything that is loud and colorful about Las Vegas.”
The calendar presents the biggest challenge. The Shriners event traditionally played in fall after Las Vegas temperatures cooled, but that timing came with drawbacks. Top players often skipped fall events to avoid taking opportunities from golfers fighting for tour cards, leaving Shriners with weaker fields.
The situation changed briefly when the PGA Tour adjusted its schedule in 2013 to begin the season with fall events, but LIV Golf’s arrival prompted another overhaul two years ago, returning to January season starts.
Norris says there’s zero interest in returning to a fall date, and summer is obviously out with temperatures routinely exceeding 110 degrees. That leaves early season slots, but those are already packed with untouchable fixtures like the Masters, PGA Championship, The Players Championship and the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
“That’s the tricky part,” Norris acknowledged.
Meanwhile, the LPGA Tour is making its fifth appearance in Las Vegas with the Match Play at Shadow Creek. The exclusive course isn’t built for spectators with its narrow walking paths, but its world-class design attracts players and celebrities globally.
“I feel like just the drive in is so unique and so beautiful,” Korda said Tuesday morning. “The property is really, really pretty. When you just stand on what was originally 18 tee – we’re playing it as 9 this week – it’s really breathtaking. It’s very demanding off the tee into the greens and even on the greens, so you have to be on 24/7. It tests every part of your game.”
The LPGA Tour didn’t provide specific comments about its future plans in Las Vegas, only releasing a statement that its sponsors were “all great advocates for the LPGA Tour.”
Las Vegas has witnessed memorable PGA Tour moments, none bigger than Tiger Woods winning his first professional tournament there in 1996 as a 20-year-old. That Sunday, the city became the center of the golf universe, with Woods’ victory even overshadowing NFL games.
The PGA Tour’s eventual return could create more such moments.
“I just believe that this city, the market, people who live here deserve a professional golf event here,” Lindsey said. “They deserve to be something maybe different than what’s going on in other markets.”
