Pure Silk Championship

{{short description|Golf tournament formerly on the LPGA Tour}} {{for|the men's tournament|Michelob Championship at Kingsmill}} {{Infobox golf tournament | name = Pure Silk Championship | image = File:Pure Silk Championship logo.png | image_size = 250 | location = Williamsburg, Virginia | establishment = 2003, {{Time ago|2003|spellout=yes}} | course = Kingsmill Resort, River Course | org = Kingsmill Resort | par = 71 | yardage = {{convert|6379|yd}} | tour = LPGA Tour | format = Stroke play - 72 holes | purse = $1.3 million | month_played = May | final_year = 2021 | aggregate = 264 Lexi Thompson (2017) | to-par = −20 ''as above'' | current_champion = {{flagicon|TPE}} Hsu Wei-ling | final_champion = }} {{Location map |USA |relief = 1 |label = Williamsburg  |lat = 37.225 |long = -76.668 |caption = Location in the United States |marksize = 5 |float = |background= |width = 230 }} {{Location map |USA Virginia |relief = 1 |label = Kingsmill  Resort  |lat = 37.225 |long = -76.668 |caption = Location in Virginia |marksize = 5 |float = |background =  |width = 200 }}

The '''Pure Silk Championship''' was a women's professional golf tournament on the LPGA Tour, played in Williamsburg, Virginia. The 72-hole tournament was held on the par-71 River Course at Kingsmill Resort, set at {{convert|6340|yd|0}} in 2013.<ref name=course13/>

Previously known as the "Michelob ULTRA Open at Kingsmill," the tournament was founded {{Time ago|2003|spellout=yes}} in 2003 and played for seven seasons. Absent in 2010 and 2011, it returned for the 2012 season in early September, and switched to early May in 2013.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lpga.com/golf/news/2012/1/lpga-momentum-continues-with-addition-of-kingsmill-championship.aspx |date=January 11, 2012 |publisher=LPGA |title=LPGA momentum continues with addition of Kingsmill Championship |access-date=May 25, 2012}}</ref>

The LPGA event succeeded the Michelob Championship at Kingsmill, an annual PGA Tour event held for 22 years, from 1981 through 2002.

==Michelob ULTRA Open== Held at the Kingsmill Resort just south of Williamsburg, it formerly had one of the highest purses on the LPGA Tour, which attracted a very competitive field. It was voted the players' favorite stop on the tour in 2007 and fans' favorite tournament in 2008.<ref name="lpga-end">{{cite magazine|url=http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/article/0,28136,1925173,00.html |title=LPGA's contract with Kingsmill will not be renewed |agency=Associated Press |magazine=Golf |date=September 23, 2009 |access-date=May 1, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110813052750/http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/article/0%2C28136%2C1925173%2C00.html |archive-date=August 13, 2011 }}</ref>

With a purse of $2.2 million, the winner of this LPGA tournament automatically qualified for the season-ending LPGA Playoffs at The ADT, during the years the Playoffs were held, from 2006 through 2008. The purse for the revived event in 2012 was $1.3 million.  The tournament was sponsored by Michelob ULTRA beer, and its parent company Anheuser-Busch. As of 2007, Anheuser-Busch had donated over $1.3 million to 30 different charities through the event. At the 2009 tournament, there was speculation that Anheuser-Busch would not continue its sponsorship; the late-2000s recession and the company's pending acquisition by InBev were among the factors.<ref name="usa-2009">{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/sports/golf/lpga/2009-05-12-kingsmill-future_N.htm |title=LPGA's future at Kingsmill resort uncertain |agency=Associated Press |newspaper=USA Today |date=May 12, 2009 |access-date=May 1, 2013}}</ref>

The talk led that year's winner, Cristie Kerr, and other players to lobby to keep the tournament.<ref name="usa-2009"/> In September 2009, Anheuser-Busch announced the discontinuation of its sponsorship of the event, and the LPGA Tour lost one of its most prominent stops.<ref name="lpga-end"/>

The decision came at a difficult time for the LPGA, which lost a number of events during 2008 and 2009.<ref name="lpga-end"/><ref name="usa-2009"/>

==Kingsmill Championship== thumb|200px|right|Sign outside Kingsmill Golf Club showing winners of the events At the 2012 event, Jiyai Shin won a sudden-death playoff with Paula Creamer that extended to nine holes and a fifth day. After eight consecutive pars by both, all played on the par-4 18th hole, darkness forced the playoff's suspension until Monday morning. Play was restarted on the 16th hole, and Creamer bogeyed with three putts while Shin parred.<ref name=spbconsd>{{cite news |url=http://www.pga.com/news/lpga-tour/jiyai-shin-beats-paula-creamer-ninth-hole-playoff-kingsmill-championship |publisher=PGA of America |agency=Associated Press |title=Shin's par beats Creamer on ninth hole of sudden death at Kingsmill |date=September 10, 2012 |access-date=April 30, 2013}}</ref> Both were a day late arriving to the Women's British Open in England; Shin won the year's final major by nine strokes and Creamer finished third.

Kerr won her third title at Kingsmill in a playoff in 2013 over Suzann Pettersen, the 2007 champion. The playoff went two holes, both played on #18, and ended when Kerr sank her putt for par. The sudden-death format was changed in 2013 to play that finishing hole three times, then move to over to #16 if a fourth hole was necessary.<ref name=ckwithpo>{{cite news |url=https://www.espn.com/golf/story/_/id/9245579/cristie-kerr-wins-kingsmill-championship-two-hole-playoff-suzann-pettersen |work=ESPN |agency=Associated Press |title=Cristie Kerr wins in two-hole playoff |date=May 5, 2013 |access-date=May 8, 2013}}</ref>

Kerr is the only multiple winner, with victories in 2005, 2009, and 2013. Annika Sörenstam set the event's 72-hole scoring record in 2008 at 265, 19 strokes under par. Shin set the stop's single round record in 2012, with a 62 (−9) in the first round.

==Tournament names== *2003: '''Michelob Light Open at Kingsmill''' *2004–2009: '''Michelob ULTRA Open at Kingsmill''' *2012–2017: '''Kingsmill Championship''' *2018: '''Kingsmill Championship presented by GEICO''' *2019–2021: '''Pure Silk Championship presented by Visit Williamsburg'''

==Course== {{main|Kingsmill Resort}}River Course in 2013<ref name=course13>{{cite web |url=http://www.thekingsmillchampionship.com/fact-sheet.php |work=Kingsmill Championship |title=Fact Sheet |date=April 2013 |access-date=April 20, 2013}}</ref> {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" ! Hole!!1!!2!!3!!4!!5!!6!!7!!8!!9!!Out!!10!!11!!12!!13!!14!!15!!16!!17!!18!!In!!Total |- | Yards||373||185||485||385||160||355||495||401||400||'''3,239'''||405||375||396||140||362||473||405||163||382||'''3,101'''||'''6,340''' |- | Par||4||3||4||4||3||4||5||4||4||'''36'''||4||4||4||3||4||5||4||3||4||'''35'''||'''71''' |}

Opened {{Time ago|1975}} in 1975, the River Course was designed by noted course architect Pete Dye, who also supervised its renovation in 2004.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://vsga.org/events/1044/lpga-tour-kingsmill-championship/ |publisher=Virginia State Golf Association |title=Events: Kingsmill Championship |date=2013 |access-date=May 1, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130120054617/http://vsga.org/events/1044/lpga-tour-kingsmill-championship/ |archive-date=January 20, 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Winners== {| class=wikitable style="text-align:center" !Year||Date||Champion||Country||Winning score||To par||Margin of victory||Purse ($)||Winner's share ($) |- |colspan=9|'''Pure Silk Championship''' |- |2021 || align=left|May 20–23 || align=left|Hsu Wei-ling || align=left|{{TPE}} || align=right|66-72-65-68=271 || −13 || align=left|2 strokes || 1,300,000 || 195,000 |- |2019 || align=left|May 23–26 || align=left|Bronte Law || align=left|{{ENG}} || align=right|65-68-67-67=267 || −17 || align=left|2 strokes || 1,300,000 || 195,000 |- |colspan=9|'''Kingsmill Championship''' |- |2018 || align=left|May 17–20 || align=left|Ariya Jutanugarn (2) || align=left|{{THA}} || align=right|66-67-66=199 || −14 || align=left|Playoff || 1,300,000 || 195,000 |- |2017 || align=left|May 18–21 || align=left|Lexi Thompson || align=left|{{USA}} || align=right|65-65-69-65=264 || −20 || align=left|5 strokes || 1,300,000 || 195,000 |- |2016 || align=left|May 19–22 || align=left|Ariya Jutanugarn || align=left|{{THA}} || align=right|69-69-65-67=270 || −14 || align=left|1 stroke || 1,300,000 || 195,000 |- |2015 || align=left|May 14–18 ^ || align=left|Minjee Lee || align=left|{{AUS}} || align=right|68-67-69-65=269 || −15 || align=left|2 strokes || 1,300,000 || 195,000 |- |2014|| align=left|May 15–18 || align=left|Lizette Salas || {{USA}} || align=right|67-68-65-71=271 || −13 || align=left|4 strokes || 1,300,000 || 195,000 |- |2013|| align=left|May 2–5 || align=left|Cristie Kerr (3) || {{USA}} || align=right|66-71-66-69=272 || −12 || align=left|Playoff || 1,300,000 || 195,000 |- |2012|| align=left|Sep 6–10 || align=left|Jiyai Shin || {{KOR}} || align=right|62-68-69-69=268 || −16 || align=left|Playoff || 1,300,000 || 195,000 |- |2011||rowspan=2 colspan=8 |''No tournament'' |- |2010 |- |align=center colspan=9|'''Michelob ULTRA Open at Kingsmill''' |- |2009|| align=left|May 7–10 || align=left|Cristie Kerr (2)|| align=left|{{USA}} || align=right|69-63-66-70=268 || −16 || align=left|2 strokes || 2,200,000 || 330,000 |- |2008|| align=left|May 8–11 || align=left|Annika Sörenstam || align=left|{{SWE}} || align=right|64-66-69-66=265 || −19 || align=left|7 strokes || 2,200,000 || 330,000 |- |2007 || align=left|May 10–13 || align=left|Suzann Pettersen || align=left|{{NOR}} || align=right|66-72-68-61=274 || −10 || align=left|Playoff || 2,200,000 || 330,000 |- |2006|| align=left|May 11–14 || align=left|Karrie Webb || align=left|{{AUS}} || align=right|66-68-68-70=270 || −14 ||align=left|7 strokes || 2,200,000 || 330,000 |- ||2005|| align=left|May 5–8 ||align=left|Cristie Kerr || align=left|{{USA}} || align=right|68-68-68-72=276 ||−8 || align=left|5 strokes || 2,200,000 || 330,000 |- |2004|| align=left|May 6–9 || align=left|Se Ri Pak || align=left|{{KOR}} || align=right|70-71-69-65=275 || −9 || align=left|2 strokes || 2,200,000 || 330,000 |- |colspan=9|'''Michelob Light Open at Kingsmill''' |- | 2003 || align=left|May 1–4 ||align=left|Grace Park|| {{KOR}} || align=right|67-68-69-71=275 || −9 || align=left|1 stroke || 1,600,000 || 240,000 |} :^ Play extended one day due to rain delays.

==Tournament record== [[Image:Lexi Thompson (8700798299).jpg|thumb|right|200px|Lexi Thompson at Kingsmill in 2013]] {| class=wikitable style="text-align:center" ! Year ||Player||Score||To par||Round |- | 2012 ||align=left|Jiyai Shin* || 62 || −9 || 1st |- | 2016 ||align=left|Chun In-gee || 62 || −9 || 3rd |} <nowiki>*</nowiki> Tournament winner

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *{{official|http://www.thekingsmillchampionship.com/}} *[http://www.lpga.com/tournaments/pure-silk-championship/overview Coverage on the LPGA Tour's official site] *[http://www.kingsmill.com/LPGA/ Kingsmill Resort] – LPGA event

Category:Former LPGA Tour events Category:Golf tournaments in Virginia Category:Women's sports in Virginia Category:Sports in Hampton Roads Category:Recurring sporting events established in 2003 Category:Recurring sporting events disestablished in 2021 Category:2003 establishments in Virginia Category:2021 disestablishments in Virginia