Tournament returns to TPC River’s Bend in Maineville for the second consecutive year
MAINEVILLE, OH − The Kroger Queen City City Championship Presented by P&G returns to TPC River’s Bend from Sept. 11-Sept. 14.
After two years at Kenwood Country Club in Madeira, the event moved in 2024 to TPC River’s Bend, which has hosted several different levels of tournaments in its history.
The LPGA has a contract in place to keep the Kroger Queen City Championship at TPC River’s Bend through next year.
Last year’s tournament at TPC River’s Bend had over 50,000 fans with 700 volunteers and generated nearly $50 million of economic impact for Cincinnati, according to a press release.
This year’s field features 144 of the LPGA’s top golfers competing for a $2 million purse.
“It’s a really exciting time for our players heading into the tour championship at the end of the year. They are kind of jockeying for position,” LPGA Vice President of Tournament Business Affairs Casey Ceman said at media day Aug. 19. “It’s gonna be really exciting.”
Here are some of the storylines to follow this week from the Arnold Palmer-designed course in Maineville.
Lydia Ko begins title defense at Kroger Queen City Championship
Last year, Lydia Ko entered the final round of the Kroger Queen City Championship facing a two-stroke deficit. A few hours later, she was cruising to the title after firing a course record 63 for her 22nd career victory on the LPGA Tour.
Ko, who also won an Olympic gold medal and secured a berth in the LPGA Hall of Fame in 2024, is ranked No. 3 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings.
“It’s crazy to think that even happened a year ago,” Ko said at her pre-tournament press conference Sept. 10. “We played Kenwood before we came to TPC River’s Bend, and the two golf courses are very different. I do think this year the course is not as dry as what it got to on the weekend of last year.”
Ko has four top 10 finishes this year in 13 starts and won the HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore in February.
Ko is one of 30 major champions and six former World No. 1s in this year’s field.
World No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul looks for redemption in Maineville
Jeeno Thitikul, the World No. 1, owned the 54-hole lead going into the final round of the 2024 Kroger Queen City Championship, but settled for a runner-up finish after a final round score of 70.
“The only memories that I can think of is just Lydia (Ko) hit it insane (in the final round),” Thitikul said Sept. 10.
Each of the top four on the LPGA leaderboard, Thitikul, Nelly Korda (No. 2), Ko and 2023 Kroger Queen City Championship Minjee Lee (No. 4) are in this year’s field.
Thitikul claimed the No. 1 spot in the LPGA Rankings from Korda in August. She has two runner-up finishes in her last four events and won the Mizuho Americas Open in New Jersey in May.
Can Maria Fassi make another Kroger Queen City Championship run?
Maria Fassi, a two-time Olympian (2020, 2024), has yet to win on the LPGA Tour since joining in 2019.
Fassi lost her LPGA Tour card in 2024 but is on the comeback trail and received a sponsor’s exemption to the Kroger Queen City Championship as an ambassador for Procter & Gamble.
“This year, it’s been a little bit harder on me,” Fassi said. “P&G, being one of my sponsors and not only believing in my game through a tough year and also providing me with an invite for this week, I need it. It’s amazing that they can pull through and continue to give me opportunities to showcase the talent they believe that I have.”
It will be Fassi’s ninth start of the season. The 27-year-old has made just three of eight cuts this year but has had success at this tournament in the past, finishing 19th last year (her second-best finish in 2024) and a career-high 3rd in 2022.
Local products to watch at the Kroger Queen City Championship
There is a pair of Ohio natives in this year’s field, including Stacy Lewis, from Toledo. The 40-year-old and former World No. 1 (2013) has 13 career wins on the LPGA Tour and has made the cut in 6-of-14 events this year.
Hinckley, Ohio native, and Ohio State product Jessica Porvasnik is in the field after finally earning her LPGA Tour card in 2025. At Ohio State, the 30-year-old was the Big Ten Player of the Year in 2014.
The rookie has made the cut twice in 13 events this season.
Another former Buckeye, Caley McGinty, also joined the LPGA Tour in 2025. She has made four cuts in her rookie campaign and is coming off her first career top 10 at the FM Championship in Massachusetts last month.
