Laney Frye to Compete at the 2024 LPGA Drive On Championship
BRADENTON, Fla. – Laney Frye, University of Kentucky All-American, will compete in her first LPGA Tour event at the LPGA Drive On Championship at Bradenton Country Club (par 71, 6,557 yards) in Bradenton, Florida, on Jan. 25-28.
The Wildcat will tee off on Thursday, Jan. 25 at 9:04 a.m. ET on hole No. 1, paired with University of Louisville alumna and Bluegrass native Lauren Hartlage and Southern California alumna and 2023 Q-School graduate Malia Nam.
The LPGA Drive On Championship is the second event of the year, with 120 players competing in the first full field of the season. The championship includes the top four players in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, including No. 1 Lilia Vu, No. 2 Ruoning Yin, No. 3 Celine Boutier and No. 4 Nelly Korda. It also includes other fan favorites such as Lexi Thompson and Stacy Lewis, among others.
Frye, a senior from Nicholasville, Kentucky, received the tournament’s sponsor exemption and is the lone amateur in the field. However, she will be one of 15 rookies competing, which includes 2023 Epson Tour and Q-School graduates.
The Wildcat, who is currently the 12th-ranked woman amateur in the United States, is averaging a 69.9 stroke average through four tournaments and 11 rounds in 2023-24. Seven of her 11 rounds in the fall were under par, including six rounds in the 60s. She placed in the top 15 in all four tournaments in the fall, including three finishes in the top 10 and one finish in the top five. She capped the fall schedule with a 7-under-par 209 for fourth place at the Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel Invitational.
Frye is on a roll, too, as the senior just set the program record for single-season stroke average last season, when she earned a 70.9 stroke average through 10 tournaments and 30 rounds. A chilling 20 of her 30 rounds were par-or-better, with 11 of those rounds in the 60s. That includes her school-record, 9-under-par 63 earned on her final round of her junior season at the NCAA Pullman Regional.
For her career, she has accumulated a program-record 54 career rounds of par-or-better, including 24 career rounds in the 60s.
Frye, who is trained by esteemed PGA Tour caddie Ted Scott, has three appearances at the U.S. Women’s Amateur (2021, 2022, 2023), reaching match play with each appearance and even winning stroke play co-medalist honors in 2022. She also is a three-time runner-up at the Sea Island Women’s Amateur (2021, 2022, 2023) and a two-time invitee to the Augusta National Women’s Amateur (2023, 2024).
The LPGA Drive On Championship field will be cut in half after 36 holes of stroke play, with the top 65 players and ties advancing to the final two rounds on Saturday and Sunday.
Coverage of the tournament can be found on Golf Channel and Peacock, with the full broadcast schedule as follows:
Thursday, Jan. 25
Golf Channel and Peacock, noon – 3 p.m. ET
Friday, Jan. 26
Golf Channel and Peacock, noon – 3 p.m. ET
Saturday, Jan. 27
Golf Channel, 4-5 p.m. ET
Peacock, 2-5 p.m. ET
Sunday, Jan. 28
Golf Channel and Peacock, 2-5 p.m. ET
Big Blue Nation also can follow along with live scoring here.
For the latest on the Kentucky women’s golf team, follow the team on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, as well as on the web at UKathletics.com.
