Three groups to watch at Thursday's Marathon Classic

7/12/2018
BY NICHOLAS PIOTROWICZ
BLADE SPORTS WRITER

The Marathon Classic begins in earnest on Thursday with the first round at Highland Meadows Golf Club in Sylvania.

In-Kyung Kim is back at Highland Meadows Golf Club in Sylvania to defend her 2017 Marathon Classic title.
In-Kyung Kim is back at Highland Meadows Golf Club in Sylvania to defend her 2017 Marathon Classic title.

For those headed to the course for Day 1 of the tournament, here are three groupings that will be of interest:

1) IK Kim, Stacy Lewis, and Angel Yin (8:26 a.m., Tee No. 10)

Kim is the defending champion who won three times last year, which included the British Open, while Lewis is a Toledo native who is playing in her final tournament before taking maternity leave.

2) Lexi Thompson, Sei Young Kim, and Brittany Lincicome (1:21 p.m., Tee No. 1)

Three golfers with a real chance to win the tournament are paired on day one. Thompson, the top-ranked American, came in second place last year at Highland Meadows, while Kim and Lincicome both have tour wins this year.

3) Pinya Pipatjarasgit, Candie King, and Mind Muangkhumsakul (12:37 p.m., Tee No. 1)

This is turning into quite the summer between high school and college for Pipatjarasgit, who was at St. Ursula Academy a few months ago and will play in the Marathon Classic on Thursday. The sponsor exemption into the tournament will be on the inside of the ropes on a course she has played countless times.

Contact Nicholas Piotrowicz at npiotrowicz@theblade.com, 419-724-6110 or on Twitter @NickPiotrowicz