Chevron Championship: England's Georgia Hall buoyant for first women's major of 2022

Georgia Hall noted immediately after her recent victory in Saudi Arabia the importance of notching a win early in the season.

That five-stroke triumph sets up the British number one for the first major of the year. Hall should be taking a healthy dose of confidence to this week's Chevron Championship at Mission Hills Country Club, Rancho Mirage, California.

«It's fantastic to win in March,» Hall said, no doubt with one eye on the first of the five annual women's majors, which has changed identity from its previous incarnation, the ANA Inspiration.

Two more UK stars, Charley Hull and Northern Ireland's Stephanie Meadow, will be encouraged by their top-10 finishes down the road in Carlsbad last week.

Indeed, it promises to be a poignant week for the women's game as it will be the last time this tournament is played on the iconic Dinah Shore Tournament Course.

It has been a fixture since American Jane Blalock banked $20,000 for her three-stroke win at the inaugural staging, played over only three rounds, back in 1972.

Within 11 years the tournament acquired major status, such was the allure of the spectacular course and the quality of field it attracted.

Under the latest deal, the event switches next year to Houston, Texas and will be played in May. This means it will no longer clash with the recently instituted Augusta National Women's Amateur, the Masters curtain-raiser in Georgia.

Former Women's Open champion Hall would become the first British winner and only the fifth European victor if she can maintain current form and fight off a field that includes nine of the world's top 10.

The second-ranked Nelly Korda will be missed. She continues to be treated for a blood clot in her arm but the line-up remains formidable,