Weekend Forecast: 4 Reasons Why You Need to Be Watching The Ford Championship

With temperatures nearing 100 degrees Fahrenheit, the LPGA is heating up in more ways than one.

The best in the world have touched down in the Arizona desert for the Ford Championship—and their scores are low...like super low. Like the kind of low that if you shoot 5-under par, you're barely making the cut.

Crazy right?

As the first 36 holes begin to wrap up, you better believe that there's still plenty of action that you don't want to miss. Coverage over the next two days kicks off around 6 p.m ET, just in time for your evening wind down.

RELATED: How to Watch The LPGA's Ford Championship

You already know that I wouldn't dare leave you hanging without a few storylines to keep your eye on. Here's everything going on out west that you should be paying attention to.

Birdie Making Machines

Like I mentioned, the scores this week are low...as hell.

Let's kick things off with Miss Lydia Ko, who shot her career best during the opening round at Ford. The Hall of Famer was just one missed 7-footer away from becoming the second player in LPGA history to shoot a 59.

Ko's scorecard was a total birdie fest, but unfortunately, her playing time was well before the broadcast window and there's little to no footage of her impeccable play. This was certainly a missed opportunity by the Tour to really amp up the juice and create buzz for the fans who aren't in attendance, but let's not dwell on what we can't change and celebrate just how epic this is.

Lydia Ko continues to be one of the greatest ambassadors of the game of golf, period. This performance alone deserves a spot in the HOF.

The World No. 8 lead the way, but the field was hot on her heels. Let's run down a few more impressive states from the first 18 holes.

- 16 players went bogey-free in their first round

- 18 players recorded an eagle in the first round including three players that recorded two

- 74 players recorded a round in the 60s in the first round

A (Little) Star is Born

While Thursday's round was owned by Lydia Ko, Friday belonged to one of the best amateurs in the game—Asterisk Talley.

The 17-year-old, whose name means "Little Star" in Greek is prepping for next week's Augusta National Women's Amateur by sitting inside the top-10 of an LPGA event, against a field that has 22 of the top 25 players in the world.

RELATED: The 2026 Augusta National Women's Amateur Field Is Set

The New Face of the Broadcast?

Last week while I was out at the Founders Cup, I got an inside look at the new broadcast upgrades the LPGA is bringing this year. While the media rights and TV slots remain to be a problem to solve, the actually broadcast has been enhanced nearly tenfold.

This week, the booth is seeing another boost in having former Tour player Mel Reid as a studio analyst alongside Grant Boone. She has previously done some work with Golf Channel on its 'Live From' shows and she has been an on-course reporter. But this the first time that Reid will be an analyst during tournament play.

Having only retired at the end of 2024, Reid is more than qualified to take up this role and do so expertly.

Ahead of the championship, Golfweek caught up with the 37-year-old who shared her approach to this new gig. "I really have no idea what I'm doing, but I try my best to put my best foot forward and do a lot of prep and try and be authentic to who I am and I think that's something that I'm always very conscious of. I don't want to be kind of a a monotone voice. I want to give an opinion and back it out with evidence and tell these stories and hopefully have a bit of humor in there as well, so that's what I enjoy doing."

Safe to say, I look forward to watching the energy Mel will bring.

A Former World No. 1 is Finding Her Form

Rounding out this list of things to watch is a feel good story I've been dying to talk about.

At last year's Chevron Championship, Yani Tseng made headlines for putting left-handed (mind you, she's a right-handed golfer). Tseng who was once the top player in the world, winning majors and setting records, has struggled for years going through serious bouts of the yips.

And I'm not just talking errant tee shots and a few lip outs. Tseng was suffering on all fronts. She was fighting injuries. Dealing with the mental strain of playing poorly. And it all combusted, resulting in years of not just being win-less but struggling to even see a weekend.

Her first made cut since 2018 came at last year's AIG Women's Open, and towards the end of 2025, Tseng actually won her first event since 2014.

RELATED: Yani Tseng's Road to Redemption Starts at Home

Yani Tseng and her caddie at the 2025 AIG Women's Open (Credit: Getty Images).

The Ford Championship is only her second start of the 2026 season, but the 37-year-old has made her second consecutive cut, something we haven't seen from her in years, and that's special. We're pulling for her this weekend, and beyond!!!

That's all for this week. Happy viewing, golf fans.