THE WOODLANDS, Texas – Brittany Lincicome wore a shiny ballmarker on her hat that spelled out youngest daughter Sophia’s name in the first round of the Chevron Championship. On Day 2, she’ll wear one with eldest daughter Emery’s name.
“Can’t play favorites,” she said, after opening with a 2-under 70 at the first LPGA major of the year, good for a share of fifth.
Lincicome, 37, a two-time major champion with eight career victories, is one of the few moms on the LPGA who’s still competing after having two children.
What stood out most about Lincicome’s lid at The Club at Carlton Woods, however, is that it’s completely blank.
“I was going to put ‘Your name here,’ ” joked Lincicome, who lost her hat and bag sponsor in December of last year.
This marks the first time the decorated American player has gone without a hat sponsor, which at the peak of her career brought in hundreds of thousands of dollars. Now, with a more limited playing schedule after giving birth to her second child last August, Lincicome’s longtime agent, Jeff Chilcoat, said they’re looking for anywhere from $60,000 to $100,000 for that space.
“My expectation would be that corporations would seek out and really want to work with mothers,” said Chilcoat, “especially in the products that apply to being a mom.”
Chilcoat, the founder of Sterling Sports Management, had a number of LPGA players on his roster become moms around the same time, including Stacy Lewis, Brittany Lang, Gerina Piller, Brooke Pancake and Lincicome. As some sponsors dropped off, Chilcoat hoped to replace them with companies whose consumers were mothers.
“We, as a company, very purposefully made up lists of brands that we thought would really work for these mothers,” said Chilcoat.
After hundreds of phone calls, they didn’t strike a deal with a single company that fit that model.
“Not one stepped up and did something,” he said.
Lincicome’s dream scenario is to win on the LPGA once again and have her kids run out on the green to celebrate. She sees that play out so often on the PGA Tour. This marks Lincicome’s fourth LPGA start since giving birth to Sophia.
The 2023 season also marks her first with a new caddie, as longtime looper Missy Pederson has transitioned away from caddie life. Lincicome, who prefers to employ female caddies, hired Britney Hamilton.
It’s hard to imagine anyone on the LPGA having a deeper affection for the Dinah Shore Tournament Course than Lincicome, who twice made a leap into Poppie’s Pond. She’s embracing everything about the week in Texas, from the Bentley courtesy car she’s driving around town to the local park she found to take her daughters.
“Assuming Chevron stays with us for 20 or 30 years,” she said, “I think they’ve done a fantastic job.”
And if she were to win this championship for a third time this week?
“I could retire, I think,” she said, smiling.
