Lydia Ko and Lexi Thompson say PGA Tour 2K23’s LPGA proves the growth of the women’s game
This year has been fantastic for female representation in sports, with women catching headlines across soccer, hockey, and more. Sports games have finally started to reflect this shift, representing these athletes in sports sims on consoles and PC.
PGA Tour 2K23 is part of that change. For the first time in the series' history, players can take control of a woman and lead her across a golfing career in the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA).
It’s not quite a hole-in-one – players will often face off against male competitors, due to the differences in roster size on the male and female sides – but it’s unstuck the game from the sand bunker and it can only soar through the sky above the fairway from here.
Lydia Ko – a professional golfer from New Zealand, who became the youngest player ever to achieve the number 1 rank at the age of 17 – is one of the players represented.
“It's exciting to be part of the PGA Tour 2K franchise and helps show the growing audience for LPGA,” Ko tells us. “Being a playable pro in PGA Tour 2K23 has been a special moment for me professionally and personally, and a credit to hard work.”
Ko is joined by Lexi Thompson, an American professional golfer who qualified to play in the U.S. Women's Open at the age of 12.
“It is a great honor to be featured in PGA Tour 2K23 and be part of the iconic 2K franchise’s history,” Thompson says. “The response has been overwhelmingly positive, and it shows LGPA’s prominence, helping grow and expand our audience.”
Each of the pros in-game comes kitted out in their iconic attire, they have the same strengths and weaknesses as they do in real life, and the latest golf sim also features a range of courses from the LGPA circuit itself.
The future of sports games looks inclusive and exciting, more accurately representing the level of talent involved.
If you want to check it out, PGA Tour 2K23 is out now on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC.
