Defending champions Knight, Szokol reflect and prepare for this week's Dow Championship

By Annie Watson

MIDLAND, Mich. – Cheyenne Knight and Elizabeth Szokol’s 2023 win at Midland Country Club came down to the wire, defeating Matilda Castren and Kelly Tan by only one stroke. And despite coming into Thursday’s first round with the title of defending champions, the duo doesn’t feel any pressure this time around.

“I don’t think there’s a ton of pressure just because it’s such a fun week and a fun format,” Knight said. “We’re defending champions, but we’ll always be champions.

“[They] can’t take it away from us, and there’s no added pressure to play well.”

As the pair look ahead into the 2024 Dow Championship, they plan to utilize the momentum from last year’s victory in their strategy, as well as a go-with-the-flow mentality.

“No matter what happens out there, I feel like we’ll know how to handle it and each other,” Knight said. “We’re both probably going to hit a bad shot or miss a putt.”

Knight said her win with Szokol was the “highlight of my career”, especially since she got to play with one of her best friends in a sport that usually emphasizes individual wins. Unlike pairings like Alexa Pano and Rose Zhang, or the British duo Charley Hull and Georgia Hall, who are childhood friends dating back to junior golf days, the origin story for the Elizabethan Knights is not quite the same.

“We were sharing an Airbnb in Australia in 2020 in a tournament right before COVID hit,” Szokol said. “I think one of us just said, ‘do you want to play Dow together?’

“We’ve just had so much fun and stuck with it every year.”