The 2017 U.S. LPGA Tour draws to a close this week in Florida, and there is still much at stake. In fact, according to the Tour, “in the 67 previous LPGA seasons there has never been as much on the line going into the final tournament as this week at the CME Group Tour Championship”.
There is, for example, the $1 million Race to the CME Globe bonus, the Rolex Player of the Year, the Vare Trophy for lowest scoring average and the money title.
The only title already sewn up is Rolex Rookie of the Year, with Sung Hyun Park’s lead over runner-up Angel Yin greater than the total number of points Yin has accumulated. The South Korean could also join Nancy Lopez (1978) as the only players to be Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year in the same season.
“It’s a fitting end to a season,” notes the Tour, “in which the LPGA proved, once again, that it is not only golf’s global tour but also possesses one of the deepest pools of talent in its history. Not until the 16th event of the year was there a repeat winner; 22 different players from eight countries won the 32 tournaments; and the five majors had five different winners.”
The Race to the CME Globe is a season-long competition in which LPGA members accumulate points in every official LPGA tournament. Following the Blue Bay LPGA, the top 72 LPGA members, as well as any non-member winners and alternates, in the Race to the CME Globe points standings were seeded into the championship field. For the top five players, it’s win the CME Group Tour Championship and take home $1 million. However, the top-12 in the points race all have a mathematical chance to take the title of Race to the CME Globe champion and the coveted cheque.
Going into the CME Group Tour Championship, Lexi Thompson leads the race with 5,000 points. Sung Hyun Park is second with 4,750, and rounding out the top five, who control their own destinies at the Tiburón club, are new world number one Shanshan Feng (4,500), So Yeon Ryu (4,250) and Brooke Henderson (4,000).
Ryu, who won the ANA Inspiration for her second career major title, holds a slim lead in the race for Rolex Player of the Year honours. With 162 points, she is three points ahead of Feng (159), who enters the CME Group Tour Championship fresh off wins at the LPGA’s last two events. Park is third with 157 points, followed by Thompson with 147.
Thompson also leads the LPGA in scoring average at 69.147, followed by Park at 69.259, In Gee Chun at 69.269 and nine other players under 70 (the LPGA record for the most players under 70 is five, set in 2016).
