Much was on the line for several players when the 2017 U.S. LPGA Tour concluded in Florida. It all came down to the 72nd hole to determine the winner of this year’s CME Group Tour Championship. One of four players who held the overnight lead, Ariya Jutanugarn made birdie on four of her last six holes to win by one-stroke and avoid a three-way playoff with Americans Lexi Thompson and Jessica Korda.
The afternoon had seemed to belong to Thompson, who held a one-stroke lead through 71 holes, but she missed a putt of less than one metre on the 72nd hole for par, dropped back into a tie at the top with Korda and had to wait for Jutanugarn to complete her round. The Thai star then dashed Thompson’s hopes by draining an eight-metre putt for birdie to win by one stroke at 15-under.
As a consolation prize, Thompson took home the season-long Race to the CME Globe and its $1 million dollar prize. She held the number one spot in the standings following the point reset entering this week, and she eventually sealed the prize with her tie for second.
For the first time in the history of the LPGA Tour, there were two Rolex Players of the Year. Rookie Sung Hyun Park and So Yeon Ryu finished the season tied at 162 in points. Park also made history by becoming the first player since Nancy Lopez in 1978 to win both Rookie and Player of the Year honours in a single season.
Thompson took home the 2017 Vare Trophy by finishing the season with the lowest scoring average on tour at 69.114. She led the tour heading into the final event of the year, but Sung Hyun Park was a close second and needed to finish nine to 10 strokes better than Thompson to take home the title.
Finally, in addition to winning Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year honours, Park also finished 2017 atop the money list with $2,335,883.
