Canadian golf journalists name players of the year
Adam Hadwin had a career year in 2017, and as the calendar changes, he added two more honours.
The Golf Journalists Association of Canada (GJAC) is proud to announce Hadwin, Josh Whalen, Judith Kyrinis, and Brooke Henderson are the 2017 Players of the Year as voted by GJAC members across the country. Hadwin’s magical season where he notched his first PGA Tour victory, shot 59, and played on the Presidents Cup team was also named the Canadian Golf Story of the Year.
“GJAC is happy to honour these golfers and their accomplishments in 2017,” said Robert Thompson, GJAC president. “The accomplishments of the winners – and each of the nominees – show how strong Canadian golf is right now. GJAC wishes the best of luck to in the year ahead.”
Hadwin’s first PGA Tour victory came in March after a thrilling Sunday at the Valspar Championship, where he won by one over Patrick Cantlay. In January, Hadwin became the eighth golfer in PGA Tour history to shoot a sub-60 round.
Just weeks after his win, Hadwin got married and closed on his first home to cap a whirlwind start to 2017. He ascended to inside the Top 50 in the world (becoming Canada’s highest-ranked male golfer in the process), played all four majors, and participated in the Presidents Cup in September.
Henderson continued her impressive start to her LPGA Tour career, winning twice – at the Meijer LPGA Classic and the McKayson New Zealand Women’s Open – and nearly defending her title at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. She finished sixth on the LPGA Tour’s 2017 money list, earning just over $1.5 million in 30 events (the most on Tour).
She was the only unanimous choice out of the four winners.
Kyrinis had a stellar 2017 campaign capped off with a victory in an all-Canadian final at the U.S. Senior Amateur. She also won the Ontario Women’s Senior Amateur and Mid-Amateur Championships, along with finishing runner-up at the prestigious North and South Senior Women’s Amateur, and fifth at the Canadian Women’s Senior Amateur.
Whalen finished No. 1 on the Golf Canada Amateur Order of Merit for his fine campaign in 2017. He finished third at the Canadian Men’s Amateur and notched six top-20 finishes during his senior year at Kent State University.
Brooke Henderson says New Zealand win highlight of 2017
Brooke Henderson’s victory at the McKayson New Zealand Women’s Open came with more than a cash prize and a trophy.
Henderson was given a traditional Maori cloak after winning her first tournament outside North America, and the young Canadian golfer counts that honour as a major highlight of her successful second season on the LPGA Tour.
“That cloak represents that I’m part of that family and it’s hard to think about,” Henderson said from her home in Naples, Fla. “I’m really proud to own it and be considered part of their family.”
The September victory at the inaugural New Zealand Women’s Open was her second of the season – her first win came at the Meijer LPGA Classic in June – and was a big part of her favourite two weeks of the year. She said she enjoyed New Zealand more than any other of the 11 countries she played in in 2017 and made time for a week’s holiday with her sister (and caddie) Brittany.
Although she admitted she was slow out of the gate this year on the course, Henderson still notched top-15 finishes in 16 of the 30 events she played. She earned more than US$1.5 million and finished sixth on the money list.
She also finished top-10 in two key statistics this year, greens in regulation and scoring average.
“I know my long game has always been my strength, but to see those numbers on weeks when I played well – and some weeks that I didn’t – and to be that consistent? I’m really happy with that,” she said. “Moving into 2018 I definitely want to keep that up, work on my ball-striking this off-season but hopefully improve my short game (and) putting stats. If I can make that happen, hopefully I’ll see even better results.”
The 20-year-old called her season a success, even though she said it was more difficult to win this year versus 2016.
“For a while we had 16 different winners on Tour and no one was really taking charge of it. I feel like the talent and the level of play was a lot stronger than it has been,” she said. “To get two wins when it was like that? it definitely gives me a lot of confidence.”
Henderson also counts this year’s CP Women’s Open in Ottawa as a big highlight.
Although she struggled for the first two rounds – needing a birdie to drop on her final hole Friday just to make the 36-hole cut – she shot the course record at the Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club during Saturday’s third round, an eight-under 63, to launch into contention. She eventually finished tied for 12th.
Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club gave Henderson an honorary membership last year, and Henderson’s hometown of Smiths Falls, Ont. is less than an hour away from the club.
“I was grateful to make the weekend because I wanted to put on a good show,” she said. “All these people were there to watch me. I loved their support and I really wanted to show them what I could do.
“To have the course record at my home course against some of the best players in the world? that’s awesome. It’s history.”
Henderson said her goal for next year is to move into the top 10 in the world rankings once again after peaking at No. 2 last year. She currently sits at No. 13.
“I almost want to say I know I’m a top-10 player, so it bothers me a little bit that I’m just outside,” said Henderson. “I know that will change quickly. If I get a win early in 2018 and improve on those little things that I want to in the off-season I feel I could get down into a good spot.”
Henderson now has five wins on the LPGA Tour, second to only Sandra Post (eight) among Canadians, a record that could fall next year.
For now, she will appear on some of the Golf Channel’s programming this week before returning to Smiths Falls for the holidays, where that cloak she won in New Zealand might come in handy.
“I might wear it as my winter coat when I go home,” she said.
Canadians LeBlanc, Marchand earn conditional LPGA Tour status
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Two Canadians will join the world’s best next season on the LPGA Tour after earning conditional status in the final stage of Qualifying School on Sunday.
Maude-Aimée LeBlanc of Sherbrooke, Que., posted a final-round 75 (+3) to tie for 32nd to earn her status by way of finishing between places 21-45.
Fellow Canadian Brittany Marchand of Orangeville, Ont., finished T32 alongside LeBlanc at 1 over par through 90 holes of stroke play at LPGA International’s Jones and Hills courses. Marchand is coming off a banner year which includes a win at Symetra Tour’s PHC Classic as well as a T30 finish at the CP Women’s Open in front of a hometown crowd at Ottawa Hunt.
Marchand and LeBlanc will join the Canadian contingent next season on Tour: Brooke Henderson (Smiths Falls, Ont.), Alena Sharp (Hamilton, Ont.), Anne-Catherine Tanguay (Quebec City, Que.).
The top 20 players in Sunday’s finale earned full status, while those finishing inside places 21-45 join Marchand and LeBlanc with conditional status.
Five Canadians fell short of making Saturday’s 72-hole cut: Jennifer Ha (Calgary), Elizabeth Tong (Thornhill, Ont.), Samantha Richdale (Kelowna, B.C.), Lorie Kane (Charlottetown, P.E.I.) and Augusta James (Bath, Ont.).
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Canadian contingent prepares for final stage of LPGA Qualifying
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Seven Canadians are among 166 hopefuls vying for status on the LPGA Tour in the final stage of qualifying on the Jones and Hills courses of LPGA International from Nov. 28 – Dec. 3
Leading the Canadian contingent is Canadian golf Hall-of-Famer Lorie Kane of Charlottetown, P.E.I. The four-time LPGA champion is joined by fellow Canadians Maude-Aimée LeBlanc (Sherbrooke, Que), Jennifer Ha (Calgary), Elizabeth Tong (Thornhill, Ont.), Samantha Richdale (Kelowna, B.C.), Brittany Marchand (Orangeville, Ont.) and Augusta James (Bath, Ont.).
All participants will compete in 90 holes of stroke play for one of 20 full-time LPGA cards available. Those who finish in places 21-45 (plus ties) will earn conditional status.
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Jutanugarn rallies to win after Thompson misses 2 foot putt
NAPLES, Fla. – Lexi Thompson won $1 million for the CME Race to the Globe and left so much more behind Sunday in the LPGA Tour’s final event.
Thompson was poised to win the CME Group Tour Championship and LPGA player of the year until she jabbed at a 2-foot par putt and missed it on the 18th hole at Tiburon Golf Club. That paved the way for Ariya Jutanugarn, who birdied her last two holes for a 5-under 67 and a one-shot victory.
It was a wild ending to the LPGA Tour season and sent four players home with a trophy of some variety.
Although she lost the tournament, Thompson still won the CME Race to the Globe and the $1 million bonus. She also won the Vare Trophy for having the lowest adjusted scoring average.
Thompson had to win the tournament to be player of the year. Instead, the points-based LPGA player of the year was a tie between a pair of major champions from South Korea, So Yeon Ryu and LPGA rookie Sung Hyun Park. It was the first time the award was shared since it began in 1966.
Park, the U.S. Women’s Open champion, was trying to become the first rookie since Nancy Lopez in 1978 to sweep the major awards. She already had won rookie of the year. She had to settle for a tie for player of the year, and her 75 in the third round damaged her chances of winning the Vare Trophy.
Brooke Henderson (72) of Smiths Falls, Ont., tied for 25th at 6 under and Hamilton’s Alena Sharp (69) tied for 46th at 1 under.
What stood out on another sunny afternoon was the sterling performance of Jutanugarn, who won for the second time this year.
She was three shots behind Thompson with six holes to play when her putter saved the day.
Jutanugarn was at 13 under on the par-5 17th when she hit a hybrid for her second shot into the bunker and blasted out to about 18 feet. Ahead of her on the 18th green, Thompson was at 15 under and lagged a 50-foot birdie attempt beautifully down the slope on the 18th to 2 feet left of the cup.
Jutanugarn made birdie. Thompson missed her par putt, and there was a three-way tie for the lead at 14 under that included Jessica Korda, who was playing with Thompson and had left her 25-foot birdie attempt well short.
Thompson and Korda each closed with a 67.
Jutanugarn hit her approach about 18 feet above the hole and made it for winning birdie. She finished at 15-under 273 and earned $500,000.
“I had no expectation at all,” Jutanugarn said. “I really did not think about the outcome.”
Jutanugarn was part of a four-way tie for the lead going into the final round, and the CME Group Tour Championship was up for grabs most of the day until Thompson seemingly seized control with 32 on the front nine, a 10-foot birdie on the 13th and then a superb pitch from left of the 17th green that set up a 3-foot birdie.
Pernilla Lindberg had reason to believe she needed birdie from long range on the 18th to have a chance. She ran that 7 feet by the hole and three-putted for a bogey and a 68. She wound up finishing two shots behind, along with Eun-Hee Ji (67).
Michelle Wie, trying to win for the first time since the U.S. Women’s Open in 2014, had a share of the lead until she hit near the edge of a bunker and made double bogey on No. 9, and then dropped two more shots on the back nine. Even with seven birdies, Wie still only managed a 70. She tied for sixth with Park, who closed with a 69. Park was at 13 under through 35 holes and played 1 over the final 37 holes.
Ryu was coping with a shoulder injury and was happy to squeeze in 72 holes. She wound up a part-winner of LPGA player of the year.
Thompson was on the putting green when she heard the cheer for Jutanugarn’s final birdie.
It was the second time this year that Thompson appeared to be in control and was stunned to not win. She had a four-shot lead in the final round of the ANA Inspiration when she was penalized four shots – two for incorrectly marking her golf ball on the green in the third round, and two more shots because the infraction wasn’t discovered by a viewer until the next day, and so she signed an incorrect scorecard in the third round.
She wound up losing to Ryu in a playoff, though Thompson said this week it made her a stronger person.
This will be another wound from which to recover, though she at least takes $1 million home with her as a consolation.
Henderson looks to make up ground in LPGA finale
NAPLES, Fla. – Sung Hyun Park was in the palmetto bushes, near the base of the tree, in the bunkers and going nowhere in the CME Group Tour Championship.
Perhaps most surprising at the end of the day was that Park was no longer in the lead.
What looked to be a victory lap for the 24-year-old rookie from South Korea turned into a free-for-all Saturday at Tiburon Golf Club. Park at least was in solid position, one shot out of the lead, in her bid to become the first rookie since Nancy Lopez in 1978 to sweep all the major LPGA Tour awards.
She just never expected so much company.
Michelle Wie, who lost six weeks to an emergency appendectomy, had a 6-under 66 and was part of a four-way tie for the lead going into the final round. Kim Kaufman, who is recovering from mono, ran off eight birdies in her round of 64. Joining them at 10-under 206 were Ariya Jutanugarn (67) and Suzann Pettersen (69).
“Just really feeling like my old self,” said Wie, who hasn’t won since the 2014 U.S. Women’s Open at Pinehurst No. 2. “Really feeling comfortable out there and having fun, and that’s why I play my best.”
Brooke Henderson (70) of Smiths Falls, Ont., was tied for 23rd at 6-under par. Hamilton’s Alena Sharp (69) was tied for 54th at 2 over.
“Being this far back with that many people ahead of you it’s very unlikely that I could be the champion of this event this year,” said Henderson. “However, I can still get into the top 10, maybe even better if I get off to a hot start tomorrow and hopefully make a few putts.”
Park, who didn’t make a birdie until the 13th hole and shot 75, was among seven players one shot behind.
Now she can only hope her one bad day is behind her.
“I think that over the course of four days, there is always a day where I’m not quite in tip-top shape,” Park said. “I think that day might have been today. Keeping your focus is not that easy to do consistently over four days, so I think there is always one day where my focus is a little off.”
Lexi Thompson, who leads the CME Race to the Globe, suddenly has just as good of a chance as Park to capture the $1 million bonus. Thompson also is poised to win the Vare Trophy for the lowest adjusted scoring average. Park needed to finish 10 shots ahead of Thompson – she started Saturday six shots ahead – to win the Vare Trophy.
“I’m not going into tomorrow with any different attitude,” Thompson said. “Just going to go out there, free swing, commit to my targets, and try to do my best.”
The final day is so wide open that 31 players were separated by four shots.
That includes Shanshan Feng, in her debut at No. 1 in the world, and Brooke Henderson of Canada. They only have to win the Tour Championship to claim the CME Race to the Globe. And they all have Park to thank for every having a chance.
Kaufman showed early that low scores were available in her round of eight birdies. Park showed early that it was going to be a grind when she missed the green to the left on No. 2 and pitched far too strong up the slope, leading to bogey.
Then, she hit into palmetto bushes on the par-5 sixth and made double bogey, and the game was on.
Park looked as though she had steadied herself with an 8-foot birdie on No. 13 and scrambling for birdie after a poor drive in the waste area right of the 14th. But she took bogey from the bunker on the par-3 16th to fall back into a share of the lead, and then drove well left on the par-5 17th next to a tree. She chipped into a sandy waste area, came up short into a bunker and failed to get up-and-down.
Stacy Lewis (67), who ended a three-year victory drought two months ago, shot a 67 and was in the group at 9-under 207 that included Thompson (69), Park, Karine Icher (68) and Austin Ernst, whose 69 featured a quadruple-bogey 8 and an eagle-birdie finish on the back nine.
At stake on Sunday is just about everything.
So Yeon Ryu, who was only five shots behind but had 31 players ahead of her on the leaderboard, still had an outside chance at holding on to her lead for LPGA player of the year if Feng, Park and Thompson failed to finish near the top of the leaderboard.
Thompson suddenly looks good for the Vare, while Park remained in good shape to capture the money title.
Jutanugarn, who won five times last year, is No. 9 in the CME Race to the Globe. She could win the $1 million bonus by winning the tournament and have Thompson finish out of the top nine. Instead of a sprint to the finish, so many players have a chance that it still feels like a long way off.
Sung Hyun Park opens 3 shot lead in LPGA Tour Championship
NAPLES, Fla. – Golf felt so easy to Sung Hyun Park that only when she took out her card to catch up on her scores did she realize she had closed out the front nine with five straight birdies at the CME Group Tour Championship.
Park kept right on attacking.
The 24-year-old from South Korea added a 30-foot eagle putt late in her second round and finished with a 7-under 65, giving her a three-shot lead going into the weekend at Tiburon Golf Club.
Nothing seems to bother her, even the chance to cap off an amazing rookie season by sweeping all the big awards on the LPGA Tour.
“To be honest, I don’t feel quite as nervous as I thought I would,” Park said through an interpreter. “After the first shot, after the first hole, I felt a lot more comfortable. I’m not feeling as nervous as I thought I might be going into today.”
Leave that to the players chasing her.
Even with a three-putt bogey on the final hole, Park was at 12-under 132 and was three shots clear of Caroline Masson (66) and Sarah Jane Smith (69).
More importantly, none of the other players in the chase for the $1 million Race to the CME Globe bonus or any other big award was within five shots of Park, who is trying to become the first rookie since Nancy Lopez in 1978 to win LPGA player of the year.
Lexi Thompson, who leads the Race to the CME Globe and the Vare Trophy for lowest adjusted scoring average, shot a 67 and wound up losing ground. She was six shots behind and must stay within 10 shots of Park to win the Vare.
So Yeon Ryu, who leads the points-based award for player of the year, managed a 71 with her sore right shoulder but was 11 shots back.
The other two players who need to win the tournament to collect the $1 million bonus also had their work cut out for them. Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., had another 70 and was eight shots behind, while world No. 1 Shanshan Feng shot 73 and was 11 shots behind. Hamilton’s Alena Sharp was 5 over.
Park was in control, only she didn’t see it that way.
“I don’t think it’s quite that far of a lead,” Park said. “Two, three shots of a lead can change at any moment. We will have to see what’s in store for this weekend.”
Park began her big run with an 18-foot birdie on No. 5, got up-and-down for birdie from just off the green at the par-5 sixth, holed a 25-foot birdie putt on No. 7, and then closed out the front nine with birdie putts from 8 feet and 15 feet.
“I actually didn’t know that I was going five birdies in a row,” Park said. “Come hole No. 10, I realized that I hadn’t been jotting down my scores as diligently, and so I realized it a little bit later on. And it felt great.”
That gave her the lead by one shot over Suzann Pettersen, except that Pettersen faded badly on the back nine.
Pettersen dropped four shots in a three-hole stretch by getting out of position off the tee and she shot 39 on the back nine for a 70 to fall five shots behind.
“I feel like I’m playing good,” Pettersen said. “Three bad drives on the back nine cost me four shots. That should not be possible on this course, where the fairways are about 100 yards wide.”
Park was honoured at an awards banquet Thursday night as the LPGA rookie of the year. Now, she has more awards in her sights. A victory would give her the award for player of the year. She would capture the money title, which she leads over Ryu. And depending on how the weekend goes, she might be able to surpass Thompson in the race for the Vare Trophy.
Thompson did well to recover from two bogeys on her opening three holes.
“I hit a few really erratic shots in the beginning. It wasn’t a good start to the round,” Thompson said. “Just tried to stay positive and find something that could work for the last 14, 15 holes.”
Lydia Ko fell six shots behind in her bid to avoid a winless season. She was one shot behind going into the second round but managed only three birdies in her round of 71.
Park, meanwhile, had everything going her way. Even when she pulled her drive on the par-5 14th into a sandy area with a root next to her ball, she picked it clear and sent it through a goal post of trees back to the fairway. Three holes later, she blasted a drive and had only a 7-iron into the green at the par-5 17th, which she hit to 30 feet and made the long putt.
Does anything make her nervous?
“I hate spiders,” she said. “But in terms of golf, I always get nervous to this day on the first tee. I can feel my heart pounding.”
It’s a feeling that doesn’t appear to last very long.
Sung Hyun Park named LPGA Rookie of the Year
NAPLES, FLA – Korea’s Sung Hyun Park received her trophy as the LPGA Tour’s top rookie of 2017 at a ceremony in Florida on Thursday.
Park was presented with the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year trophy during the LPGA ceremony at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort. It was held after the opening-round of the LPGA’s season-ending CME Group Tour Championship.
Park actually clinched the points race for the top rookie honors in mid-October. She had opened a 1,413-615 lead over Angel Yin of the United States with five tournaments remaining. Rookies earn 150 points for each victory, which is doubled for majors and the CME Group Tour Championship. Yin was only scheduled to play four more events at the time and wouldn’t have been able to catch Park.
The 24-year-old former Korea LPGA star won the U.S. Women’s Open for her first LPGA win and her first major in July, and she followed up with a win at the CP Women’s Open in August.
She became the first rookie to reach No. 1 in the world rankings last week, but her reign lasted just one week, as Feng Shanshan of China soon brought her down to No. 2.
Heading into CME Group Tour Championship, Park was leading the LPGA in money and was in second place in scoring average. She was also in third in the Player of the Year points race, within striking distance of the current leader, Ryu So-yeon of South Korea.
No rookie has won the money title, scoring title, Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year in the same year since Nancy Lopez in 1978.
Brooke Henderson trails by 5 in LPGA Tour finale
NAPLES, Fla. – LPGA rookie Sung Hyun Park took a big first step toward sweeping all the season awards, and possibly picking up a $1 million bonus.
Park made a pair of birdies over the closing stretch at Tiburon Golf Club on Thursday for a 5-under 67, leaving the 24-year-old from South Korea one shot behind after the opening round of the CME Group Tour Championship.
Peiyun Chien of Taiwan and Sarah Jane Smith of Australia opened with bogey-free rounds of 66 to share the lead in a warm breeze.
Park had decent separation from the other four players who only have to win the final LPGA Tour event of the year to capture the CME Race to the Globe and its $1 million bonus. As for the entire 74-player field, it was plenty crowded at the top. That includes Lydia Ko, the first of a record five players who have been No. 1 this year.
Ko, who has gone 34 starts over 16 months on the LPGA Tour since her last victory, drilled a 3-wood onto the green at the par-5 17th and made the 15-foot eagle putt, then holed a bunker shot for par on the final hole for a 67.
Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., had a 70 and Hamilton’s Alena Sharp shot a 75.
Of the top seven players on the leaderboard, Park is the only LPGA Tour winner this season.
“Nothing different from my usual play,” Park said. “I think I started off with a really good feel, a lot of good shots and some good putts. There is a little bit of bounce on the greens, but I think I can play well in the next rounds.”
She dropped two shots by missing the green and coming up short on pitch-and-runs up the slope, though she atoned for those mistakes with seven birdies.
Park had only seen Tiburon on Wednesday during the pro-am. Her peers don’t necessarily see her as a rookie because she dominated on the Korean LPGA Tour the last two years. But she’s new to the LPGA Tour and already has won rookie of the year.
At stake for Park is a chance to become the first rookie since Nancy Lopez in 1978 to win all the major awards.
Most players headed back to their rooms to get dressed for the Rolex Awards dinner on Thursday night, which is more of a preview than a coronation because all the major awards won’t be decided until Sunday.
Lexi Thompson leads the Race to the CME Globe and the Vare Trophy. So Yeon Ryu has a tiny lead for player of the year. Park is leading the money list. Shanshan Feng, who made her debut at No. 1 in the world, is coming off two straight victories and can capture the Globe and player of the year with a victory.
Park was the only one with a presence on the leaderboard.
Thompson began by slamming her driver into the turf as she watched her opening tee shot sail so far right on the par-5 opening hole that it landed in a murky creek in the hazard. She took her penalty drop and let the club fall out of her hands as she pushed the next shot into the hazard. Thompson at least could play that shot, and she eventually holed a 6-foot putt to escape the bogey.
That was the only big damage for Thompson, though some of her best putts were for par and she managed only a 71.
“I bounced back, had a good attitude out there and played some solid golf coming in,” Thompson said.
Feng opened with a birdie and holed a 25-foot birdie putt on her third hole, though her momentum stalled and she had to settle for a 70, along with Brooke Henderson, who at No. 5 in the Race to the CME Globe also can collect the $1 million bonus just by winning.
Ryu had treatment on her right shoulder at the turn and battled for a 72.
Park, with her lanky build and long swing, looked impervious to all the awards on the line this week. And she wasn’t the least bit bothered playing alongside Thompson and Feng. She attacked the course with her driver and managed the wind with her high ball flight.
“They are playing that I played with before, so nothing particularly different today,” she said through a translator.
The surprise might have been Ko, though she has shown signs in recent months of getting her game back. Her biggest concern was the prospect of throwing away her eagle with what looked like a double bogey on the final hole. From a buried lie in the bunker, however, it came out perfectly and rattled into the cup for par and a 67.
“I don’t think I’ve made a par like that before,” Ko said. “I hit it way too hard and it kind of half-plugged in the bunker. I said, ‘Oh, great. What am I going to make?’ Luckily, it was the perfect place to hit for a 4.”
Henderson in the hunt this week at LPGA finale
After 32 official events across 15 countries and 14 states, the 2017 LPGA season culminates with this week’s CME Group Tour Championship at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Fla. In a year that saw 22 different winners from eight countries, several season-ending awards, including the Race to the CME Globe and Rolex Player of the Year honours, are still up for grabs.
The Race to the CME Globe is a season-long points 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 any alternates, in the Race to the CME Globe points standings were seeded into the championship field. For the top five players, it’s easy – 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 win the coveted check.
Going into the CME Group Tour Championship, Lexi Thompson leads the Race with 5,000 points. Sung Hyun Park, who has already clinched Rolex Louise Suggs Rookie of the Year honours, sits in second with 4,750 points. Rounding out the top five, who control their own destinies at Tiburon, are newly minted World No. 1 Shanshan Feng (4,500), So Yeon Ryu (4,250) and Canada’s Brooke Henderson (4,000).
RACE TO THE CME GLOBE WINNING SCENARIOS
| PLAYER | SCENARIOS |
| 1. Lexi Thompson |
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| 2. Sung Hyun Park |
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| 3. Shanshan Feng |
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| 4. So Yeon Ryu |
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| 5. Brooke Henderson |
|