CME Group Tour Championship Preview NAPLES, Fla. – 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.
At stake at the Tiburon Golf Club is not only the $1 million Race to the CME Globe bonus but also Rolex Player of the Year, the Vare Trophy for lowest scoring average and the money title. And the fact that Sung Hyun Park won the Rolex Rookie of the Year in an historic route – her lead over runner-up Angel Yin is greater than the total number of points Yin accumulated – puts her in a position to join Nancy Lopez in 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 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.
Shanshan Feng, who comes into the CME off consecutive wins in Asia, and I.K. Kim, winner of the Ricoh Women’s British Open, lead the tour with three wins each. ANA Inspiration champion So Yeon Ryu, U.S. Women’s Open titleholder Sung Hyun Park, Anna Nordqvist, who took the Evian Championship, Lexi Thompson, Brooke M. Henderson and Cristie Kerr won twice.
That incredible breadth of talent puts a lot on the line this week and the excitement surrounding the tournament is exactly with the LPGA and CME Group had in mind when it came up with the idea for this season-ending event.
Here is the breakdown on the game-within-the-game at this year’s CME. • Four players have a chance to be Rolex Player of the Year. Ryu has a 3-point lead over Feng; is only 5 ahead of Park and leads Lexi by 15. With 30 points going to the winner and 12 for second place, a Thompson victory and Ryu runner-up finish gives the POY to Lexi.
Any one of those same four players can also win the money title. Park leads Ryu by $298,047; Feng by $559,146 and is $571,867 ahead of Thompson. The winner gets $625,000 at CME, where the $1 million bonus does not count as official money but does spend rather nicely.
And in the race for the Vare Trophy, and the LPGA Hall of Fame point it brings, Thompson has a 0.112 stroke-per-round lead over Park with In Gee Chun 0.122 behind. Stacy Lewis is fourth trailing by 0.467 and Ryu is 0.483 off the top spot.
And the battle for the Race to the CME Globe $1 million bonus is wide open. Here is the breakdown in points after the reset:
1.Lexi Thompson-5,000,
2.Sung Hyun Park-4,750,
3.Shanshan Feng-4,500,
4.So Yeon Ryu-4,250,
5.Brooke .Henderson-4,000,
6.In Gee Chun-3,600,
7.Cristie Kerr-3,200,
8.Moriya Jutanugarn-2,800,
9.Ariya Jutanugarn-2,400,
10.Anna Nordqvist-2,100,
11.Stacy Lewis-1,800,
12.Lydia Ko-1,600.
The top-five players in the ranking control their fate: Win the CME Group LPGA Tour Championship and they bank the million bucks. Those in the top-12 of the 81-player field have a mathematical chance of winning based on permutation and computations beyond my numerical skills.
The bottom line is this: Ryu, Park, Feng and Thompson all have a chance to be Player of the Year, lead the final money list and take home the $1 million CME bonus. Thompson and Park are also in the mix for the Vare Trophy. And Park has a chance for an unprecedented sweep: ROY, POY, Vare, money title and CME Bonus.
And if that is not enough, Feng, Park, Ryu and Lexi are the top-four in the Rolex Rankings battle for No. 1 in the world. Could any more be on the line this week?
Fire up that popcorn machine, lay in your beverage of choice and dial in the TV to Golf Channel. This should be a season finale for the ages.
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2017.11.14 03:32
2017.11.14 07:33
These are more detailed scenarios for winning major awards.
I am sure all of you remember these scenarios in detail,ha,ha. KJ
RACE TO THE CME GLOBE WINNING SCENARIOS
1. Lexi Thompson
Guaranteed to win with a victory at the CME Group Tour Championship
Finish 40th or better to have a chance
2. Sung Hyun Park
Guaranteed to win with a victory at the CME Group Tour Championship
Finish 30th or better to have a chance
3. Shanshan Feng
Guaranteed to win with a victory at the CME Group Tour Championship
Finish 12th or better to have a chance
4. So Yeon Ryu
Guaranteed to win with a victory at the CME Group Tour Championship
Finish 9th or better to have a chance
5. Brooke Henderson
Guaranteed to win with a victory at the CME Group Tour Championship
Finish 8th or better to have a chance
6. In Gee Chun
Finish 6th or better to have a chance
7. Cristie Kerr
Finish 4th or better to have a chance
8. Moriya Jutanugarn
Finish 3rd or better to have a chance
9. Ariya Jutanugarn
Must win the CME Group Tour Championship and the following:
Lexi Thompson finish 9th or worse; Sung Hyun Park finish 8th or worse;
Shanshan Feng finish 7th or worse; So Yeon Ryu finish 6th or worse;
Brooke Henderson finish 5th or worse; In Gee Chun finish 3rd or worse
10. Anna Nordqvist
Must win the CME Group Tour Championship and the following:
Lexi Thompson finish 11th or worse; Sung Hyun Park finish 9th or worse;
Shanshan Feng finish 8th or worse; So Yeon Ryu finish 7th or worse;
Brooke Henderson finish 6th or worse; In Gee Chun finish 4th or worse;
Cristie Kerr finish 3rd or worse
11. Stacy Lewis
Must win the CME Group Tour Championship and the following:
Lexi Thompson finish 25th or worse; Sung Hyun Park finish 12th or worse;
Shanshan Feng finish 10th or worse; So Yeon Ryu finish 8th or worse;
Brooke Henderson finish 7th or worse; In Gee Chun finish 6th or worse;
Cristie Kerr finish 4th or worse
12. Lydia Ko
Must win the CME Group Tour Championship and the following:
Lexi Thompson finish 41st or worse; Sung Hyun Park finish 20th or worse;
Shanshan Feng finish 11th or worse; So Yeon Ryu finish 9th or worse;
Brooke Henderson finish 8th or worse; In Gee Chun finish 6th or worse;
Cristie Kerr finish 5th or worse; Moriya Jutanugarn finish 3rd or worse
ROLEX PLAYER OF THE YEAR WINNING SCENARIOS
1. So Yeon Ryu
Guaranteed to win with a victory at the CME Group Tour Championship
Finish 10th or better to have a chance
2. Shanshan Feng
Guaranteed to win with a victory at the CME Group Tour Championship
Finish 8th or better to have a chance
3. Sung Hyun Park
Guaranteed to win with a victory at the CME Group Tour Championship
Finish 6th or better to have a chance
4. Lexi Thompson
Guaranteed to win with a victory at the CME Group Tour Championship
LPGA MONEY LIST WINNING SCENARIOS
◦Sung Hyun Park leads the 2017 LPGA Money List with $2,262,472,
followed by So Yeon Ryu with $1,964,425.
The difference between Park and Ryu’s earnings for the 2017 LPGA
Tour season is $298,047.
◦If Ryu does not win the CME Group Tour Championship, Park wins
the money title. For Ryu to win the money title, she must win
the CME Group Tour Championship, and have Park finish in a tie
for second or worse.
VARE TROPHY (LOWEST SCORING AVERAGE) WINNING SCENARIOS
◦Through the Blue Bay LPGA, Lexi Thompson (69.147) holds a small lead
over Sung Hyun Park (69.259) and In Gee Chun (69.269).
◦For Park to win the Vare Trophy, she needs to be nine to 10 strokes
better than Thompson (10 strokes if Thompson reaches 10-under par or more).
◦For Chun to win the Vare Trophy, she needs to be 10 strokes better than Thompson.
2017.11.17 06:08
박선수가 이길 것 같은데요.
2017.11.17 12:00
저는 보통 게임끝나기전에는 리더의 찬스에 초치는것
같아 논평을 않하는데 할배가 한마디 하셔서 제생각을
말씀드리면.
No doubt,Sung Hyun Park sits on driver seat at half way
of this tournament,but we do not know how she is going
to navigate rest of the way and that would be big question.
However
I could say this much.
1.Her chances to get money title and returning to World Ranking No 1
are better than getting Vare Trophy.
2.Her chance to get Player of the year award is not quite 'probable'yet.
3.Her chance to get 1 million dollar bonus is better than winning CME
Group Tour Championship as of now.
4.The chance of tying 39 year old Nancy Lopez'record is half and half.
5.It is all up to how Lexi Thompson and Sung Hyun park would play at
the moving day! Good Luck! Sung Hyun! KJ
2017.11.17 20:44
Thompson is not good when she is behind many players. Park is hungry now, I think. I can see that in her face.
Let us see how she is doing today.
2017.11.17 22:04
Among Sung Hyun's 4 competitors,Feng and Ryu are too
far behind to catch up(11 strokes)to me,so Remaining
Thompson(6 strokes) and Henderson(8) are matters.
It is tough to catch up several strokes especially many
players on their ways to getting there,but golf turns
strangely sometimes.
Thanks for your comments! 할배!
Let's hope for the best! KJ
2017.11.17 23:57
Gentlemen,
It's a done deal.
Sung Hyun will win them all.
Let's have a confidence in her.
She is simply too good.
TV commentator was saying that her dream is to become "another Se Ri Park."
She reminds me of Tiger Woods when he was unbeatable in his early years.
2017.11.18 01:04
I like your positive thinking!
Go! Get them! 태극낭자들! KJ
2017.11.18 11:01
Golf ball bounced strangely again.
The moving day was happened not to be the best day
for 36 holes-leader Sung Hyun Park.Her shots in general
were subpar for her standard. Fairway hitting rate has
dropped from over 90% yesterday to 50% today.
Her mishap drew many many players to compete for winning
on Sunday. 41 players are within 6 strokes range. Anybody
from those 41 could prevail for CME Group Tour Championship
tommorrow,which make extremely interesting and I bet LPGA
would love it!
However
Chance of winning bonus of 1 million dollars are still limited
to top 12 players of Race to CME Globe,more likely top 5 plus
9th player,A.Jutanugarn.
Most likely Lexi Thompson will get Vare Trophy because it will be
extremely tough for Sung Hyun out-scores 9 or 10 strokes over
Thompon in 1 round of golf.
The most coveted Player of the Year award is still up for grabbing
by one of top 4 players(Ryu,Feng,Park,and Thompson).
Rolex World Rankings No 1 will be either Feng,Park,or Ryu. and Money
list winner will be either Park or Ryu.
Stay tuned! It will be extremely interesting last round tommorrow!
Good Luck! Ladies! and Go! 태극낭자들! KJ
2017.11.19 07:48
What a exciting and wild finish on this Sunday.
Due to Thompson's missing 2ft par putting and A.Jutanugarn's
20ft birdie putt making at 72nd hole, there are many changes
for winners of CME Group Tour Championship and other season
ending major awards,otherwise Lexi Thompson would take everything
including main major awards.
Here are final result after this tournament.
1.Winner of CME Group Tour Championship-A.Jutanugarn
2.Winner of Race to CME Globe and 1 million dollar bonus-Lexi Thompson
3.Winner of Vare Trophy-Lexi Thompson
4.Winners of Player of the Year-So Yeon Ryu and Sung Hyun Park. 1st time,
Rookie of the Year winner got Player of the year as well since 1978(Nancy Lopez)
5.Winner of Money List-Sung Hyun Park.
It has been wonderful and fruitful LPGA seson for 태극낭자들.
They won 15 out of 33 tournaments including 3(4) of 5 Majors
(Korean born player).
Three mulptiple winners and they happen to be Major winners
as well and they are 김인경(3,British Open),유소연(2,ANA
Inspiration),and 박성현(2,US Open).
Congratulation to all winners of tournaments as well as Major Award winners!
Thanks very much to all of 태극낭자들 and you all made us happy and proud
throghout the year. Certainly we are looking forward next year already! KJ
2017.11.19 09:33
황할배:
아무 것도 모르는 내가 방정을 떨어서, 박선수가 무너져 버렸네요.
죄송, 또 죄송합니다. 내년엔 어떻게 될런지?
그러나 올해의 선수도 굉장 한 것이지요?
2017.11.19 11:11
Perhaps my big mouth did it, not you, Dr. Shin.
What's the matter with all the Korean girls?
They couldn't handle the pressure or what?
Suddenly Park lost the swing and couldn't putt.
What a disappointment !
On my second thought I forgot this is golf.
You can't predict things.
That's the way it is!
Not Dr. Shin's fault. Not my fault.
Our girls did their bests.
That is all that matters, I suppose.
2017.11.19 11:20
유소연선수는 Lexi Thompson한테 한턱내야될것 같네요.
ANA Inspiration때도 그렇고 오늘도 그러니,ㅉ,ㅉ.
그래도 consolation치고 100만달라라니 꽤나 짭짤하네요.
Thompson의 short game이 향상되어 거침이 없는데 박성현
선수도 short game을 겨울동안 improve하면 앞으로 좋은
적수가 될듯합니다.
태극낭자들은 KLPGA라는 sound pot이 있어 좋은 선수들이
계속양산되니 앞으로도 탄탄 대로일듯.
다만 중국의 Shan Shan Feng kids그리고 태국의 Jutanugarn kids
들이 기지개를 키는듯하니 watch out! 중국의 인해전술이 얼마나
무서운지 아시지요,ㅎ,ㅎ. Have a wonderful Turkey Day! 규정
2017.11.19 11:32
우리들이 잘나가는 박성현선수에게 초를 친것은 사실이나
신인으로 삼관왕(신인상,상금상,그리고 무었보다도 올해의
선수상)은 기대 이상이 아닐까요,ㅎ,ㅎ.
좌지간 태극낭자들이 우리 늙으니들을 즐겁게 해주니
그이상 무었을 바라리요. 규정
,
2017.11.19 23:37
두어마디만 더 보태면
이번주 세계랭킹 순위가 나왔는데 우승자 A.Jutanugarn만 4계단
뛰어 올라 5위가 되었고 top 4(평산산-박성현-유소연-렉시 톰슨)는
그대로 이랍니다.
다만 지난주 0.02차이로 1위를 평산산에게 내준 박성현선수가 이번주
평산산보다 잘했는데도(6th vs 21st) 점수 차이는 오히려 0.04로
더벌어졌으니 지난 104주의 스코아를 대상으로 하는 복잡한 세게랭킹
계산법에 귀를 갸우뚱.
지난번 한국에서 벌어졌던 KEB Hana Championship우승자 였던
고진영선수(22)가 내년 LPGA에 join하기로 결정했다합니다.
고진영선수는 KLPGA에서 박성현선수와 신인 동기로서 2016년 박성현
선수와 자웅을 겨루었던(고진영 대상수상,박성현 7승을 포함 남어지 수상
싹슬이)선수로 내년 목표는 박성현 선수와 같이 신인상과 1승 이랍니다.
고진영선수의 LPGA에서의 선전을 기원합니다. 규정
What a week this will be for LPGA fans!
Top 5 pointers of CME Globe determines their own destinies
as far as 1 million dollar bonus is concerned and rest of
top 12 will be in mathematically.
As far as Major awrads including Rolex player of the year,
Vare Trophy,and Money Title are up for grabbing for top 4
players like Shan Shan Feng,Sung Hyun Park,So Yeon Ryu,and
Lexi Thompson. Good luck! Ladies!
Finally
For Rolex World Rankings,the differences of points for top
three players are mere 0.03! Let us see who is going to be
on top by early next week!
Regretfully
Golf channel treats LPGA as step child again! Telecast of 1st 3
days will be delayed taped one rather than live one!
What a shame! Boo to GC! KJ