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Sports [LPGA] The top nine jockey for CME Globe title
2014.11.19 01:53
 This week at the CME Group Tour Championship, nine players can capture the first CME Globe title and a record-setting paycheck. The prize will be guarded on site at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Fla., near the clubhouse as the players get a glimpse while walking to the course every day. Win the tournament and the season-long points competition and one player could take home $1.5 million, the largest payday in LPGA history. The top three players in the standings – Stacy Lewis, Inbee Park and Lydia Ko – can win it all with a victory no matter what anyone else shoots. Positions four through nine can win it all with a victory and assistance from those ahead of them. Here’s a snapshot of the nine: No. 1, Stacy Lewis: Lewis has never won the final event of the season but has progressively gotten better in her three-year career in Naples, with a tie for sixth last year that included a third-round, tournament-record 63 which secured her Vare Trophy title. Lewis is coming off two of her worst finishes of the season – a T31 at the Mizuno Classic and a T28 at the Lorena Ochoa Invitational. The first CME Globe title and numerous other accolades are on the line this week, achievements that usually spur on Lewis. No. 2, Inbee Park: Park has found a spark late in the season, with nine consecutive top-10 finishes, eight of those top-5s including two wins. She also played well at Tiburon last year, finishing fifth at 11-under par. Plus, she’s trying to protect the No. 1 ranking in the Rolex Women’s World Rankings. No. 3, Lydia Ko: Ko, at 17, is the youngest player to win the LPGA’s Louise Suggs Rookie of the Year honor. She has won twice and posted 14 top-10 finishes. She clinched the points-based award with three tournaments remaining on the LPGA schedule, surpassing Laura Baugh, who was 18 when she was Rookie of the Year in 1973. Ko finished T21 here last year in her CME tournament debut and first professional LPGA start. Ko is coming off three consecutive top-10 finishes, has never missed a cut in her 41 career LPGA starts (amateur and professional) and has placed in the top 10 in more than half of her career starts (51 percent). No. 4, Michelle Wie: Since sitting out much of late summer with a finger injury, Wie has played four times since early October, with a T5 and T3 out of the gate before lesser finishes in her last two starts. Last year at Tiburon, she shot a third-round 66 en route to a T11 finish. Wie won the LPGA Lotte Championship and U.S. Women’s Open earlier this year. No. 5, So Yeon Ryu: Ryu is a combined 21-under par in her two starts in Naples, has finishes of T7 and second and has not shot a round over par in eight rounds played on the Greg Norman-designed course. Ryu has recorded 14 top-10 finishes this season, second only to Lewis and Park. No. 6, Shanshan Feng: The defending champion is on another hot streak to finish the season. Feng has one win this season, the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia six weeks ago, and 12 top-10 finishes, including four in her last five starts (no worse than a T7 in those four). Last season, she finished on a strong note also, with two wins in her final four starts, including shooting a final-round 66 to capture the CME Group Titleholders at Tiburon. She is 22-under par in two starts at the CME finale and is the only player among the top nine to win the final event. No. 7, Anna Nordqvist: Nordqvist has just one top-10 since August (in six starts) after winning twice in her first five events of the season. Nordqvist has opened with rounds in the 60s to start the last three CME Group Championships and has a best finish of T7 in 2012. No. 8, Chella Choi: Choi is the only player among the top nine who hasn’t won this year and is still searching for her first career LPGA victory. But she has battled her way into this position with 10 top-10s, mainly by playing the most events this season (30 starts; didn’t qualify for last week’s Lorena Ochoa Invitational) and totaling the most rounds (109). She has never finished any better than T25 in three CME starts. No. 9, Karrie Webb: Webb has two wins this season (in her first four starts) but has played only three times since August. Her best finish recently was a T4 at the Mizuno Classic in Japan. Webb finished fourth at the CME in 2012. Lewis vs. Park A season-long battle between Stacy Lewis and Inbee Park culminates this week with a number of esteemed titles on the line. Park is first in the Rolex Women’s World Rankings, but Lewis has an advantage in the CME Globe race (see above), Rolex Player of the Year and the Vare Trophy battle. Adding to the luster of this week, last year at Tiburon Park finished fifth at 11-under 277, one stroke ahead of Lewis. A quick look: Rolex Player of the Year: Lewis won this title in 2012 and Park won it in 2013. Lewis has a three-point lead over Park (229-226). Park must finish eighth or better if Lewis doesn’t place in the top 10. Points are awarded for top-10 finishes as follows: 30 points for first, 12 for second, nine for third, seven for fourth, six for fifth, five for sixth, four for seventh, three for eighth, two for ninth and one for 10th. In the event that Park finishes eighth alone (three points) and Lewis doesn’t have a top-10 finish, they would tie for the Player of the Year honor. There is no tie-breaker. Vare Trophy: Lewis has command of the Scoring Average category (69.48 stroke average to Park’s 69.57). There are a number of scenarios, but Park has to beat Lewis by approximately 10 strokes to overtake her for this honor. Lewis also had a 69.48 stroke average in winning the 2013 Vare Trophy. Wie and Ryu also have sub-70 stroke averages, meaning that for the first time in LPGA history four players could average under 70. Ko is also just above that average and would need to shoot 269 (19-under or lower) to break the 70 average. The record of three sub-70 scoring averages was established last year by Lewis, Suzann Pettersen and Park. Kia Drive to The Top: The award for the most top-10s in a season is a deadlock between the two at 17. However, Lewis takes first based on being the current leader on earnings. Official Money List: Lewis has a $292,849 lead over second-place Park and a $644,977 lead over third-place Wie. With a $500,000 first prize, only Park can catch Lewis. Long distance reward Brittany Lincicome and Lexi Thompson are making the Kia Power Drive Award an annual battle. Lincicome has a 271.6-yard Driving Distance average this season, just ahead of Thompson at 270.5, and has secured the award. Lincicome edged Thompson in 2011 and 2012 for the top honor. Nicole Smith won in 2013. Double-eagle club Thompson’s distance was a factor last week as she became the fourth player to make a double eagle this season. Thompson holed a pitching wedge from 129 yards for double eagle on the par-5 second hole in the final round of the Lorena Ochoa Invitational. The other double eagles this season were all recorded using a wood or hybrid: Joanna Klatten in the final round of the Kingsmill Championship; Karine Icher in the final round of the ShopRite LPGA Classic; and Vikki Laing in the second round of the Ricoh Women’s British Open. |
This is it!
Season 2014 of LPGA will be finished in this weekend with CME Group Tour Championship.
Not only the coveted 1.5 million dollars,but also Rolex World No.1 Ranking,Player of the year,
Vare Trophy(low average),and Official money winner are at stake.
Top 72 players in LPGA will compete on CME Group Tour Championship in this week and
top three players could be winner with her own fate and other top 9 players could be winner
with other higher ranking player(s)' help(s).
It is extremely interesting between Stacy Lewis and Inbee Park for who is going to be grabbing
all above coveted awards. Good Luck! ladies!
Games will be telecasted(live) on GC between 130 pm and 400pm(EST) on all 4 days. KJ