LPGA returns to Naples for CME Group Tour Championship

LPGA TOUR RETURNS TO NAPLES FOR CME GROUP TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP

 

The Race to the CME Globe is a season-long points competition in which LPGA Members accumulate points in every Official LPGA Tournament to gain entry into the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship. The player who wins the CME Group Tour Championship will be named the “Race to the CME Globe Champion.” Following the U.S. Women’s Open, the CME Group Tour Championship field was set to the top 70 players in the Race to the CME Globe points standings, and two additional sponsor invitations. All 72 players in this week’s field will compete in a 72-hole, no-cut competition.

The top eight of the Rolex Rankings highlight the field, including World No. 1 Jin Young Ko. Ko finished No. 45 in the Race to the CME Globe standings after playing in just three events in 2020 and is also coming off a tie for second finish at the U.S. Women’s Open. Rolex Rankings No. 2 Sei Young Kim is back to defend her 2019 title since winning the event in spectacular fashion with a 25-foot birdie on the 72^nd hole for a one-stroke victory over 2016 champion, Charley Hull. Rolex Rankings No. 3 Inbee Park, who returns to the top three in the Rankings for the first time since September 24, 2018, is looking for her second victory of the year after earning the most points in the season-long race with 2,035. With the field set at 72 players, all will have an equal chance at the $1.1 million winner’s prize, the largest in 2020.

 

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE CME GROUP TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP

• This is the seventh playing of the CME Group Tour Championship and the seventh consecutive year it will be played on the Tiburon Golf Club’s Golf Course
• It is the 18^th and final event of the 2020 LPGA Tour season
• The CME Group Tour Championship is one of four total tournaments on the 2020 LPGA Tour schedule to be contested in the Sunshine State, along with the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions (Lake Buena Vista), Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio (Boca Raton) & Pelican Women’s Championship presented by DEX Imaging and Konica Minolta (Belleair)
• Seven past champions are in the field this week - Charley Hull (2016), Ariya Jutanugarn (2017), Cristie Kerr (2015), Sei Young Kim (2019), Lydia Ko (2014), Hee Young Park (2011) and Lexi Thompson (2018)
• Eight of the top 10 in the Rolex Rankings highlight the field this week,
• There are 12 of the season’s 15 different winners playing, including Sei Young Kim and Danielle Kang, the only players with multiple victories in 2020

 

WORLD NO. 1 WORKS HER WAY INTO CME GROUP TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP
With the dawn of every new LPGA Tour season comes goals, ambitions and dreams. Back in January (and once again in a few weeks) when LPGA pros jotted down objectives for the year, at the top of most list was qualifying for the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship. That mission was no different for Rolex Rankings No. 1 Jin Young Ko, even in this unprecedented year.

Ko originally planned to begin her season in March at the Volvik Founders Cup to allow more time for an ankle injury—sustained at the Taiwan Swinging Skirts LPGA last November—to heal. Of course, the coronavirus pandemic had other plans. Instead, Ko went home to her native Republic of Korea.

As the LPGA Tour anxiously awaited its restart, Ko competed on the LPGA of Korea Tour (KLPGA). Across six tournaments, she played the weekend six times and captured four top-10s including a runner-up. The six-time LPGA winner also showcased a solid scoring average (70.83) and driving accuracy (80.36%). It was great preparation for reaching her ultimate target: the CME Group Tour Championship.

In November, Ko made her highly anticipated return to American soil at the inaugural Pelican Women’s Championship presented by DEX Imaging and Konica Minolta. She finished tied for 34th. Then she made the trek to Irving, Texas, for the Volunteers of America Classic, where she finished solo fifth. From there, it was her first LPGA Tour major championship of 2020 at Champions Golf Club in Houston for the 75th U.S. Women’s Open. A tie for second, highlighted by a final-round 3-under par 68, was enough for Ko to punch her ticket to Tiburón Golf Club.

“I had rest time [on Sunday] and I needed the rest. I had a great [final] round, couple of missed putts but I finished good,” said Ko, who enters the week at No. 45 in the Race to CME Globe standings. “It was my best finish at the U.S. Open so I can play this week as well. I’m really thankful. This season is too tough with coronavirus, so I want to say thanks to the USGA and all the volunteers.”

PAGDANGANAN AND NOH AMONG ROOKIES LOOKING TO MAKE A SPLASH IN NAPLES

The CME Group Tour Championship is the reward of a hard-fought season, and through the ups and downs of 2020, this week in Naples, Fla. was the goal for many. It’s even sweeter for those playing in their first season finale, including four 2020 rookies – Andrea Lee, Leona Maguire, Bianca Pagdanganan and Yealimi Noh.

 

“I definitely made CME one of my biggest goals beginning of the year to make it with the full schedule, but with half the schedule I was still trying get into CME,” said Noh, who finished the highest on the Race to the CME Globe standings at No. 14 (952 points). “And just being here in nice warm weather is really nice.”

 

Noh said she’s watched the event before, but experiencing this week already is “totally different.” Pagdanganan said despite everything 2020 has thrown her way, her rookie season went better than expected, and there’s nothing like capping it off playing for a winner’s prize of $1.1 million.

 

“Overall, it's been a great year for me in terms of golf and being able to play my way into the CME,” said Pagdanganan. “Didn't start off that great this year but I played a couple good events and eventually put myself in a good position. Now I'm here and I'm really excited and looking forward to this whole week.”

 

Pagdanganan said she’s loving the weather Southwest Florida has to offer, especially after the frigid temperatures last week at the U.S. Women’s Open. “Everything is perfect. I love the course. I actually enjoyed playing it. I feel like some holes you got to know -- pick the right spots off the tee,” said Pagdanganan. “Overall, I think it's a great course. It's in really good condition, especially with the PGA [Tour] having a tournament here last week. So that's pretty cool. Yeah, going to be a fun week.”

 

STEPHANIE MEADOW COMES FULL CIRCLE AT CME GROUP TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP
The last time Stephanie Meadow arrived at Tiburón Golf Club was 2015 as the recipient of the Heather Farr Player Award, given each year since 1994 to an LPGA Tour professional who demonstrates spirit, determination and perseverance in fulfilling her goals. This year she arrives as a competitor.

“Things have come a long way since then,” said Meadow, who is No. 42 in the Race to CME Globe. “I thought about it today because I obviously stayed at the Ritz [Golf Resort] then. I was bummed to not be playing. I received such an amazing award, selected by peers. But in my heart, all I wanted to do was play. This is what I love to do, and it has always been my dream.

“There were definitely points in my career where I thought I was done - 2015 and 2016. I wasn’t in a good place mentally, so now to be in position where I’m playing, it hit me a little bit harder yesterday when I first walked on. I’m just proud of myself for sticking it out and excited to see what I can continue to do.”

In May of 2015, Meadow lost her father Robert to pancreatic cancer. She didn’t touch a golf club for five weeks after. The Heather Farr Player Award was a small condolence from the pain of losing a loved one. Later that same summer, she learned of a stress fracture in her back. In 12 events as an LPGA rookie that year, Meadow made one cut—a tied for 20th finish at the ANA Inspiration.

Meadow continued to battle but eventually was forced to regain LPGA status through the Symetra Tour. She won the 2018 IOA Championship presented by Morongo Casino Resort & Spa, propelling her into the Volvik Race for the Card top-10 by season’s end to qualify for the LPGA as a Symetra Tour graduate. Back to where she belonged.

Her return wasn’t a walk in the park. She entered Volunteers of America Classic week in October 2019 in need of a solid finish to retain her LPGA card for 2020. Walking up the 72nd hole at Old American Golf Club, Meadow knew exactly what she needed to do. And she did it, by draining a long birdie putt under pressure to seal her spot on the big stage once again.

“I couldn't have missed the leaderboard, it was literally right behind my putt,” Meadow said laughingly. “I learned a lot about myself that week. I knew what I had to do. I knew on the last hole what I had to do. I knew I needed birdie to kind of guarantee it. To actually do it and prove under the gun you can pull it off, that was awesome. I think I've been able to carry that through.

“This whole year has just been kind of almost proving to myself that do I belong here. To consistently be making cuts, it builds confidence. Such a long journey but a good one. You learn a lot of things along the way, and hopefully I can use those in the future.”

 

ICYMI: A U.S. WOMEN’S OPEN THAT HAD MORE THAN ONE WINNER

Amy Olson’s life has always been about more than just herself. Family and faith are her north stars. On Olson’s hat is the logo of Golf Fore Africa, the humanitarian effort to bring clean drinking water to those in need. In her heart on Monday as she played the final round of the U.S. Women’s Open was her father-in-law, who died suddenly Saturday night.

 

This enormous talent from North Dakota, who at North Dakota State University set the NCAA career victory record with 20, played the final round buoyed by that Christian faith and the always-present love of her family, even though they mourned back home, far away from her.

Winless in 147 LPGA starts, Olson was looking to make her first Tour win a major championship. Twice before she’d been in this position, playing in the final group of a major. Both times she let it get away from her. But his was not a major championship that Olson lost or let slip away.

On a brutally difficult day, A Lim Kim of South Korea was simply sensational. The 25-year-old two-time winner on the Korea LPGA closed with three consecutive birdies for a 67 -- low round of the day – to finish at three-under-par 281, a single stroke ahead of Olson and Rolex Ranking No. 1 Jin Young Ko, who shot 68.