LPGA: Race to the CME Globe Update (Video)

By Elizabeth Bethel | Nov 10, 2014

Apr 1, 2014; Rancho Mirage, CA, USA; Stacy Lewis (right) watches as Beatriz Recari (center) takes questions from the crowd during the International Crown press conference at Mission Hills Country Club. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports

With the Tour’s six-event fall Asian swing buttoned up and the players headed for Mexico and the Lorena Ochoa Invitational, the final event before points are reset for the playing of the CME Group Tour Championship in Naples, Florida in two weeks, it’s time to take a close look at the standings in the year-long, million dollar Race to the CME Globe.

Going into the Lorena Ochoa Invitational Stacy Lewis leads the field by 911 points, with Inbee Park, Lydia Ko and Michelle Wie lined up right behind her, but that lead will not assure Lewis of an advantage at the final sprint in Naples.

Players have been accumulating Race points since the season began last January at the Pure Silk-Bahamas and Lewis, with 17 top-10 finishes that include 3 victories leads the race with 4,823 points. Even if she doesn’t accumulate any more points at the Lorena Ochoa it’s not mathematically possible for Park, Ko or Wie to catch Lewis, but with the points being reset going into the final event, the CME Group Tour Championship, capturing the million dollar prize doesn’t require that she be caught.

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Points Eligibility

Throughout the 2014 season points have been awarded to LPGA Members at all Official LPGA Tournaments in the following manner:

For all events with a cut, points were awarded to Members who make the cut
For all events without a cut (except for the Lorena Ochoa Invitational) points were awarded to Members who finish top 40 and ties
For the Lorena Ochoa Invitational Presented by Banamex, points will be awarded to Members who finish in the top 20 and ties

Points Distribution

The winner of each Official LPGA event received 500 Race to the CME Globe points
The five LPGA major championships (Kraft Nabisco Championship, US Women’s Open, RICOH Women’s British Open, Wegman’s LPGA Championship and Evian Championship) carried 25% more value and the winner of each LPGA major championship received 625 Race to the CME Globe points
Points for finish positions held by non-members will not be reallocated to the pool or allocated down to the next LPGA Member.
Players tying for a finish position will each be awarded points for the tied position. Points will not be averaged and distributed to the tied positions.

Follow this link to view current full point distributions going into the Lorena Ochoa Invitational.

Is There a Favorite?

Although Stacy Lewis played hot during the first half of the season, her game has cooled down and I don’t think she’s a likely contender in the final sprint for the million dollar purse.

Brittany Lincicome

Inbee Park started the season slow but her consistent game has put her back on the top of the Rolex Rankings and into strong contention. Park’s coming out of the Asian Swing with a winning game. I’m looking for to her play well ahead of Lewis.

Lydia Ko has been having an absolutely remarkable rookie year, but she’s had some trouble closing the Sunday deal and she’s not played her most competitive game at the Majors. The teenager may still be learning how to manage the stress of the big payoff events. If she has that figured out she’ll be battling Inbee Park in Naples.

Michelle Wie was a good bet to claim the prize before she got sidelined with that hand injury. Now, even though she’s back in competition, her game isn’t at the peak performance we saw in the middle of the summer. Wie needs more time to fully heal that injury.

Given the diversity of 2014 Tour champions — 21 winners for 30 events — I think it’s likely that the Race to the CME Globe is going to be won by a dark horse. Chella Choi is due a victory, for example, as are Azahara Munoz, Cristie Kerr and Brittany Lincicome. They’re all on my watch list right now.