Race to the CME Globe Favorites

By Elizabeth Bethel | Nov 17, 2014

The Tiburón Golf Club in Naples, Florida is this week’s LPGA Tour epicenter. The inaugural Race to the CME Globe, which has had me scratching my head for months, is coming into the home stretch on Tiburón’s track, where nine players have a chance to win the million dollar bonus that will go along with a victory at the CME Group Tour Championship. But that’s not the only drama we’ll watch unfold at Tiburón. It’s looking like Stacy Lewis and Inbee Park are in a dead heat to the finish for the Rolex Player of the Year and the Vare Trophy. So, their next four rounds of golf will determine who takes home this year’s LPGA top honors.

The Top Three

Inbee Park

Stacy Lewis, Inbee Park, and Lydia Ko have been locked in a season-long battle for the top of the world rankings and control of the season-ending awards. Lewis and Park have see-sawed back and forth as the top-ranked player in the world and Ko’s been a steady, persistent presence, a constant reminder to the duo that they’re not alone at the top.

Ko is coming into this final contest with the Louise Suggs Rookie of the Year award in her pocket and a win at Tiburón would give Ko a clean sweep of the year’s honors. While it’s possible, it’s not likely. Lydia Ko is a stunning young athlete, but she lacks experience in managing the mental game she needs to deliver a winning game under the kind of pressure that will permeate the Tour Championship.

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More likely is a 4-round battle between Stacy Lewis and Inbee Park, but Lewis’s game has cooled off while Park’s has heated up over the last third of the season. Lewis left Mexico City still not physically in peak condition and may or may not be ready to go shot-for-shot with Inbee Park this week.

Among the top three, Inbee Park looks like the best positioned to make a run for the top of the board at the Group Championship and take home the honors that would go with a win this week. And while no one on the Tour is better equipped to deliver her best game under fire, Inbee Park will have some serious competition at Tiburón.

Also In Contention

So Yeon Ryu

In addition to Lewis, Park and Ko, six additional players have a shot at that million dollar bonus: Michelle Wie, So Yeon Ryu, Shanshan Feng, Anna Nordqvist, Chella Choi, and Karrie Webb.

Watching Michelle Wie last week, I didn’t see the game she was playing before her hand injury sidelined her. This probably isn’t Wie’s year.

So Yeon Ryu and Shanshan Feng, who’s the defending champion this week, are both coming into the Tour Championship with hot games and they’re going to be playing hard for the win. Neither one is in the competition for Player of the Year or the Vare Trophy, but a million dollar bonus may be enough incentive to move their games up a notch or two.

Anna Nordqvist had a superb first half of the season but her last top-10 finish came in September at the Evian Championship. Her game was lackluster during the fall Asian Swing and I didn’t see much energy in her swing at the Lorena Ochoa Invitational. I think she’s worn out.

Chella Choi. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports

Cella Choi, who has ten top-10 finishes this year and she collected four of them during the Asian Swing. She’s due that first Tour victory and she rested last week while most of the field played in Mexico City. If she can get past Inbee Park and Shanshan Feng, this could be Chella Choi’s moment.

Karrie Webb is the wild card among the players who can capture that million dollar bonus. Webb has an extraordinary ability to decide what she’s going to shoot and then figure out how she’s going to get to that number. If she makes that kind of decision at Tiburón, the million dollar bonus will be hers.

These aren’t the only players in the field at the CME Group Tour Championship, nor are they the only ones likely to capture a victory this week. Given the season-long pattern of first-time 2014 champions, these nine players are going to be facing a hungry field of challengers who are going to give it everything in their bag to get to the top of the board and stay there.