Lydia Ko proved during the U.S. Open that she is certainly back. It probably didn’t need to be proven as she has already shown throughout this interrupted LGPA 2020 year that she has got her mojo back.
Five top-ten finishes, an increase in driving length and an all-round improved demeanour for Ko meant she was always going to be in the hunt at the 2020 U.S. Open. And she was until the rain came.
Ko now shrugs off the cold of Houston to the relative warmth of Naples in Florida for the final event of the 2020 season at the CME Group Tour Championship, the culmination of the season-long Race to the CME Globe that begins on Friday New Zealand time.
Ko holds two scoring records for the CME Group Championships, shooting 62 for 18 holes in 2016 and 132 shots for 32 holes in the same tournament. She also won the 2014 event, one of seven champions in the field this week.
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.”
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 at the U.S. Women’s Open.
Rolex Rankings No. 2 Sei Young Kim is back to defend her 2019 title since spectacularly winning the event with a 25-foot birdie on the 72nd 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.
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 in Naples Florida, 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.
Ko tees off at 4.28 am NZDT and coverage will begin on Sky Sport at 7 am.
