Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
This list put together by Golf Digest shows just how uneven the playing field is for men and women golfers! When a golfer like Jason Dufner (who is no slouch on the golf course) is ahead of World #1 Lydia Ko in earnings, that is just wrong! Folks, start watching the LPGA Tour on TV, and you will find these women can really play! Just as exciting and competitive as the men.
For the first 12 years of the Golf Digest 50 all-encompassing money list, Tiger Woods was No. 1, usually by a wide margin. But reduced play because of injuries and the loss of more than half a dozen A-list endorsement partners after the 2009 scandal caught up to him in 2016, when he fell to No. 3 behind Jordan Spieth and Mickelson. This year, Woods is No. 4 behind Rory McIlroy, Arnold Palmer and Mickelson.
10.) GARY PLAYER
Certainly surprised me!
PREVIOUS RANK: 10
ON COURSE: — $0.00
OFF COURSE: $15,000,000
TOTAL: $15,000,000
9.) ADAM SCOTT
Money does not seem important to him!
PREVIOUS RANK: 18
ON COURSE: $8,160,920
OFF COURSE: $6,900,000
TOTAL: $15,060,920
8.) JASON DAY
Has never quite fulfilled his potential!
PREVIOUS RANK: 7
ON COURSE: $8,845,112
OFF COURSE: $10,750,000
TOTAL: $19,595,112
7.) DUSTIN JOHNSON
Thought he would have been much higher.
PREVIOUS RANK: 13
ON COURSE: $12,664,185
OFF COURSE: $7,100,000
TOTAL: $19,764,185
6.) JACK NICKLAUS
Did not build an empire like Arnie!
PREVIOUS RANK: 6
ON COURSE: $42,000
OFF COURSE: $20,000,000
TOTAL: $20,042,000
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
For a Team Captain, picking players who have not made the team on merit is a daunting task. It’s one of those situations where if the pick plays well, you look like a genius, and if they don’t, you look like an idiot! There have been some picks just like that throughout the years of team play. People tend to frown on choices where the player is a good friend of the captain, but when Tom Watson picked friend Raymond Floyd, Ray played great and made Tom look good. Poor Lanny Watkins got all sorts of criticism when Curtis Strange lost all his matches after Lanny picked his buddy in 1995! Thanks to Alex Myers of Golf Digest for putting this interesting list together. We all love the Ryder, Presidents, and Solheim Cup matches, and some of these pictures brought back great memories, even in the years the USA lost!
The Good The Bad and The Ugly in Captain’s Picks!
Davis Love III’s selections (so far) have been pretty conventional, but that hasn’t always been the case with captain’s picks through the years.
Raymond Floyd (1993 Ryder Cup)
Tom Watson tabbed Floyd, 51, as the oldest captain’s pick in Ryder Cup history. The wily vet justified the selection by going 3-1 and helping lead the U.S. to a one-point win at The Belfry.
Cannon/Getty Images)
Curtis Strange (1995 Ryder Cup)
Fellow former Wake Forest golfer Lanny Wadkins picked Strange for the team despite Strange not having won a PGA Tour event in more than six years. The move backfired as Strange went 0-3 at Oak Hill and the U.S. lost by a point, which better explains his pose in this photo.
Paul Azinger (2000 Presidents Cup)
Despite being 24th in the Presidents Cup standings, Azinger was picked by Ken Venturi. “He’s a leader, he’s a team man, he’s a wonderful match player,” Venturi said. “I feel this could be his swan song, and I’ll get more than 100 percent from him.” Azinger went 1-2, but the U.S. won easily. Of course, he proved that leadership at the 2008 Ryder Cup as the U.S. captain.
The 9 steps to making it on the PGA Tour – #4 is Critical!
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
I have worked with many male and female golfers who aspired to make it on the PGA or LPGA Tour. Let me tell you something. Talent is just a tiny part of it! Many golfers are making a living on the PGA and LPGA Tours who have minimal talent. But they have the desire, work ethic, and a sense of determination I see in very few young people today. Most want it on a silver platter, and if it is too hot or too cold, they avoid the range. They have no chance! So, check out this article by Mark Donaghy of GolfWrx to see if you have what it takes!
When Ty Tryon qualified for the PGA Tour at a very young age, everybody. Including myself, thought he was the next superstar. It was not to be!
I’m sure we all know a top young amateur golfer with aspirations of turning pro. It may be the kid at your local club who hits the ball a country mile and has a short game that would make Seve proud. Or it might be a hot shot you’ve seen at a tournament, and followed his or her progress since they were knee high to a grasshopper.
Aspiring Tour Players.
You’ve watched them win local and even regional tournaments from high school into the top amateur ranks, and think they will be the next Rory McIlroy or Jason Day. So why do so few of these talented amateur golfers actually break through on the world stage? What is it about the transition from top amateur to professional golf that can act as a trap door for some, and a trampoline for others?
To find out, I spoke to Johnny Foster, who runs The Johnny Foster Golf Academy, a top Irish coaching academy targeting elite young players.
“Since 2004, my team and I have had the pleasure of coaching dozens of Ireland’s aspiring elite amateurs and professionals at our academy,” he said. “The walls have become decorated with pictures of players’ trophies and signed memorabilia. But for us, it’s the faces who aren’t there that raise our eyebrows. I often ask myself, ‘Do you remember this guy…where did he go? I was certain he’d make it.’
“On the other hand, I’ve scratched my head many more times when guys who were can’t-miss amateurs have been swallowed by the results-driven, unapologetic world of pro golf, seemingly unable to score as they did as amateurs just months before. Why is that? Did they lose their talent? Do pro golfers play to a smaller hole? I don’t think so. What I do know is that players who have made the successful transition have shared certain qualities.
The 9 steps to making it on the PGA Tour – #4 is Critical!
This is the biggest motivating factor in being successful in anything. Something has to drive golfers to want to be the best, and it has to be there at every point in their career. Complacency and lack of belief are desire’s biggest enemies, sapping drive and willpower.
We have all heard it said before: someone has a natural talent, or they were born with a club in their hands. Talent has to be grown and supported, however, for a golfer to reach the highest level. How many talented golfers have we heard of who never made it?
More precisely than just ability, professional golfers need the ability to score. All of the talent in the world doesn’t matter if you cannot simply get the golf ball in the hole. Scrambling, clutch putting and performance under pressure become extremely important when a career is on the line.
Johnny says: There’s only one common denominator among the players who are successful: their score. The top-25 on any given week will represent a variety of club manufacturers, listen to a multitude of coaches and probably be from a range of countries. In fact, on many occasions, the only thing they do have in common is that they have finished at the same score at the week’s end. So as much as myself or any other adviser tells you to “forget about the score and stick to the process,” you better have the potential to score at a tour standard or there’s not much point reading on.
The most important number a player can produce is their stroke average in relation to par.
Your diet can be pure and you can surround yourself with the latest technology, which will make you feel better, but in my experience the most important number a player can produce is their stroke average in relation to par. If you have the rare ability to manipulate numbers, I’d stick to lowering that if you can, rather than fixating on your angle of attack. If you are an aspiring player, ask yourself, “Is everything I’m currently doing geared to helping me reduce my scoring average?” This is a constant pillar of our philosophy; we tirelessly work with our students to reduce their scoring average in relation to par.
The 9 steps to making it on the PGA Tour – #4 is Critical!
Along with having natural talent, there is no substitute for hard work and building a good routine. Fitness, practice, media/sponsor commitments, and travel all require hard work and good time management that needs to be engrained. Look at how seriously the modern-day players take their games these days: they train with fitness experts, work on technique with world-class coaches, and engrain their good habits with hundreds of balls almost every day. They say it takes 10,000 hours of focused practice to be world class. You don’t do that without hard work and a solid routine.
Learning a trade or a set of skills is a process that takes time, usually years.
Johnny says: Learning a trade or a set of skills is a process that takes time, usually years. So consider this when planning your assault on professional golf; “I’ll give it a go for a year” isn’t really a sound plan. How many surgeons or classic opera singers give it 12 months and eventually become successful? Remember, you’re attempting to reach the 0.01 percent of people in your chosen field. Your apprenticeship will take time, so make the financial and emotional provision for it.
You’re attempting to hone a very specific set of skills. From reading grain on greens to working with a professional caddy, allow yourself time to adjust. And be realistic with your deadlines. Look at your rate of progression over the past few years. Fair chance this trend is going to continue. As the saying goes, “An overnight sensation usually takes about 10 years.” The fact is that in all of the wins and trophies achieved by our clients, the vast majority were done so by long-term students who really valued and benefited from a strong player-coach bond.
Thinking of becoming a Tour Player – This is what it takes!
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
Occasionally a golfer approaches me with the request to help with his/her game as he/she considers trying to qualify for the PGA or LPGA Tour. One of the first things I emphasize is how good they have to be before they even attempt a qualifying school. Peter Sanders of Golfwrx has put together a great statistical analysis of the true difference between a scratch player and a PGA Tour player. If you still think you can make it, give me a call. I will be happy to help you on your journey!
You might ask: How would I know the differences between a scratch golfer and a PGA Tour player?
Well, it is my full-time job to know these type of things about golf. I have been studying the game from a statistical standpoint for 27 years. I created the Strokes Gained analysis website, ShotByShot.com, and work with PGA Tour members to extract clear answers from the Tour’s overwhelming 653 ShotLink stats.
My experience tells me that there is no such thing as an average game, no matter the handicap level. We’re all snowflakes and find our own unique way to shoot our number. With that said, ShotByShot.com’s 260,000+ round database enables us to create a composite sketch of the average golfer at each level. One of the beauties of our averages is that they are smooth across all five major facets so that every individual golfer’s strengths and weaknesses — and we all have them — stand out clearly by comparison.
The Data Used for this Study
Mr. Scratch: I averaged the 8,360 rounds in our database that match the zero handicap criteria. In other words, the rounds when Mr. Scratch actually played to his 0 handicap.
PGA Tour: The average of the 14,557 ShotLink rounds recorded in the 2015 season.
The Math
The USGA’s Course and Slope rating system does a sophisticated job of evaluating the relative difficulty of our golf courses. I joined my local course rating committee shortly after the new “Slope” system was added. My specific goal was to gain an understanding of how the system works so that I could effectively apply it in my analysis program.
For the purposes of this article, the Course Rating reflects the relative course par for the scratch golfer. The chart below tells us that the PGA Tour scoring average is 2.25 strokes better than Mr. Scratch. Further, Tour players are playing courses that are 3.2 strokes more difficult. The net result is a 5.45-shot difference between Tour players and Mr. Scratch, but let’s just call it 5.5.
Thinking of becoming a Tour Player – This is what it takes!
Driving
The chart above shows us that the biggest piece of the 5.5-shot pie falls into the Driving category, or Distance, which makes sense to me. To play the game for a living, one must be able to hit it straight and far. Even Zach Johnson, with whom I have had the great pleasure of working with for five years, is often considered a short hitter. I contend that he is simply more intelligent and recognizes the true value of accuracy. Zach is averaging 281 yards this year, only seven off of the Tour average. Short? Not by my standards.
The chart below indicates that the driving distance gap between the Tour and Mr. Scratch is 33 yards. The average approach shot distance on the PGA Tour is 175 yards. Adding the 33 yards to all 14 driving holes puts Mr. Scratch’s average approach distance at just over 205 yards. The Strokes Gained value of this added distance is 2.52 strokes (0.18 per attempt x 14 driving holes = 2.52).
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
If you remember, last year Sports Illustrated featured a poll that asked, “Who was the most overrated golf on Tour?”
The two most popular answers were Rickie Fowler and Ian Poulter. Rickie immediately stepped up to the plate and produced a string of victories throughout the world, including the Players Championship and the Scottish Open, to immediately silence the critics. Ian has had a “fair” year but has not won as much as Rickie, so the verdict is still out on him! This year the two biggest questions are “Will Tiger win again?” and “Who would you want by your side in a bar fight!” It seems Ernie Els fits the second question quite well! Thanks to Golf Step by Step and Sports Illustrated for this fun poll!
Sports Illustrated released their annual Anonymous Player Poll on Tuesday, but there wasn’t much Rickie Fowler-esque motivation to be gleaned from the 150 players’ answers. Last year, Fowler and Ian Poulter were pegged as the leading vote getters as to who were believed to be the most overrated players on Tour.
SI interviewed more than 150 players from the PGA Tour, PGA Tour Champions and LPGA Tour.
Here are some of the most interesting responses.
Will Tiger Woods win another PGA Tour event?
PGA TOUR
Yes 42%
No 27%
Don’t know 31%
Loose Lips: “I’m optimistic, but running out of reasons.”
CHAMPIONS
Yes 72%
No 23%
Don’t know 5%
Loose Lips: “I don’t even know if he’ll play again.”
LPGA
Yes 36%
No 64%
If you were to be in a bar fight, who would you want to have your back?
PGA TOUR
Ernie Els 15%
Keegan Bradley 9%
Ángel Cabrera 7%
Pat Perez 5%
Brooks Koepka 4%
No one out here 18%
Others 42%
Loose Lips: “I’ve heard some bar stories about Ernie.”
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
Entering the final round of a PGA or LPGA Tour event, you know there will be drama somewhere on the back 9. Particularly if the leader is in that position for the first time in his/her career. It’s tough to win on Tour, but closing out that first victory or first Major Championship is even more challenging. (just ask Phil, Rory, Greg, and Jordan) Joel Beall of Golf Digest has put together a great list of the top 10 blowups in PGA and LPGA Tour history. Enjoy!
Getty Images
MAMARONECK, NY – JUNE 18: Phil Mickelson stands on the 18th green after his last putt in the final round of the 2006 US Open Championship at Winged Foot Golf Club on June 18, 2006 in Mamaroneck, New York. Geoff Ogilvy won the championship by one stroke. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
The PGA Tour Twitter account routinely posts a “Golf is hard” segment, in which bad shots are showcased. The idea is that, hey, those chunks and slices and three-putts that are prevalent among us amateurs? It happens to the pros, too.
Kevin Na at the 2011 Texas Open.
At the ninth hole at TPC San Antonio, Na lost his drive into the woods, a shot which, while rare, is not unheard of in the top ranks. What garnered attention was the next shot — and the shot after that, and the shot after that, and the shot after that:
The final damage for Na was a 16. Frankly, the fact that he finished his round with an 80 is astonishing.
You’ll see that highlight at some point during this week’s coverage of the Valero Texas Open, which got us thinking: What are the worst single-hole blow-ups in golf history?
Yes, Na’s misadventures were the thing of nightmares, but it also came during his first round. For our list, we compiled meltdowns at critical moments, as the heightened stakes amplified the severity of the collapses. Moreover, we limited the field to just the last 20 years. Keeping those parameters in mind, here are the picks for the biggest single-hole disasters:
Jean Van de Velde, 1999 British Open
The English vernacular can’t properly capture the Grand Canyon’s majesty or the orotund beauty of Adele; these entities need to be seen, felt, experienced. The same applies to the glorious mess of van de Velde’s 72nd hole at Carnoustie:
Dustin Johnson, 2010 U.S. Open
Mishaps don’t have to come at the finale to submarine a round, as Johnson proved at Pebble Beach. DJ’s one-shot Saturday lead quickly evaporated on Sunday thanks to a triple on the second hole. An ensuing double at the third booted Johnson from the leader board, and he eventually finished in a tie for eighth.
Sergio Garcia, 2013 Players Championship
Sergio’s game is filled with numerous attributes. The “clutch” gene is not one of them.
Garcia was tied for the Sunday lead heading into TPC Sawgrass’ infamous par-3 17th. The Spaniard put his tee shot in the drink; his drop attempt fared no better:
Garcia left the island green with a quadruple bogey. He would also double the final hole, giving the 2013 tournament to Tiger Woods.
A PGA and LPGA Alliance makes so much sense for the future!
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
This is the most exciting news I have heard in a long time.
Talk of an alliance between the PGA and LPGA Tours! Here are some of the huge benefits: Cost of covering one tournament instead of 2, the LPGA benefits from the PGA Tour’s strength in advertising. Plus, people can attend a tournament and see both PGA and LPGA players at the same venue. And, I think the crowds will be larger. Would love to see Jessica Korda and Jason Day paired together!
Thanks so much to GOLF DIGEST and Ron Sirak for this interesting story. I cannot wait!
Imagine this: A mixed-team, better-ball, match-play event in which Rickie Fowler and Lexi Thompson meet Jordan Spieth and Lydia Ko in the global television final of what would be an official PGA Tour and LPGA tournament. While the logistics of pulling off such an event would have enormous obstacles, last Friday’s announcement that the PGA Tour and the LPGA have entered into “a long-term, written strategic alliance” is reason to believe it might be part of golf’s future.
“Activating the Glutes” is Michelle Wie’s way of hitting it far!
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
Michelle Wie has always had loads of talent, right from the first time she burst onto the golfing scene. At the time, I said that Michelle would be the first female to play in the Masters at Augusta. She never lost faith in her coach David Leadbetter and is now showing her real potential.
Like Tiger Woods, Michele Wie relies on her strong legs for her power. The glutes are a big part of that. Both Tiger and Michelle have learned the secret of activating the gluts for that extra boost of power!
Golf’s Greatest Rivalries of all time – I didn’t know about #3!
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
I grew up in the era of Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, and then eventually Jack Nicklaus. These were known as the “Big 3.” They were good friends outside the ropes, but on the course, the gloves were off. They were fierce competitors, and each wanted to beat the other two every time they teed it up together! Joel Beall of Golf Digest has put together a great list of 14 of the greatest rivalries that could match a Clemson-South Carolina game anytime!
The final week of the college football regular season is renowned for its rivalries. Alabama-Auburn, Ohio State-Michigan, USC-UCLA. Clashes where the record means nothing, and the game’s outcome everything. Which got us thinking: What are some of the best rivalries in the history of golf?
1. USA vs. Europe
The Ryder Cup at first wasn’t much of a rivalry, as the U.S. boasted an 18-3-1 record through 22 matches against Great Britain and Ireland. However, once the Ryder Cup committe decided to change the event’s format to America versus Europe, the latter owns a 10-7-1 mark. Always competitive — and at times, contentious — the biennial event is one of the best Hatfield-McCoy stories in all of sports.
2. Arnold Palmer vs. Jack Nicklaus
Arnie was — and still is — the King. But when a boy from Ohio challenged his rule over golf, Palmer’s reign became a divided kingdom. For nearly a decade, Palmer and Nicklaus battled each other for the game’s crown. While Nicklaus eventually usurped Arnie’s sovereignty, their dual helped shape, and spur, the sport’s popularity.
(Original Caption) Dot Germain, of Philadelphia; Phyllis Otto, of Atlantic, Iowa; Mrs. George Zaharias, the former Babe Didrikson, of Los Angeles; and Louise Suggs, of Lithia Springs, Georgia (left to right). Examine their trusty putters after they won their second round matches and entered the quarter-finals of the 45th Annual Amateur Tournament of the Women’s Western Golf Association.
3. Louise Suggs vs. Babe Didrikson Zaharias
Suggs was jealous of Babe’s dominance and popularity, calling her “not a golfer; she’s a showman.” Suggs once said she would refuse to sign Zaharias’ scorecard. Disputing a drop the Babe got in 1953. Even in death, the rivalry was still there: Suggs did not visit Babe in the hospital when the latter was dying of cancer, telling friends, “I decided I’m not going to be a hypocrite about this thing.”
Here is the Good and the Bad for the 2015 LPGA Season!
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
Dottie Pepper, writing for ESPN W, gives us her insight into the year that was, 2015! There were a lot of great things that happened on the LPGA Tour. But, according to Dottie, there are things that could have been better! Things like poor attendance to LPGA events and the performance of the Americans. (definitely, a link here as Americans like Americans to win!) Of course, there are such a lot of positive things happening on the LPGA Tour right now, and I for one cannot wait to see Lydia Ko and Inbee Park go head to head in 2016. Let’s hope that some American women can step up to the plate in the coming year!
For the third consecutive year, we’ll take this time to look back at the good, bad and the ugly of the LPGA Tour’s season. And, just as last year, there’s much more good than either bad or ugly.
The Good
1. Youth movement:
Among the 31 events on the 2015 LPGA schedule, 11 were won by a player under the age of 21 at the time of her victory and nearly half (15) were won by players under 23.
2. Balance:
Cristie Kerr won twice this year, at the KIA Classic while still a 37-year-old and the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship as a 38-year-old, crossing the $17 million mark in career earnings in the process.
3. Momentum and the 2016 schedule:
Commissioner Mike Whan now has what he considers the perfect number of official events on the LPGA schedule: 33. That has increased by a whopping 10 events in five years, and total purse money has been upped by more than $20 million to a record $63.1 million in a time that many would argue the Great Recession is still not over.
North American events have increased from 15 just five years ago to what will be 23 in 2016, including a new event in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and another new tournament beginning in 2017 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Total televised hours have nearly doubled in that same five-year span, while network weekend coverage has tripled from two to six events.
Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports
If you thought the men had a youth movement in golf, the LPGA Tour’s champions in 2015 got younger and then some with nearly half its winners under the age of 23, including five-time champion Lydia Ko, who is only 18 — and world No. 1.
4. Drama:
The formula and format of the Race to the CME Globe is absolutely top notch with the season finale not only contested over a quality golf course at Tiburon GC in Naples, Florida, but with a points reset that rewards both season-long consistency and playing a full schedule.
The format infuses just enough drama for players to endure to finish out the season in top form, as witnessed by this weekend’s event. Lydia Ko, Inbee Park and Stacy Lewis each could have won the $1 million bonus with a win at Tiburon, but because none of them won the actual golf tournament, it brought a hard-charging Lexi Thompson into the bonus mix.
During the final round, Ko, Park and Thompson were each, at various points, projected to take home the seven-figure haul. The two biggest LPGA awards, the Rolex Player of the Year and Vare Trophy (for lowest scoring average), were also undecided until the final hole of the year with Ko taking home the first award and Park winning the second, thus giving her the final point she needed to qualify for the LPGA Hall of Fame after she completes her 10th year of membership in 2016.
