As Inbee Park relaxes at home in South Korea this week and relishes the completion of the Career Grand Slam, it’s time to take a glance forward in the Race to the CME Globe and also compare Park’s 2015 season with another dominant performer, the PGA Tour’s Jordan Spieth.
Park’s four victories, including two major championships, have placed the 27-year-old in a dominant position in the CME Globe competition with 11 tournaments remaining this season. She holds a 903-point lead over second-place Lydia Ko, enough of a margin that she will remain No. 1 through this week despite not playing as Ko tries to make up ground at the Cambia Portland Classic.
Meanwhile, Spieth is playing in his fourth major championship this week, the PGA Championship. He has won two – the same at Park – and finished T4 at the British Open. Park placed T11 at the ANA Inspiration and T3 at the U.S. Women’s Open along with victories at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and Ricoh Women’s British Open, with The Evian Championship remaining on the LPGA’s major championship docket in three weeks.
Here’s a look comparing Park and Spieth, beginning with the respective tours’ points competitions (CME Globe on the LPGA; FedExCup on the PGA Tour):
| Category | Park | Spieth |
| Points | 3,646 (1) | 3,839 (1) |
| Starts | 18 | 20 |
| Wins | 4 | 4 |
| Majors | 2 | 2 |
| Top-10s | 11 | 13 |
| Stroke Avg | 69.39 (1) | 69.03* (1) |
| Greens in Reg. | 75.12% (5) | 68.06 (55) |
| Putting | 29.18 (13) | 27.24 (1) |
| Birdies | 280 (1) | 330 (10) |
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*-Actual average; PGA Tour uses adjusted scoring for its scoring leader. |
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Twenty tournaments have been completed in the second season of the Race to the CME Globe. The top three seeds entering November’s CME Group Tour Championship in Naples, Fla., can win it all. The top nine have a chance to capture the season-long title with a victory and help from those ahead of them.
The Race to the CME Globe is a season-long points competition in which LPGA Members accumulate points in every Official LPGA Tournament. At the end of the season, the winning player will be named the “Race to the CME Globe Champion.” The competition began at the Coates Golf Championship, continues through the Lorena Ochoa Invitational Presented by Banamex in Mexico and concludes with a points reset for the CME Group Tour Championship in Naples, Florida the week before Thanksgiving.
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