With the first major championship of 2015 on any tour taking place this week on the LPGA, the game’s best women’s players will aim to peak during the ANA Inspiration at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, Calif.
The top three women on the LPGA – No. 1-ranked Lydia Ko, No. 2 Inbee Park and No. 3 Stacy Lewis – are all primed for a week of contending for the title.
Here’s a look at the top three players by the numbers:
Lydia Ko, No. 1
- 1: Ko is first on the LPGA in the Race to the CME Globe, Earnings, the Rolex Player of the Year race and top-10 finishes.
- 9: Consecutive weeks at the top of the Rolex Rankings.
- 10: Consecutive top-10 finishes on the LPGA, with her streak dating back to the Blue Bay LPGA last October. It would be 11 consecutive if you include her win on the Ladies European Tour in New Zealand.
- 12: Ko is winless in 12 overall major starts and is 0-for-6 in such tournaments since she turned professional in October 2013. Her best finish is a second at the 2013 Evian Championship and the best ANA Inspiration finish was a T25 in 2013.
- 18: Morgan Pressel was 18 years, 10 months and nine days when she won the 2007 Kraft Nabisco Championship to become the youngest major champion. Ko is nearly a year younger – she turns 18 on April 24.
- 28: Consecutive rounds under par. She’s just one round away from tying the LPGA record of 29, held by Annika Sorenstam in 2004. Tim Petrovic holds the PGA Tour mark of 26. Ko is a cumulative 90-under par during her streak and hasn’t shot a round of even-par or above since Nov. 13, 2014 at the final round of the Lorena Ochoa Invitational. Sorenstam was 100-under par during her run, including two majors. If you include her victory at the Ladies European Tour’s New Zealand Women’s Open on March 1, Ko has 31 consecutive under-par rounds.
- 48: Consecutive made cuts which includes every start she has made on the LPGA dating back to the 2012 ISPS Australian Women’s Open when she was competing as an amateur.
Inbee Park, No. 2
- 8: Park won her first major championship, the 2008 U.S. Women’s Open, in her eighth career majors start.
- 13: In her five starts this year, she hasn’t finished outside the top 13. That includes one victory.
- 19: Consecutive made cuts, dating back to last May at the Airbus LPGA Classic.
- 93: Her streak of 93 consecutive holes without a bogey ended last week on the par-4 second hole in the first round of the Kia Classic. Park’s previous bogey came on the 16th hole in the third round of the Honda LPGA Thailand.
- 83.1: Park leads the LPGA in Greens in Regulation, hitting 83 percent.
- 2013: Park won by four strokes at Rancho Mirage for her second career major championship.
Stacy Lewis, No. 3
- 2: Lewis is second in Putting Average, at 28.21 per round and leads the LPGA in Putts per Green in Regulation (1.69). MJ Hurr leads the Putting Average category at 28.17.
- 3: In five starts this season, Lewis had three consecutive top-3 finishes and hasn’t placed outside of the top 15.
- 4: She has four runner-ups since her last victory at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship last June.
- 11: Lewis won her first major, the 2011 Kraft Nabisco, in her 11th career major championship start.
- 13: She has a current streak of 13 consecutive rounds of par or better.
- 2011: Lewis won her first major championship at the Kraft Nabisco in 2011, rallying past World No. 1 Yani Tseng in the final round.
New title sponsor
The first major championship of the season has a new title sponsor that debuts this week. The ANA Inspiration is named for All Nippon Airways, one of Japan’s largest airline companies. The tournament purse increased this year from $2 million to $2.5 million and is expected to exceed $3 million by the end of the five-year contract in 2019.
American woman
Cristie Kerr was the first American woman to win the Kia Classic, in its sixth year, and the first American winner on the LPGA since Christina Kim won the Lorena Ochoa Invitational last November, a run of seven tournaments. Kerr, 37, was also the first winner in her 30s since Kim and is the oldest winner since Karrie Webb, 39, won the JTBC Founders Cup last March.
Defending champion
Last year, Lexi Thompson displayed her power game in outdueling Michelle Wie and winning her first major championship. Thompson averaged 275 yards off the tee and didn’t make a bogey during a final-round, 4-under-par 68 where she went on to a four-stroke victory.
Famous 18th
The par-5 18th hole is one of the most famous holes in golf – recognized for its island green and “Poppy’s Pond” to the right of the putting surface where winners take a victory plunge. The hole can vary in length from 561 yards to 496, which is the usual length in the final round when players are tempted to go for the green in two.
However, it’s been a while since a player had an under-par finish on the hole to capture the championship. Winners have made par on the hole in each of the last five years. But when a player does something heroic on the final hole, it has been spectacular. Brittany Lincicome was the last player to post an under-par score on the par 5 when she made eagle on a short putt to win the 2009 title. Morgan Pressel, 18, birdied the hole in 2007. In 2006, Karrie Webb holed out for eagle from the fairway to force a playoff with Annika Sorenstam. Webb won the title with a birdie on the first sudden-death hole, the 18th.
What’s in a name?
An alphabetical list of this week’s field provides a lot of repetition if not family relations. There are two Chois, two Fengs, two Jutanugarns, two Kangs, four Kims, two Kordas, nine Lees, two Lewises, two Miyazatos and four Parks. The Jutanugarns are sisters (Ariya and Moriya) as are the Kordas (Jessica and sister Nelly, an amateur). The other namesakes are not related.
Etc.
Karrie Webb has played in 19 ANA Inspirations and never missed the cut. That includes 11 top-10s and two wins. Se Ri Pak (16 for 16), Paula Creamer and Morgan Pressel (both 10 for 10) also have never missed the cut in double-digit career starts. … Golf Channel will have 20 hours of live coverage from the ANA Inspiration this week – noon-3 p.m. and 6-9 p.m., EDT on Thursday and Friday and 5-9 p.m. during the final two rounds. … Rancho Mirage, Calif., the site of this week’s ANA Inspiration, is just more than a two-hour drive from Carlsbad, Calif., the site of last week’s Kia Classic. … Major moves: The rest of the 2015 LPGA majors are as follows: June 11-14, KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, Westchester (N.Y.) CC; July 9-12, U.S. Women’s Open, Lancaster, Pa., CC; July 30-Aug. 2, Ricoh Women’s British Open, Turnberry, Scotland; Sept. 10-13, The Evian Championship, Evian les Bains, France.
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