Tour Championship and Race to the CME Globe have become "important pillars on the LPGA Tour" - Commissioner Whan
NAPLES, Fla., Nov. 17, 2017 – CME Group, the world's leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, has extended its title sponsorship of both the LPGA Tour's CME Group Tour Championship and the season-long Race to the CME Globe through 2023, the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) announced on Friday.
CME Group has a decade-long history of partnering with the LPGA. The season-ending Tour Championship, which was first sponsored by CME Group in 2011, is being played this week (from Nov. 16-19) at Tiburón Golf Club in Naples, Fla. where Charley Hull won the 2016 tournament by two shots.
"CME Group is proud to continue our partnership with the LPGA, and extend the CME Group Tour Championship and Race to the CME Globe through 2023," said Terry Duffy, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CME Group. "Like CME Group, the LPGA is committed to fair competition, diversity and excellence – a natural fit with our brand."
LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan said: "The CME Group Tour Championship and the Race to the CME Globe have become important pillars on the LPGA Tour. We measure a player’s success based on her rankings in the Race to the Globe, and virtually every player hopes to raise that trophy and the $1M bonus at the end of the season.
“I’m both honored and excited to know that CME and the LPGA will be partners for years and years to come. We could not have a better partner, or friend, when it comes to showcasing the best female golfers in the world."
The final event of the 2017 campaign, the $2.5 million Tour Championship boasts an elite field that comprises the top 72 LPGA members and ties in the Race to the CME Globe points standings (as of Nov. 12), plus any player not otherwise qualified who has won at least one official LPGA tournament this season.
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 is named the "Race to the CME Globe Champion". This year’s competition began with the Jan. 26-29 Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic in Paradise Island, Bahamas and continued through the Nov. 8-11 Blue Bay LPGA in China before concluding this week with the CME Group Tour Championship.
Following the Blue Bay LPGA, LPGA members who met the entry criteria for the CME Group Tour Championship were seeded based on their position in the Race to the CME Globe points standings. Points for each member were then reset for the CME Group Tour Championship based on the points reset table.
For this year, the reset points for the Race to the CME Globe have been modified slightly. As a result:
- The top five finishers entering Naples will control their own destiny at the CME Group Tour Championship.
- If a player in the top five wins in Naples, she will also win the $1M CME Globe
- The top 12 finishers entering Naples will have a mathematical chance to win the $1M CME Globe
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