SAME HOST, SAME COURSE, NEW FORMAT
Since 2008, LPGA legend Lorena Ochoa has hosted a tour event in her home country of Mexico. For its first six years, the Lorena Ochoa Invitational was conducted at Guadalajara Country Club, where Ochoa learned the game as a child. In 2014, the event moved to its current location, the Club de Golf México in Mexico City.
Starting in 2017, the event has shifted to a match-play format, becoming the Citibanamex Lorena Ochoa Match Play presented by Aeromexico and Delta. This is the first time that match play has been part of the LPGA Tour since 2012, the last playing of the Sybase Match Play Championship.
This will also be considered a new tournament in LPGA history books, given the move from stroke play to match play.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE CITIBANAMEX LORENA OCHOA MATCH PLAY PRESENTED BY AEROMEXICO AND DELTA
1 – This is the first time this event will be conducted in a match-play format, following nine years in a stroke-play format
2 – Past winners of LPGA match-play events in the field (Brittany Lincicome, 2006 HSBC Women’s World Match Play Championship; Suzann Pettersen, 2011 Sybase LPGA Match Play Championship)
4 – Consecutive years the LPGA Tour has visited the Club de Golf México
6 – Rounds of match play that sit between one player and the trophy (Round of 64, Round of 32, Round of 16, Quarterfinals, Semifinals, Final)
64 – Players in the Lorena Ochoa Match Play field
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT 2017 LORENA OCHOA INVITATIONAL WINNER CARLOTA CIGANDA
- In six starts this year, Ciganda has made six cuts and earned a season-best T21 finish at the ANA Inspiration and the LOTTE Championship, the previous two LPGA events she played coming into this week
- Entering this week, Ciganda has $2,406,410 in career LPGA Tour earnings
- In 2016, Ciganda became a Rolex First-Time winner at the LPGA KEB Hana Bank Championship
- In 2016, Ciganda was seventh on Tour in average driving distance (269.28 yards) and greens in regulation (73.98%)
- Ciganda is a two-time member of the European Solheim Cup Team (2013, 2015) and represented Spain on the victorious 2014 UL International Crown team
HOW THE MATCH-PLAY BRACKET IS CONSTRUCTED
The field of 64 players was determined by a combination of Rolex Rankings, the 2017 LPGA Money List and two players as selected by the tournament sponsor. The seedings within the match-play bracket are according to the Rolex Ranking as of May 1, 2017. There are four separate brackets: Ochoa, Sorenstam, Inkster and Pak. Players will be seeded No. 1 through No. 64; however, the brackets will reflect seedings of No. 1 through No. 16 each (there will be four No. 1 seeds, and so on). Even though there are four brackets, Rolex-ranked player No. 1 will play No. 64, No. 2 will play No. 63, etc.
LPGA LEGENDS TAKE TO THE COURSE FOR RARE EXHIBITION
In an exciting addition to the tournament weekend, four legendary LPGA Tour players will compete in public exhibition matches. Host Lorena Ochoa, a 27-time LPGA Tour winner who will be enshrined in the World Golf Hall of Fame in September, will be joined by Hall of Famers Juli Inkster (Class of 2000), Annika Sorenstam (Class of 2003) and Se Ri Pak (Class of 2007).
These four players combine for 155 LPGA Tour victories and 24 major championship titles:
Juli Inkster: 31 LPGA Tour victories, seven major victories (1984 ANA Inspiration, 1984 du Maurier Classic, 1989 ANA Inspiration, 1999 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, 1999 U.S. Women’s Open, 2000 KPMA Women’s PGA Championship, 2002 U.S. Women’s Open)
Lorena Ochoa: 27 LPGA Tour victories, two major victories (2007 RICOH Women’s British Open, 2008 ANA Inspiration)
Se Ri Pak: 25 LPGA Tour victories, five major victories (1998 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, 1998 U.S. Women’s Open, 2001 RICOH Women’s British Open, 2002 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, 2006 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship)
Annika Sorenstam: 72 LPGA Tour victories, 10 major victories (1995 U.S. Women’s Open, 1996 U.S. Women’s Open, 2001 ANA Inspiration, 2002 ANA Inspiration, 2003 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, 2003 RICOH Women’s British Open, 2004 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, 2005 ANA Inspiration, 2005 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, 2006 U.S. Women’s Open)
Ochoa will conduct a junior clinic on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m., while the Hall of Famers will participate in an open practice round on Friday at 1 p.m. On Saturday, they will play in a scramble at Noon, followed by best-ball matches on Sunday at 11:20 a.m. Pairings for the Hall of Fame matches will be released later this week.
TEN WEEKS INTO THE RACE TO THE CME GLOBE
This week’s Citibanamex Lorena Ochoa Match Play presented by Aeromexico and Delta is the 10th event in the season-long Race to the CME Globe. So Yeon Ryu, who won the 2017 ANA Inspiration and has finished in the top 10 in all seven starts so far this season, currently sits atop the standings with 1,605 points.
- In 2017, the reset points for the Race to the CME Globe will be modified slightly. As a result of these modifications:
- 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
- Please note that previously, the top three controlled their destiny and top nine had a mathematical chance
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