Storylines To Follow At LPGA Volvik Championship

THE GREAT LAKES STATE, PART ONE

This week, the LPGA makes the first of two stops in Michigan at the LPGA Volvik Championship. This is the second year of this event after the Tour made its debut in Ann Arbor last season.

The 144-player field includes 83 of the top 100 players on the 2017 Official Money List and six of the 11 tournament winners from this season competing for a $1.3 million purse at Travis Pointe Country Club.

In 2016, a red-hot Ariya Jutanugarn blew away the field to earn her third consecutive win and complete her sweep of LPGA events in the month of May. The 20-year-old from Thailand shot a final round 67 to finish at 15-under ahead of American Christina Kim (-10).

With the win, Jutanugarn became the first player in Tour history to have the first three wins of her career come in consecutive tournaments (Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic, Kingsmill Championship, LPGA Volvik Championship). She was also the first player since Inbee Park in 2013 to win three LPGA tournaments in a row. 

The LPGA has historically hosted 27 events in ten Michigan cities since its first trip to the Great Lakes State in 1955 for the Wolverine Open in Detroit. In June, the Tour returns to Grand Rapids for the fourth playing of the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give. 

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE LPGA VOLVIK CHAMPIONSHIP

2 – This is the second year of the LPGA Volvik Championship

64 – Tournament-low 18-hole score (-8), shot by Christina Kim in the first round in 2016

4 – Four different countries were represented among the top-5 finishers last year

8 – Eight players who finished in the top-10 behind Ariya Jutanugarn last year return to the field again this year, including runner-up Christina Kim as well as Brooke Henderson and Jessica Korda who shared third place

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT DEFENDING CHAMPION ARIYA JUTANUGARN

In 11 starts in 2017, Jutanugarn has posted eight top-nine finishes, including three runner-ups (HSBC Women’s Champions, Bank of Hope Founders Cup, Citibanamex Lorena Ochoa Match Play presented by Aeromexico and Delta)

No. 3 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, and the top-ranked Thai player in the world

Led the Tour with five wins in 2016 and recorded 11 additional top-10 finishes

Last year, became the second player to win the Rolex Player of the Year, Race to the CME Globe and the LPGA Official Money Title in the same season, joining Lydia Ko (2015)

Won the 2016 RICOH Women’s British Open, becoming the first major champion (male or female) from Thailand

Won the 2016 Rolex Player of the Year by 20 points over Lydia Ko to become the second-youngest winner in the 50-year history of the award, trailing only Ko in 2015

Led the Tour in 2016 with 469 birdies and broke the all-time birdies in a season record previously set by Stacy Lewis in 2104 (451)

Had 55 rounds in the 60s in 2016 which broke the all-time LPGA record set by Lorena Ochoa in 2014 (51) 

WHO’S IN THE FIELD

Past LPGA Volvik Championship Winners (1):

Ariya Jutanugarn (2016) 

2017 Winners (6):

Brittany Lincicome (Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic), Anna Nordqvist (Bank of Hope Founders Cup), So Yeon Ryu (ANA Inspiration), Haru Nomura (Volunteers of America Texas Shootout Presented by JTBC), Sei Young Kim (Citibanamex Lorena Ochoa Match Play Presented by Aeromexico and Delta), Lexi Thompson (Kingsmill Championship Presented by JTBC)

MICHIGAN’S OWN

Two players in the field this week have Michigan ties.

Kris Tamulis, currently No. 165 in the Rolex Rankings, grew up in Lapeer, Michigan. Her parents, Walt and Carol, were in the golf business in The Great Lakes State before the family moved to Florida when she was 7-years-old. Tamulis has one career victory at the 2015 Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic - she missed the cut at last year’s Volvik Championship. 

Rolex Rankings No. 71 Jennifer Song is an Ann Arbor, Michigan native - her father worked at the University of Michigan. Her family moved to South Korea when she was 2 years old, but returned to Ann Arbor for a year-and-a-half when Jennifer was in the third grade. Song has two career top-10 finishes and posted a T16 result at Travis Pointe last season. 

ANN ARBOR IS LAP 12 OF RACE TO CME GLOBE

This week’s LPGA Volvik Championship will mark the 12th event in the season-long Race to CME Globe. Thanks to eight top-10 finishes in her seven starts in 2017 including a win at the ANA Inspiration, So Yeon Ryu is atop of the current standings with 1,605 points - 2016 Volvik Championship winner Ariya Jutanugarn is in second with 1,578 points.

In 2017, the reset points for the Race to the CME Globe will be modified slightly. As a result of these modifications:

• The top five finishers entering Naples will control their own destiny at the CME Group Tour Championship - meaning if they win in Naples, they 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 

ELEVEN WEEKS REMAIN FOR SOLHEIM HOPEFULS

The Solheim Cup will return to U.S. soil at Des Moines Golf & Country Club in West Des Moines, Iowa on Aug. 18-20, 2017. With just 11 LPGA events left for players to earn Solheim Cup points, the battle for a berth on Team USA will intensify given that points are worth double for major championships (KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, U.S. Women’s Open, RICOH Women’s British Open) and are increased by one-third during the year’s other LPGA tournaments. 

The increase in Solheim Cup points awarded, which determine eight of the 12 American golfers who make the team, means players can make big moves in a hurry by carding a top-20 or better finish in the remaining events. 

Juli Inkster will return as captain for the U.S. squad while LPGA and World Golf Hall of Famer Annika Sorenstam will lead the European team which will be looking to bring the cup back across the pond. 

As of May 22, Rolex Rankings No. 4 Lexi Thompson built on her commanding lead in the USA team standings with her win at the Kingsmill Championship - she now has 552 points. Following Thompson are No. 16 Stacy Lewis with 377.5 points and No. 13 Cristie Kerr, who sits in third with 338.5 points thanks in large part to her win at the LOTTE Championship Presented by HERSHEY and her five additional top-20 finishes (includes four top-7 finishes). 

CHANGING OF THE GUARD?

Lydia Ko has spent 83 consecutive weeks as the No. 1 player in the world after reclaiming the top spot in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings in October of 2015. However, Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn and World No. 2 and ANA Inspiration champion So Yeon Ryu of the Republic of Korea have emerged as clear challengers and could overtake Ko’s position at the world’s best female golfer in the near future. 

The average points differential between No. 1 Lydia Ko and No. 2 So Yeon Ryu is 0.13 points, and between Ko and No. 3 Ariya Jutanugarn is 0.21 points. 

A little over a year ago, Ariya was No. 51 and was looking for her first career win on the LPGA Tour. Since March 2016, Ariya has not finished outside of the top 60 in an event and has recorded 5 wins to position herself towards earning the top spot.

Ryu is riding a streak of 11 consecutive top-10 finishes dating back to last season and currently holds the longest active cuts made streak on the LPGA, making it to the weekend in 63 consecutive starts.

Jutanugarn had spent 35 consecutive weeks ranked as the No. 2 player in the world before being overtaken by Ryu in April. Jutanugarn took back the No. 2 spot for a week at the beginning of May, but Ryu has reclaimed it for the past two weeks and has been No. 2 for a total of seven weeks this season.