*All tee times are eastern.
Mi Hyang Lee, Lizette Salas, Michelle Wie
9:36 a.m. – 1st Tee
Mi Hyang Lee arrives at Tiburón Golf Club fresh off her fifth top-10 of the year at the Blue Bay LPGA. She weathered the windy conditions in Scotland to pick up her lone victory of the year, but with gusty weather forecasted for this week in Naples, Lee could be a factor come Sunday. She will play the opening round alongside Lizette Salas and Michelle Wie. Salas is coming off her best stretch of the season with five top-10s in her last six starts. She’s had mixed success at Tiburón Golf Club where she has failed to crack the top-10. Wie’s game has continued to trend upward since her return to the Tour following an emergency appendectomy in August. She’s coming off her best finish since her return with a tie for 16th at last week’s Blue Bay LPGA. This week, she makes her return to Naples for the first time since 2015 when she finished tie for 32nd. But in the first two years this event was staged at Tiburón, Wie finished tied for 5th and 11th.
Lydia Ko, Stacy Lewis, Anna Nordqvist
10:09 .am. – 1st Tee
For the first time since the Race to the CME Globe was launched in 2014, Lydia Ko is on the outside looking in at this year’s $1 million dollar prize. In 2014 and 2015, Ko took home the season’s top honors and the bonus. In 2016, Ko was one of the top-3 with a shot at winning the prize with a win on Sunday. But Ko struggled throughout the week and Ariya Jutanugarn took home the big prize. Ko enters this this week at No. 12 in the standings, but still with a mathematical chance of winning the Globe. She will play the opening round alongside Stacy Lewis and Anna Nordqvist. Lewis is looking to cap off an incredible season that saw her return to the winner’s circle for the first time since 2014 with her victory in Portland. She has consistently contended in Naples where she has three times finished in the top-15. Nordqvist has also enjoyed one of her strongest seasons on Tour with two victories including a major victory at the Evian Championship. But Nordqvist has struggled to contend at the CME Group Tour Championship where her best finish came back in 2013 in a tie for 21st.
Ariya Jutanugarn, Moriya Jutanugarn, Cristie Kerr
10:20 a.m. – 1st Tee
In 2016, Ariya Jutanugarn wrapped up a record-breaking season in Naples, capped off by the $1 million dollar payday. This year, Ariya sits at No. 9 in the Race to the CME Globe standings, but with a change to the reset points for this season, still has a shot at winning for the second consecutive year. While she’s struggled since reaching No. 1 in the world with her victory at the Manulife LPGA Classic, last week she picked up her best finish since June with a tie for 16th in China. She will play the first round alongside her sister, Moriya, who notched her second runner-up finish of the year last week in China. She sits at No. 8 in the Race to the CME Globe standings and would love nothing more than to cap off her career best season with a victory on Sunday. She has just once cracked the top-15 in Naples with a tie for 12th in 2014. Cristie Kerr, winner of the 2015 CME Group Tour Championship, is the third member of this group. She arrives in Naples well-rested after taking the past two weeks off following her third worldwide win of the season at the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia.
So Yeon Ryu, Brooke Henderson, In Gee Chun
10:31 a.m. – 1st Tee
So Yeon Ryu has played nearly flawless golf for the last year, with 10 top-10s this season including two victories. But Ryu arrives in Naples at less than 100 percent as she’s currently battling a shoulder injury that has hampered her practice for this week’s Championship. Perhaps Ryu will find comfort in the success she’s had at Tiburón where she has three top-10s, including a runner-up finish last year. Ryu sits in the top-5 at the point reset and is in position to win the $1 million dollar prize with a victory on Sunday. She will play Thursday’s round alongside Brooke Henderson and In Gee Chun. Henderson also sits in the top-5 with Ryu. Already a two-time winner this season, Henderson is making just her third appearance in Naples where she has never finished outside the top-25. Despite 10 top-10s this season, Chun, a two-time major champion, has yet to win this year. With victories the prior two seasons, Sunday will be her last chance to extend her winning streak. She’s making just her second appearance in Naples where she finished seventh last year.
Shanshan Feng, Sung Hyun Park, Lexi Thompson
10:42 a.m. – 1st Tee
Shanshan Feng is the hottest player on the planet right now. Feng won the last two events on the LPGA Tour to take over the world No. 1 ranking. She also sits in the top-5 in the Race to the CME Globe, giving her a shot at taking home the $1 million dollar bonus with a win on Sunday. Feng is already a three-time winner this season and a win in Naples would make Feng the only four-time winner of 2017. She’ll play alongside world No. 2 Sung Hyun Park, who she surpassed to take the top spot in the world rankings. Park is making her debut in Naples but has plenty to play for as she wraps up her first season on Tour. Park is in the hunt to sweep all the season’s biggest honors. She has already locked up the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year award and, with a solid performance in Naples, Park could also take home Player of the Year, Vare Trophy, the money title and the Race to the CME Globe. But to do so, Park will need to play better than the third member of their group, Lexi Thompson, who currently leads Park for Vare Trophy with the lowest scoring average on Tour. While Thompson is well rested after taking last week off, she hasn’t had much success in Naples, with just one top-10 in her last four appearances.
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