Manulife LPGA Classic - Field Breakdown

 Click here for the complete field at the 2017 Manulife LPGA Classic

Jutanugarn Top-Ranked Player in the Field

World No. 2 Ariya Jutanugarn returns to action this week at the Manulife LPGA Classic. Jutanugarn was projected to move to No. 1 in the world following last week’s ShopRite LPGA Classic, despite taking the week off. Due to an unforeseen bug in the projection tool, Jutanugarn remains in the No. 2 spot in the Rolex Women's World Golf Rankings. Current world No. 1 Lydia Ko is not in the field this week. Click here for the statement regarding last week's error in projections.

Jutanugarn played her way to the top of the world rankings with her consistency week after week on Tour, resulting in five victories in 2016. While she’s yet to follow that up with a win in 2017, Jutanugarn owns eight top-10s and posted just one finish outside the top-21 this season. This week, she makes her third start at the Manulife LPGA Classic where she missed the cut in 2015 but rebounded with a tie for fifth last season.

Like Jutanugarn, world No. 4 Lexi Thompson also opted out of last week’s ShopRite LPGA Classic. She returns to action this week at the Manulife LPGA Classic for the first time since 2013, when she missed the cut. She’s looking to get her game back on track after struggling to a tie for 65th in her last start at the Volvik LPGA Championship, her worst finish of 2017.

World No. 5 In Gee Chun and No. 6 Shanshan Feng round out the top-10 in the Rolex Rankings teeing it up this week in Canada.

Canadian Takeover  

Fans attending the Manulife LPGA Classic will have plenty of hometown players to root for with 13 Canadians in the field. World No. 15 Brooke Henderson, a three-time winner on Tour and major champion, headlines the Canadians returning home for this week’s event. Also in the field is Alena Sharp, who represented Canada in the Olympic games in Rio alongside Henderson, as well as Lorie Kane, Jaclyn Lee, Jennifer Ha, Augusta James, Maude-Aimee Leblanc and Samantha Richdale. The tournament also extended invitations to several other Canadians this week including Jennifer Kirby, Brittany Marchand and Vivian Tsui, as well as amateurs Grace St. Germain and Maddie Szeryk.

Welcome Back 

Three former champions of the Manulife LPGA Classic return to the field this week, including defending champion Caroline Masson, 2015 winner Suzann Pettersen and 2012 champion Brittany Lang, the reigning U.S. Women’s Open champion. Lang has consistently played well in Canada, notching a second place finish in 2015 followed by a tie for 16^th last season. Canada has treated Pettersen just as well, where she has only once finished outside the top-8. She’s put herself in contention the last several weeks with three top-10s in her last five starts. Masson broke through for her first win on the LPGA Tour at the 2016 playing of the Manulife LPGA Classic but has struggled to continue that momentum, she has just two top-10s since her victory last year.

Win No. 2?

Five players who have already won this season are in the field this week looking to become the first in 2017 to win for a second time. Through the first 13 events of the year, there hasn’t been a multiple winner on Tour. By this same point in the schedule of the 2016 season, Ariya Jutanugarn, Lydia Ko and Haru Nomura had each won multiple times.