U.S. Presidents are often gauged by their performance during the first 100 days in office, establishing an early track record for their four-year term. In similar fashion this week, let’s examine the 2017 LPGA season by looking at the first 10 tournaments of the season and where much of the season-long competition stands:
- Top player: One big win and a consistent record this season have led So Yeon Ryu to the top of the standings in the Race to the CME Globe, Rolex Player of the Year, Earnings ($885,456), Scoring (68.571) and Greens in Regulation (81.5 percent). Ryu is 7-for-7 in top-10 finishes this season (all in the top nine), including a victory at the first major, the ANA Inspiration, and two runner-ups. She finished 2016 with three consecutive top-10s, creating 10 contending tournaments in a row (including seven top-fives).
- Race to the CME Globe: Ryu holds the lead currently but it’s quite early. In its three-year history, winners have averaged 4.3 wins and 17 top-10s in a season.
- Rolex Player of the Year: Brittany Lincicome took the lead in the first week, followed by Ha Na Jang, before Ryu’s consistency gained a hold on the top spot.
- Rolex Women’s World Rankings: Lydia Ko has been No. 1 for 81 consecutive weeks, but Ariya Jutanugarn and So Yeon Ryu have been threatening over the past couple weeks. Ryu reached a career-best No. 2 before Jutanugarn was the runner-up in Mexico last week to jump back to No. 2.
- Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year: Sung Hyun Park, age 23, holds a large lead in the Rookie standings thanks to three top-fives and no finish lower than a T23. But two others are lurking – teenagers Angel Yin of California (consecutive top-fives) and Nelly Korda of Florida (season-best T5 and four eagles so far), who are both age 18.
- Scoring: Ryu has scored under par in 24 of her 28 rounds this season for her 68.5 average on a very competitive landscape. In 2016, through 10 events, only four players had scoring averages below 70. This season, there are 14 players averaging less than 70.
- Driving Distance: France’s Joanna Klatten has a stranglehold on this category, finishing first in 2015 and 2016 and averaging a LPGA-best 279.2 yards currently.
- Driving Accuracy: Natalie Guibis leads at 89.2 percent, but that may be a bit of a misnomer early this season as she has played twice and missed both cuts. Mo Martin, who has led this category the last four seasons, is fourth at 86.2 percent.
- Putting: Stephanie Meadow leads the LPGA at 27.42 putts per round. This category has varied wildly over the last few years as top players such as Lydia Ko (2016) and Inbee Park (2012) led at season’s end, but in other recent years the leaders were far from winning.
- Birdies: Ariya Jutanugarn is a birdie machine. She made a record 469 birdies in 2016 and may top that this year. Currently, she has made 157 birdies – 16 more than Stacy Lewis – and is currently on track to threaten the 500-birdie barrier this year.
- Wins: There have been 10 winners in 10 weeks and all of them were multiple winners before winning this season. So, experience is a key so far in 2017.
- Age: The average age of the 10 winners thus far is 27.8. The oldest is Cristie Kerr (39) and the youngest Sei Young Kim (24). The only winners age 30-plus are both Americans (Kerr and Brittany Lincicome, 31). In 2016, 24 tournaments were won by players age 23 or younger.
- Aces: Moriya Jutanugarn has already made two, within a month, at the Kia Classic and Volunteers of America Texas Shootout. The last player to make more than two aces in a season was Danielle Kang (3) in 2014.
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