With 54% of the fan vote, Inbee Park, the No. 1 seed in the LPGA Player of the Decade bracket, advanced past No. 4 Lydia Ko to the final matchup of the bracket. While the votes received by each player remained close on both Instagram and Facebook, Park’s overwhelming support on Twitter lifted her ahead of Ko. The LPGA Tour Hall of Famer will face No. 14 Brooke Henderson, who pulled off another upset to pull ahead of No. 2 Yani Tseng and into the final matchup with 51% of the fan votes. Tseng received strong fan support on both Instagram and Facebook, but Henderson’s overwhelming fan following on Twitter was the difference maker in the Canadian advancing to the finals.
The matchup between Park and Henderson is one that celebrates the best of the LPGA Tour in achievement and fan support. By the time Henderson joined the Tour in 2015, Park won 15 times during the decade. She’d add three more victories to that total to lift her to 18, including six major championships, between 2010 and 2019. But Henderson has quickly played catch up, racking up nine victories including her first major victory to earn a place in the conversation for LPGA Player of the Decade. Park owns the record as the youngest player to qualify for the LPGA Tour Hall of Fame at age 27. While the 22-year-old Henderson remains well shy of qualifying for the Hall, she is the winningest Canadian golfer of all time with nine victories to date. Park took home the gold medal at the Olympic Games in Rio, where Henderson finished seventh, and the Korean has held the No. 1 spot in the Rolex Rankings for a combined 106 weeks, a position that Henderson has yet to hold. But while Henderson trails Park in career achievement she makes up for it in fan support, shown by her three upsets to advance as the No. 14 seed to the final matchup of the LPGA Player of the Decade.
Cast your vote for the final matchup beginning Jan. 6 at noon Eastern Time. Polls close Jan. 8 at noon Eastern Time. Cast your vote on any of the LPGA’s social channels. The player selected by fans as the LPGA Player of the Decade will be announced Jan. 10.