ROLEX PLAYER OF THE YEAR RACE RAGES ON

Lydia Ko could have shut the door here at the Lorena Ochoa Invitational on the Rolex Player of the Year race but Ko withdrew in advance, citing fatigue after a busy four-week stretch in Asia. And now the door is open for Inbee Park after Ko nearly had it shut with her win at the FUBON Taiwan LPGA Championship is back wide open for Inbee Park to make it a race at the end-of-season CME Group Tour Championship next week in Naples, Fla.

With a 33-point lead currently, Ko will undoubtedly hold the top spot in the Rolex Player of the Year standings, but Park with an 8th or better here will at least have a shot heading into Naples. But the last time Park teed it up, she had to withdraw from the LPGA FUBON Taiwan Championship after the second round due to a cyst on her finger, and Ko’s certainly stole the show in the latter half of the year after Park went on a torrid Summer tear of two major championship wins. But her last five since that win at the British, with the best being a tie for 8th, have allowed Ko to regain control of all of the major season-ending races with only two events left on the schedule.

Ko won the Race to the CME Globe and Stacy Lewis swept the Rolex Player of the Year, Vare Trophy and money list so without a surge in the final two weeks, Park might come up empty two years in a row despite two incredible years.

TOP NINE OR BUST

With only one event separating the LPGA Tour from the season finale in Naples and the $1 million prize, it’s crunchtime for getting inside the top nine. Anyone outside of the top nine in the Race to the CME Globe standings will get the opportunity to play for a $500,00 first prize but the $1 million check for the Race to the CME Globe is out of their reach. Here’s the top nine as it stands now heading into the Lorena Ochoa Invitational Presented by Banamex & JTBC.

1) Lydia Ko 4913
2) Inbee Park 3944
3) Stacy Lewis 3510
4) Sei Young Kim 3167
5) Lexi Thompson 2827
6) Amy Yang 2335
7) So Yeon Ryu 2306
8) Anna Nordqvist 2073
9) Shanshan Feng 1994

Bold denotes in the field this week

Nordqvist and Feng aren’t in the field this week in Mexico and either are Hyo Joo Kim and Ha Na Jang who are currently 10th and 11^th. That leaves Feng as the only player vulnerable of dropping out of the top nine with five players on her heels with a chance to bump her out depending on their finishes this week. Minjee Lee, Cristie Kerr, Na Yeon Choi, Brittany Lincicome, and Suzann Pettersen. Lee and Kerr can pass Feng with a runner-up finish or win, the other three need wins to get into the top nine.

12) Minjee Lee 1726
13) Cristie Kerr 1719
14) Na Yeon Choi 1626
15) Brittany Lincicome 1623
16) Suzann Pettersen 1619

CHRISTINA KIM RETURNS WITHOUT HER SOMBRERO

Christina Kim’s backwards Kangol hat, her trademark look, was gone on the 18th green here a year ago. In its place? A sombrero.

It became one of the most memorable winner’s images from a year ago - Kim with the world’s biggest cheesing grin, the Lorena Ochoa Invitational trophy cradled in her grasp, and Ochoa alongside her enjoying her old friend’s moment.

It had been a long road to that day for Kim. Nine years and three days to be exact. Kim led entering the final day that Sunday but looked like she was heading for a heartbreaking Sunday after Shanshan Feng stormed back from five down to force a playoff. But Kim made par at the last and one of golf’s best redemption stories of the year had been written with the star character there in the sombrero.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR IN THE FIELD

The 2015 Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year winner Sei Young Kim is in the field this week. Kim clinched the award with two events left on the schedule after Hyo Joo Kim failed to win the TOTO Japan Classic last week. However, there’s a lot more on the line this week for Kim than just a regular tournament stop. Kim’s looking to supplant Stacy Lewis in the top three in the Race to the CME Globe standings.

That’s important because although the top nine all have a shot at the $1 million check given to the winner of the
season-long points race, only the top three control their own destiny in Naples. Kim will need a win this week to supplant Lewis, who is not in the field.

LEGENDARY HOST

Lorena Ochoa, a legend on the LPGA Tour who spent 157 consecutive weeks at No. 1 before retiring in 2010, will be hosting the Lorena Ochoa Invitational for the eighth time this year. The first six editions of the tournament took place in Guadalajara with the latest two being held in Mexico City.

NUMBERS TO KNOW

33 – Points Inbee Park trails Lydia Ko in the Rolex Player of the Year race

5 - Five different players could make their way into the top nine that guarantee themselves a mathematical chance of winning the $1 million Race to the CME Globe when the points reset in advance of the CME Group Tour Championship.

8 – Inbee Park must finish 8th or better to have a mathematical shot of winning Rolex Player of the Year honors next week at the CME Group Tour Championship.

8 - Inbee Park has top-15 finishes in four of her last five events, but her best finish is a tie for eighth since winning the RICOH Women’s British Open three months ago.

Lorena Ochoa Invitational Presented by Banamex and JTBC Top Storylines

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