LPGA TOUR SEASON CONTINUES AT LPGA KEB HANA BANK CHAMPIONSHIP

A star-studded field boasting the world’s best female golfers gathers in the Republic of Korea this week for the 2017 LPGA KEB Hana Bank Championship. Each of the top 10 players in the Rolex Rankings, and 18 of the top 20, will be competing on the Ocean Course at SKY72 Golf & Resort in Incheon, in the 28th event of the 2017 LPGA Tour season.

The field is headlined by World No. 1 So Yeon Ryu, who clinched the second major title of her career at the ANA Inspiration in April, World No. 2 Sung Hyun Park, runaway leader in the race for the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year award, and World No. 3 Lexi Thompson, a two-time champion on the LPGA Tour this season who won the 2015 LPGA KEB Hana Bank Championship with a 15-under-par total, a tournament record low for 72 holes.

This marks the 10th time that the only LPGA Tour event in Korea will be played on the Ocean Course at SKY72 Golf & Resort. The first came in 2008, when Candie Kung triumphed by one stroke over Katherine Hull to clinch the fourth LPGA Tour title of her career. Kung is one of five past champions in the field this week, along with Suzann Pettersen, who won the tournament in 2007 and also in 2012.

After the LPGA KEB Hana Bank Championship, the LPGA Tour will remain in Asia for a further four consecutive weeks with stops in Chinese Taipei, Malaysia, Japan and China before heading back to the United States of America for the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship in Naples, Fla.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE LPGA KEB HANA BANK CHAMPIONSHIP

The tournament was first held in 2002 and hosted by The Club at Nine Bridges on Jeju Island where LPGA and World Golf Halls of Fame member Se Ri Pak won the inaugural title
For the first 12 editions, the event was played over 54 holes before being increased to 72 holes in 2014 when Q Baek triumphed in a playoff with Brittany Lincicome and In Gee Chun, sealing victory with a birdie on the first extra hole
The Club at Nine Bridges was the tournament venue from 2002-2005, then Mauna Ocean Golf & Resort played host in 2006 and 2007 before the Ocean Course at SKY72 Golf & Resort took over in 2008
Only two players have won the tournament twice, Suzann Pettersen (2007 and 2012) and Na Yeon Choi (2009 and 2010)

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT 2016 CHAMPION CARLOTA CIGANDA

In 18 starts on the 2017 LPGA Tour, Ciganda has recorded five top-10s with a best finish of tied for fourth at the Aberdeen Asset Management Ladies Scottish Open in July
Currently No. 21 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, she is a two-time winner on the LPGA Tour and and a three-time champion on the Ladies European Tour
Ciganda won last year’s LPGA KEB Hana Bank Championship in a playoff, edging out Alison Lee with a birdie on the first extra hole

WHO’S IN THE FIELD

Past LPGA KEB Hana Bank Championship Winners (5):

Suzann Pettersen (2007 and 2012), Candie Kung (2008), Amy Yang (2013), Lexi Thompson (2015), Carlota Ciganda (2016)

2017 LPGA Winners (18):

Brittany Lincicome (Pure Silk Bahamas LPGA Classic), Ha Na Jang (ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open), Amy Yang (Honda LPGA Thailand), Anna Nordqvist (Bank of Hope Founders Cup, The Evian Championship), Mirim Lee (Kia Classic), So Yeon Ryu (ANA Inspiration, Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G), Cristie Kerr (LOTTE Championship presented by Hershey), Haru Nomura (Volunteers of America Texas Shootout presented by JTBC), Sei Young Kim (Citibanamex Lorena Ochoa Match Play presented by Aeromexico and Delta), Lexi Thompson (Kingsmill Championship presented by JTBC, Indy Women in Tech Championship presented by Guggenheim), Shanshan Feng (LPGA Volvik Championship), In-Kyung Kim (ShopRite LPGA Classic presented by Acer, Marathon Classic presented by Owens Corning and O-I, Ricoh Women’s British Open), Ariya Jutanugarn (Manulife LPGA Classic), Brooke Henderson (Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give, MCKAYSON New Zealand Women’s Open), Danielle Kang (KPMG Women’s PGA Championship), Katherine Kirk (Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic), Sung Hyun Park (U.S. Women’s Open Championship, CP Women’s Open), Mi Hyang Lee (Aberdeen Asset Management Ladies Scottish Open)

WIE BACK IN ACTION

Michelle Wie returns to LPGA Tour action this week, having missed the past four events after undergoing an emergency appendectomy in Canada on Aug. 27. Wie was six shots off the lead before she had to withdraw from the final round of the CP Women’s Open in Ottawa where she was admitted to a nearby hospital to have her appendix removed.

The 2014 U.S. Women’s Open champion, who is a fan favorite wherever she competes, plans to play in the final six LPGA Tour events of the season, starting with five consecutive weeks in Asia before she concludes her campaign at the CME Group Tour Championship in Naples, Fla.

CONFIDENCE BOOST FOR TRIUMPHANT HENDERSON

Brooke Henderson heads into the LPGA Tour’s Asian swing fresh from her second win of the season, a five-stroke victory at the MCKAYSON New Zealand Women’s Open earlier this month after having to contend with wind-swept, rainy conditions in the last two rounds.

“It gives me a lot of confidence going forward with the British Open and things like that knowing that I can play well on links golf courses, and especially in terrible conditions,” said Henderson, who is the only LPGA Tour player with multiple victories in both 2016 and 2017. “My season has been a little bit up and down and I am so happy to win this.”

KOREA BY THE NUMBERS

Home to 27 active LPGA Tour players, Korea boasts the largest number of international players on the Tour. (Thailand comes in at a distant second with 13 active LPGA players.) Among the 27 active Korean players, 23 have secured at last one LPGA Tour win.

Korea has four players among the top 10 in the Rolex Rankings: So Yeon Ryu (No. 1), Sung Hyun Park (No. 2), In Gee Chun (No. 5) and In-Kyung Kim (No. 8).

FINAL STRETCH IN THE RACE TO THE CME GLOBE

This week’s LPGA KEB Hana Bank Championship is the 28th event in the season-long Race to the CME Globe. World No. 3 Lexi Thompson currently leads the standings with 3,221 points, followed by World No. 1 So Yeon Ryu (2,691 points), World No. 2 Sung Hyun Park (2,619 points) and World No. 10 Brooke Henderson (2,546 points).

Players are still battling to make it into the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship, where the top-72 LPGA members (plus ties) in the Race to the CME Globe points standings, ranked in the order of their position in the standings at the conclusion of the Blue Bay LPGA, make up the field at the LPGA’s season finale which features the largest purse amongst non-majors, at $2.5 million.

For this year, the reset points for the Race to the CME Globe have been modified slightly. As a result of these modifications:

The top five finishers entering Naples will control their own destiny at the CME Group Tour Championship.
If a player in the top five wins in Naples, she will also win the $1M CME Globe
The top 12 finishers entering Naples will have a mathematical chance to win the $1M CME Globe
Previously, the top three controlled their destiny and the top nine had a mathematical chance to win

CME GROUP CARES WEEKENDS EAGLES UPDATE AFTER THE MCKAYSON NEW ZEALAND WOMEN’S OPEN

CME Group Cares Weekend is a season-long charitable giving program that turns eagles into donations. For each eagle recorded during weekend play (Saturday and Sunday) throughout the 2017 LPGA Tour season, CME Group donates $1,000 to the program’s total donation count. The money raised will go towards a charitable pool and be split evenly between Wounded Warrior Project® and Bright Pink®.

Players scored seven eagles over the weekend at the 2017 MCKAYSON New Zealand Women’s Open, raising another $7,000 for charity. This brings the total to 251 eagles on the year, which translates to $251,000 raised.

LPGA KEB Hana Bank Championship Storylines

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