GOLF’S FIRST MAJOR CHAMPIONSHIP OF 2017

This week, major championship golf will return to the California desert at the famed Dinah Shore Course at Mission Hills Country Club for the 46th staging of the ANA Inspiration. The 108-player field includes all of the top-80 players in the world and all six winners from this season competing for a $2.7 million purse and the chance to hoist the Dinah Shore Trophy and make the leap into Poppie’s Pond at week’s end.

In 2016, World No. 1 Lydia Ko birdied the 72nd hole to get to 12-under par and finish one shot ahead of Charley Hull and In Gee Chun for her second consecutive win and second consecutive major championship. Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn looked prime to capture her first career win, but bogeyed her final three holes to finish fourth at 10-under par.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE ANA INSPIRATION

3 – All Nippon Airways is in its third year as the title sponsor of this event
2 – The event is the second-oldest golf tournament continuously held at the same course
10 – Defending champion Lydia Ko is one of ten past champions in the field
3 – Three players in the field have won this event multiple times (Brittany Lincicome - 2015, 2009; Karrie Webb - 2006, 2000; Juli Inkster - 1989, 1984)
1 – Annika Sorenstam is the only player to successfully defend her ANA Inspiration title (2001-2002)
62 – Tournament-low score (-10), shot by Lorena Ochoa in the first round in 2006
269 – Tournament record 19-under 72-hole score set by Dottie Pepper in 1999
11 – Karrie Webb has 11 top-10 finishes at the ANA Inspiration, the most all-time

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT DEFENDING CHAMPION LYDIA KO

No. 1 in the Women’s World Golf Rankings, a spot she has held for 75 consecutive weeks
14-time LPGA winner, five-time Ladies European Tour winner, one-time KLPGA winner
2014 Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year, the youngest winner in Tour history
2015 Rolex Player of the Year, the youngest winner in Tour history
Two major victories at the 2015 Evian Championship and 2016 ANA Inspiration
At 18 years, 11 months and 9 days, she is the second-youngest player, male or female, to win two majors, behind
only Young Tom Morris
Silver medalist at the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro where she represented New Zealand
So far in 2017, she has five starts, with three top-10 finishes
Last week, Ko missed just the second cut of her career as the defending champion at the Kia Classic

MISSION HILLS IS LAP SEVEN OF RACE TO CME GLOBE

This week’s ANA Inspiration will mark the seventh event in the season-long Race to CME Globe. With four finishes inside the top-8, including two runner-ups, Ariya Jutanugarn is the early leader in the Race to CME Globe with 949 points.

In 2017, the reset points for the Race to the CME Globe will be 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, meaning if they win in Naples, they will also win the $1M CME Globe.
The top 12 finishers entering Naples will have a mathematical chance to win the $1M CME Globe.
Please note that previously, the top three controlled their destiny and top nine had a mathematical chance

DOUBLE THE STAKES

The Solheim Cup will return to U.S. soil at Des Moines Golf & Country Club in West Des Moines, Iowa on Aug. 18-20, 2017. With just five months to go, the battle for a berth on Team USA will intensify given that Solheim Cup points are worth double for each of the five majors (ANA Inspiration, KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, U.S. Women’s Open, RICOH Women’s British Open and The Evian Championship).

Throughout the 2017 LPGA season, Solheim Cup points, which determine eight of the 12 American golfers who make the team, will double and increase by one-third during the year’s other LPGA tournaments. The increase in awarded points means players can make big moves in a hurry by carding a top-20 finish this week at the season’s first major.

Juli Inkster will return as captain for the U.S. squad while LPGA and World Golf Hall of Famer Annika Sorenstam will lead the European team, who will be looking to bring the cup back across the pond.

As of March 27th, Rolex Rankings No. 9 Lexi Thompson leads the USA team standings with 424.4 points, followed by No. 15 Stacy Lewis with 347.5 points and No. 17 Gerina Piller with 313 thanks to her T4 finish at the Kia Classic.

WORLD NO. 1 ON HIGH ALERT

Lydia Ko has spent 75 consecutive weeks as the No. 1 player in the world after reclaiming the top spot in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings in October of 2015. However, Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn has emerged as a clear challenger and could overtake Ko’s position at the world’s best female golfer in the near future.

Jutanugarn has spent 35 consecutive weeks ranked as the No. 2 player in the world. A year ago, Jutanugarn was No. 51 and was looking for her first career win on the LPGA Tour. Since March 2016, she has not finished outside of the top 60 in an event and has recorded 5 wins to position herself towards earning the top spot.

Seven months ago, the average points differential between No. 1 and No. 2 in the world was 6.57 points. This week, the difference is now 1.33 average points.

Top Two Players (Since 2016 RICOH Women’s British Open)

Lydia Ko Ariya Jutanugarn

Starts 14 16

Wins 0 2

Top-10s 6 12

RAMA DRAMA STARTS AT ANA

The Rolex ANNIKA Major Award was established in 2014 to recognize the player who, during a current LPGA Tour season, has the most outstanding Major Championship record.

Points for the award are awarded as followed:

A Player must win a Major Championship to be eligible for the award
Points will be awarded to all Players who finish in the top 10 and ties at all five Major Championships (ANA Inspiration, KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, US Women’s Open conducted by the USGA, RICOH Women’s British Open, The Evian Championship)
Previous Winners: Michelle Wie (2014), Inbee Park (2015), Lydia Ko (2016)

LUCY LI WINS ANA JUNIOR INSPIRATION

Fourteen-year-old Lucy Li won the AJGA’s ANA Junior Inspiration on Sunday at Mission Hills Country Club to earn the final spot in the field of the LPGA’s first major championship of the season.

Li, who made history in 2014 by becoming the youngest player to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Open (age 11), is one of six amateurs set to play in the 46th edition of the ANA Inspiration. She shot 3-under-par 213 across 54 holes (36 on the Pete Dye Resort Course, 18 on the Dinah Shore Tournament Course) to win by four shots over three players.

Thanks to a new partnership with the AJGA, the ANA Junior Inspiration became a fully sanctioned 54-hole invitational at Mission Hills Country Club this year. The ANA Junior Inspiration is also the only AJGA event in which an amateur can qualify to play in a Major by winning.

CALIFORNIA GIRLS

There are 30 active LPGA Tour pros who were either born or currently reside in California, the second most of any state behind Florida (38). At the collegiate level, 31 active Tour members have attended California schools - 11 active Tour members attended UCLA, the most of any school followed by the University of Southern California with eight.

KIA CLASSIC WINNER LOOKING FOR A MAJOR BREAKTHROUGH

Mirim Lee, who coasted to a six-shot win at last week’s Kia Classic, got off to a strong start in the majors in 2016. The World No. 14 opened with an 8-under-par 64 at the 2016 U.S. Women’s Open and followed that with a 10-under-par 62 later that same month in the first round at the RICOH Women’s British Open.

While she wasn’t able to hold on for either win, she finished in the top 11 in both events and has notched three more top 10s in majors during her three years on Tour. Lee’s best finish at the ANA Inspiration is T11 in 2014.

OUTSIDE THE ROPES

INSPIRING WOMEN

Billie Jean King, tennis great and one of the 20th century’s most respected and influential people, will headline the second-annual ANA Inspiring Women in Sports conference.

The conference will take place Tuesday, March 28, from approximately 1-4 p.m. PST at Mission Hills Country Club.

King, a sports icon and social justice pioneer who became the first female athlete to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, will deliver the keynote address followed by a question-and-answer session with conference emcee Julie Foudy. Other participants include former World No. 1 tennis star Maria Sharapova, three-time Olympic gold medal winning gymnast Aly Raisman, 2014 ANA Inspiration champion Lexi Thompson, ESPN’s SportsCenter anchor Cari Champion and U.S. women’s softball team gold medalist and ESPN’s Sunday night baseball analyst Jessica Mendoza.

The entire event will be streamed live online on the LPGA’s Facebook page.

A TOAST TO AN ALL-TIME GREAT

The World Golf Hall of Fame and the LPGA will host a special press conference and celebratory toast for 2017 Inductee Meg Mallon on Tuesday, March 28 at 4:30 p.m. PST inside the ANA Inspiration Media Center.

Mallon will be joined by World Golf Hall of Fame President Jack Peter and LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan, who will discuss her career merits and answer questions about the Induction Ceremony.

It was announced late last year that Mallon would be enshrined into the World Golf Hall of Fame during the 2017 Induction Ceremony, the week of the Presidents Cup in New York on September 26, alongside Davis Love III, Lorena Ochoa, Ian Woosnam and the late Henry Longhurst. Mallon’s 18-career LPGA Tour victories and four Major Championships are just part of her winning make-up. A member of eight Solheim Cup teams as a player (she was captain in 2013), Mallon was recognized during the LPGA’s 50th Anniversary as one of the LPGA’s top-50 players and

Jutanugarn Chases Top Ranking and More Storylines from ANA Inspiration

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