OH-IO

The clock is winding down on the LPGA’s 12-week summer stretch, and this week the Tour makes its annual stop in Sylvania, Ohio, for the Marathon Classic Presented by Owens Corning and O-I. The 144-player field includes six of the top 10 players in the world, highlighted by top-ranked American No. 3 Lexi Thompson, defending champion No. 4 Lydia Ko and the newly crowned U.S. Women’s Open champion and World No. 5 Sung Hyun Park. This week marks the 20th tournament of what has been an exciting 2017 LPGA season, which has seen two Rolex First-Time Winners along with 19 different tournament winners.

At the 2016 Marathon Classic Presented by Owens Corning and O-I, Ko needed four extra holes to defeat Mirim Lee and Ariya Jutanugarn to pick up her fourth win of the season. Then-World No. 1 Ko shot a final-round, 2-under-par 69 to pick up her 14th LPGA Tour victory.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE MARATHON CLASSIC

1 - Se Ri Pak is the only back-to-back winner of this event; she won in 1998 and 1999

5 - Se Ri Pak won this event a record five times (2007, 2003, 2001, 1999, 1998)

6 - Six of the last 10 winners of the Marathon Classic have been from the Republic of Korea

9 - Countries represented by past champions: New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Spain, USA, Australia, Sweden, Scotland, Canada and England

10 - Playoffs in the history of the event; the most recent came in 2016, where Lydia Ko beat Mirim Lee and Ariya Jutanugarn with a birdie on the fourth extra hole

13 - Times players from America have won this event, most recently Paula Creamer in 2008

23 - Se Ri Pak set the tournament scoring record of 23-under par 261 in 1998

60 - Paula Creamer owns the lowest round in tournament history with a 12-under-par 60 in the first round in 2008

1984 - This event began in 1984 but was not conducted in 2011

DEFENDING CHAMPION LYDIA KO AT THE MARATHON CLASSIC

World No. 4 Lydia Ko’s last victory came at the 2016 Marathon Classic Presented by Owens Corning and O-I after a four-hole playoff, where Ko outlasted Ariya Jutanugarn and Mirim Lee for her 14th career win

This season, Ko’s best finish is a runner-up finish at the LOTTE Championship Presented by HERSHEY
Ko has finished inside the top-10 seven times in 14 starts this season

KO AT THE MARATHON CLASSIC

Year	Scores	Finish
2016	68-66-67-69–270 (-14)	WIN
2015	71-66-67-67–271 (-13)	T3
2014	67-67-70-65–269 (-15)	WIN
2013*	69-67-71-68–275 (-9)	T7

*Received a sponsor exemption in 2013

OHIO IS LAP 20 OF RACE TO CME GLOBE

This week’s Marathon Classic Presented by Owens Corning and O-I will mark the 20th event in the season-long Race to CME Globe. World No. 1 and two-time season winner So Yeon Ryu holds a narrow lead in the current Race to the CME Globe standings with 2,504 points. Top-ranked American and 2017 Kingsmill champion Lexi Thompson is close behind with 2,254 points, and she is followed closely by reigning Race to the CME Globe winner Ariya Jutanugarn (2,177).

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
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
Please note that previously, the top three controlled their destiny and top nine had a mathematical chance

DOWN TO THE WIRE FOR SOLHEIM

Only three tournaments remain before the 2017 Solheim Cup returns to U.S. soil at Des Moines Golf & Country Club in West Des Moines, Iowa, on Aug. 18-20, 2017. The U.S. leads Europe, 9-5, in Solheim Cup competition following their historic comeback win in September 2015 at St. Leon-Rot Golf Club in Germany. The Americans trailed 10-6 heading into Sunday’s singles matches and overcame the largest deficit in the event’s history to win by a score of 14½ to 13½, the closest in the Cup history.

As of the July 10 standings, World No. 3 Lexi Thompson is way ahead of the pack, leading the USA team standings with 657 points thanks to her win at the Kingsmill Championship and her five additional top-four finishes on the year. World No. 18 Stacy Lewis is the next closest competitor with 452.5 points, thanks to her four top-seven finishes on the year, followed by Gerina Piller with 379 points.

Top Storylines Marathon Classic presented by Owens Corning and O-I

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