GOLF’S FIRST MAJOR

Major championship golf returns to the California desert this week at the famed Dinah Shore Course at Mission Hills Country Club for the 47th staging of the ANA Inspiration. The 117-player field includes 43 of the top 50 players in the world and all six winners from this season, competing for a $2.8 million purse and the chance to hoist the Dinah Shore Trophy and make the leap into Poppie’s Pond at week’s end. The ANA Inspiration marks the third week in the LPGA’s six-tournament West-Coast swing, which Golf Channel is airing LIVE in primetime.

At the dramatic 2017 ANA Inspiration, Lexi Thompson was leading on the final day before she was assessed a four-stroke penalty for a rules violation. Thompson fought back to force a playoff with So Yeon Ryu, where Ryu came out on top with a birdie on the first playoff hole, the par-5 18th, to win her second major championship and capture her first victory on Tour since 2014.

All 10 of the top 10 players in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings are competing this week: Shanshan Feng, Lexi Thompson, So Yeon Ryu, Sung Hyun Park, In-Kyung Kim, Anna Nordqvist, Cristie Kerr, Ariya Jutanugarn, Inbee Park and Hyejin Choi.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT DEFENDING CHAMPION SO YEON RYU

In 2017, So Yeon Ryu won multiple times in a season for the first time in her career and posted 12 top-10 finishes en route to sharing Rolex Player of the Year honors with Sung Hyun Park (the first time two players tied for Rolex Player of the Year in the 51-year history of the award)

Ryu won the 2017 Rolex ANNIKA Major Award thanks to a victory at the ANA Inspiration, her second career major title, and a tie for third at the U.S. Women’s Open

She reached the No. 1 spot in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings on June 26, 2017, following her win at the 2017 Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G; she held the No. 1 spot for 19 weeks

In 2018, Ryu has made five cuts in five starts with a season-best T7 showing at the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open, her lone top-10 finish of the season

Ryu has made eight career starts at the ANA Inspiration, making the cut in every appearance and earning four top-20 finishes, including her 2017 victory; Annika Sorenstam is the only player in the history of the ANA Inspiration to have successfully defended her title when she won in 2001 and 2002

Ryu was welcomed back to Rancho Mirage on Monday at the annual past champion’s dinner, but it was when she walked by Poppie’s Pond and saw her name written on the ‘Walk of Champions’ bridge that really brought the emotions out.

“I saw it yesterday, and I was really overwhelmed,” Ryu said. “I started to shake my hands and I just couldn’t really explain how I feel. But it’s really great to see my name alongside a lot of great players. Then hopefully I can do it again and put my name on the bridge again.”

As for the jump into Poppie’s Pond, Ryu said she’s better prepared for it this year: “My first expression was, wow, it’s cold. But at the same time I don’t mind to do it like a hundred times more.”

A FIRST FOR WIE

This week, Rolex Rankings No. 13 Michelle Wie will do something she has never done before in 13 career starts at the ANA Inspiration – she’ll play in the major championship having already won an event on the year after capturing her fifth career LPGA victory at the HSBC Women’s World Championship in March.

She also comes into the week pain-free, something that has allowed her to play quality golf so far in 2018. Along with her win, Wie has made the cut in all five of her starts this season and hasn’t finished worse than T32. Hours of time spent on the putting green have also helped her jump from 43rd on Tour in putting average last season to ninth this year (29.00 putts per round).

“I had a great off-season,” the 28-year-old said. “I felt really healthy, felt rejuvenated. I think the six weeks off last season kind of felt like the off-season wasn’t really a season. I wasn’t ready to truly let go. So I felt like I had a really productive off-season. I just feel energized for this season.”

Wie has six career top-10 finishes at the ANA Inspiration, including a runner-up result in 2014, where she came up three strokes shy of fellow American Lexi Thompson. She went on to score her third career win in her next start at the 2014 LPGA LOTTE Championship presented by J Golf.

LENGTH A STRENGTH FOR HENDERSON

Rolex Rankings No. 14 Brooke Henderson hopes to use her power off the tee (she ranks 13th on Tour with a driving average of 268.39 yards) as an advantage this week at Mission Hills, a venue that has been historically kind to longer hitters.

“Brittany Lincicome, Lexi (Thompson), they hit it a really long way, and they’ve won here or been close the last ten years very often, so there is something to that,” Henderson said. “I think it’s so they can reach the par 5s a little bit easier. I think if you can birdie all the par 5s every single day, you’re going to put yourself in a good position.”

At age 20, the five-time LPGA champion has already competed in the ANA Inspiration three times in her career, with her best finish coming in 2016 (T10).

LINCICOME HAS CHANCE TO MAKE HISTORY

Where is Brittany Lincicome ranked? Where does she stand in the Race to the CME Globe? Don’t ask Brittany.

Lincicome pays no attention to where she ranks in any statistical categories or any award standings, which is No. 32 in the Rolex Rankings and third in the CME Globe, for the record. So, it was no surprise to know Lincicome has no idea where her name stands in the LPGA history books. This week, Lincicome has the chance to add her name to the short-list of three-time ANA Inspiration champions, which includes only Amy Alcott (1983, 1988, 1991), Betsy King (1987, 1990, 1997) and Annika Sorenstam (2001, 2002, 2005).

“I just try to play good golf each week and try to do my best each week,” Lincicome said. “Wherever that puts me at the end of the year, that’s kind of where I sit, I guess. But to win this event twice, I mean, it’s pretty incredible. So to win it three times, holy cow, that would be insane. That would be awesome though. It’s the greatest tradition jumping in Poppie’s Pond. I feel like we do try harder this week than most just because the tradition is so cool.”

RANCHO MIRAGE IS LAP SEVEN IN RACE TO THE CME GLOBE

The golf season’s first major championship, the ANA Inspiration, marks the seventh lap of the 2018 Race to the CME Globe. With her win at the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open and three additional top-10 finishes, 2018 LPGA rookie Jin Young Ko has the early lead in the Race to CME Globe with 790 points. HSBC Women’s World Championship winner Michelle Wie is close behind Ko with 728 points.

Throughout the season’s 33 official events, LPGA Members will battle for position, with the top 12 players after the Blue Bay LPGA heading into the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship with the opportunity to take home a $1 million bonus, the biggest prize in women’s golf.

All tournaments have the same point values except for the five major championships, which carry 25 percent

more value; there are 625 points up for grabs this week at the ANA Inspiration. For all events with a cut, points are awarded to members who make the cut, while for events without a cut, points are awarded to members who finish in the top 40 and ties.

Points will be reset for the CME Group Tour Championship following the Blue Bay LPGA, with the top 72 LPGA Members, as well as any non-Member winners and alternates, seeded into the championship field. For the top five players, it’s easy – win the CME Group Tour Championship and take home $1 million. However, the top 12 in the points race all have a mathematical chance to take the title of Race to the CME Globe Champion and win the coveted check.

In 2017, Lexi Thompson became the first American winner of the Race to the CME Globe and the accompanying $1 million prize. She joinedLydia Ko (2014, 2015) and Ariya Jutanugarn (2016) as the only players to hoist the crystal trophy.

A First For Wie, Length a Strength for Henderson and More from ANA

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