Top contenders in the LPGA race to CME Globe Points list explored ft. Lydia Ko and Lexi Thompson
There are just three tournaments remaining and less than a month until the LPGA Tour reaches its pinnacle: the CME Group Tour Championship, preparations for the highly anticipated event are underway. However, some prominent players, including Lexi Thompson and Lydia Ko, find themselves at risk of missing out on the prestigious competition.
Lydia Ko boasts an impressive record at the LPGA Tour Championship, having secured victory three times in the past (in 2014, 2015, and most recently in 2022). Meanwhile, Lexi Thompson clinched the title in 2017. Nevertheless, their performance in 2023 has been less than stellar, and both players currently find themselves ranked outside the top 60 in the standings.
Thompson is ranked 87th in the Race to CME Globe season rankings. She has 304,900 points, as she is winless and has only two top-10 finishes in 13 tournaments.
However, her two best results came in her last two starts (fifth at The Ascendant LPGA and T8 at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship). Lexi Thompson still has time to finish the year strong and regain the 184,410 points she needs to break into the top 60.
The situation is more complicated for Lydia Ko, who is ranked 101st in the Race to CME Globe season rankings. She has accumulated just 228,571 points, the product of two top-10 finishes in 18 tournaments.
Ko is coming off a third-place finish at the BMW Ladies Championship and will be looking to capitalize on her good run to get the 260,739 points she needs. She has just three events left to do so.
Lauren Coughlin is another player with a chance to break into the top 60. She is currently ranked 65th, just 24,740 points out of the qualifying zone. Coughlin had two good tournaments on the Asian Tour and her chances have improved heading into the final event of the year.
The CME Group Tour Championship is the final event of the LPGA Tour season. It has been played since 2014 and currently has a purse of $7 million, with $2 million going to the winner. Only the top 60 players (plus ties) in the Race to CME Globe Season rankings qualify for the event.
LPGA Tour Championship: Who leads the rankings?
With three tournaments remaining to award points for the CME Globe Season Ranking, South Korea's Eun-Hee Ji sits 60th with 489,310 points. All of the winners of the current LPGA Tour season have qualified for the Tour Championship.
Leading the list is France's Celine Boutier, winner of three tournaments, including the Evian Championship. In second place, just 95,015 points behind Boutier, is another of the season's heavyweights: Lilia Vu (three wins, two majors).
Rounding out the top 10 are Ruoning Yin, Hi Joo Kim, Jin Young Ko, Minjee Lee, Allisen Corpuz, Ayaka Furue, Charley Hull and Angel Yin.
If the top 10 is filled with big names, the top 20 is no less impressive. Players such as Atthaya Thitikul, Nelly Korda, Brooks Henderson, Leona Maguire and Yuka Saso are more than likely to win in any tournament. Rounding out the top 20 are the equally intimidating Ashleigh Buhai, Georgia Hall and Nasa Hataoka.
The rest of the top 60 is filled with players of great renown, both for their reputations and for what they have done during the 2023 season. Names like Linn Grant, Megan Khang, Carlota Ciganda, Cheyenne Knight, Hannah Green, Ally Ewing, Rose Zang, and others stand out.