LPGA Tour creates points race

The LPGA Tour is going to a points race this year, offering $1 million to the winner of the new “Race to the CME Globe.”

This points system won’t be hard to figure out.

Instead of a four-tournament playoff system on the PGA Tour, the women will earn points for 31 events going into the CME Group Tour Championship that is held Nov. 20-23 in Naples, Fla. The points will be reset for the final event to give an advantage to whoever had the best year, and the winner will receive a $1 million bonus.

“It should make for an exciting 2014,” LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan said. “It’s the bow on the present we really wanted to get done.”

The LPGA Tour already has its strongest schedule in years, adding domestic events in Michigan and San Francisco, and creating an Olympics-styled event called the International Crown aimed at determining the best nation of golfers.

Whan hinted at a season points race when the LPGA Tour wrapped up its season in November, saying he liked the idea of two trophies presented at the end of the year.

The FedEx Cup on the PGA Tour began in 2007 and went through three years of changes to cut through the confusion. The European Tour followed shortly after with its “Race to Dubai” that was tweaked this year to culminate with four big events at the end.

Jon Podany, the chief marketing officer for the LPGA Tour, said the top 72 players in the Race to the CME Globe would qualify for the Tour Championship. The reset will be structured in such a way that only the top three in the standings can guarantee the $1 million bonus by winning the tournament, while only the top nine in the standings will have a mathematical chance to win the bonus and a crystal globe.