Big pay cheques for Lydia, mcilroy and rahm
NAPLES: Lydia Ko never won more in one day than on Sunday in the CME Group Tour Championship, where she claimed the richest prize in women’s golf at Us$2mil (Rm9.14mil) with a victory that allowed her to win LPGA player of the year.
Ko outlasted Leona Maguire of Ireland in the final round, seizing control with a 7-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole and closing with 2-under 70 for a two-shot victory.
The Us$2mil prize took her season earnings to just over Us$4.3mil (Rm19.6mil), leaving her US$591 (RM2,702) short of the Lorena Ochoa’s record for single-season earnings set in 2007.
Ko clinched the points-based award for LPGA player of the year for the second time, and she won the Vare Trophy for the second straight year for having the lowest scoring average. Player of the year and the Vare Trophy are each worth one point, along with the victory, giving her 25 points toward the 27 points needed for the LPGA Hall of Fame.
Ko finished at 17-under 271 and won the LPGA Tour finale for the second time. Her first title in the CME Group Tour Championship was in 2014, when she was 17 and already becoming a dominant figure in women’s golf.
Ko is on the verge of the LPGA Hall of Fame at age 25, a testament to how good she has been for so long.
n In Dubai, another year without a major was no less special for Rory Mcilroy. He finished as Europe’s top-ranked golfer for the fourth time and became only the second player to capture season titles on the PGA Tour and European tour.
Jon Rahm felt the same way. The Spaniard opened with three straight birdies on his way to a five-under 67 on Sunday to win the DP World Tour Championship for the third time, by two shots over Tyrrell Hatton and Alex Noren.
“Hopefully, people can stop telling me that it was a bad year,” Rahm said. “Three wins worldwide, three wins in three different continents. Yeah, it wasn’t a major championship, but it’s still a really, really good season.”
Rahm finished on 20-under 268 at Jumeirah Golf Estates. Mcilroy could have tied Rahm with an eagle on the par-five 18th, but had to settle for par and a 68 to finish fourth.
Mcilroy won the Fedex Cup and its Us$18mil (Rm82.3mil) bonus, along with the Canadian Open and the CJ Cup in South Carolina. He also is back at No. 1 in the world. —AP