Ariya wins LPGA player of year award and $1m bonus
‘Dream comes true’ as Thai bags three awards
NAPLES: Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn is officially the dominant player of the 2016 LPGA Tour, being crowned the player of the year, highest earner and Race to CME Globe champion after the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship on Sunday.
The Race to CME Globe title came with a US$1 million (35.4 million baht) bonus which Ariya received in cash.
World No.2 Ariya finished joint fourth in the Tour Championship on 274, five shots behind winner, England’s Charley Hull, but that was enough for her to beat top-ranked Lydia Ko of New Zealand in all of the three categories.
“To win the player of the year award, it’s huge,” said Ariya, who turns 21 tomorrow.
Ariya was the most successful player on the LPGA Tour this year with five wins, one more than Ko’s tally.
Ariya, whose titles this year, included her first major at the Women’s British Open, became the first Thai champion on the female elite golf tour with her triumph at the Yokohama Tire Classic in May.
She won the next two events, the Kingsmill Championship and the LPGA Volvik Championship, becoming the first player in LPGA Tour history to have the first three wins of their career come in consecutive tournaments.
She then claimed back-to-back titles again with victories at the Women’s British Open and the Canadian Women’s Open.
Even with enough victories on the season to fill a whole hand, Ariya said her goal was to win more titles.
“I’ll just try to win more tournaments and have some fun,” she said.
NAPLES: Ariya Jutanugarn was unable to accept the CME Globe trophy when it was first being presented to her, needing both hands to hold a big plastic cube stuffed with US$1 million in cash.
That’s a great way to end a season. Ariya’s breakout year ended with a haul of prizes on Sunday at the CME Group Tour Championship — the LPGA Tour’s player of the year award, the money title and the season-long Race to CME Globe points competition that comes with a $1 million bonus.
A winner of five tournaments in a year that started slowly with a major meltdown at the ANA Inspiration in the California desert and turned around with her winning three consecutive starts in May, Ariya held off Lydia Ko of New Zealand for all three of those trophies.
“I never expected like that much,” the 20-year-old Thai said. “I just really wanted to win my first tournament this year.”
Britain’s Charley Hull captured the Tour Championship title with a 72-hole course record.
The final day of the 2016 campaign also saw South Korean Chun In-Gee birdie the last three holes to edge Ko for the Vare Trophy for the season’s low scoring average in a battle that went down to the last stroke.
Hull, a 20-year-old from England, won her first LPGA title and first crown since 2014 by firing a six-under-par 66 in the final round to finish on 19-under 269 — shattering the old Tiburon Golf Club mark of 271 set by American Cristie Kerr last year.
South Korea’s Ryu So-Yeon was second on 271 and American Jenifer Song third on 273.
Ariya, Spain’s Beatriz Recari and Mo Martin of the US were joint fourth on 274.
Ariya’s 268 points put her 20 points clear of second-placed Ko, who needed to win the Tour Championship in order to claim the player-of-the-year honours for a consecutive season.
“It’s great,” Ariya said of being the player of the year.
“It’s like my dream come true. I never think like my name can be in this trophy, and right now I’m really proud of myself.”
Ariya won $2,550,928 in prize money to Ko’s $2,492,994 in the money race.
The Thai got 6,800 points to Ko’s 5050 in the Race to CME Globe.
In her second season on the elite tour, Ariya broke through in a major way leading the LPGA with five wins, including her first major championship at the Women’s British Open.
Nicknamed ‘May’, Ariya started her run in May with her victory at the Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic to become the first player from Thailand to win on the LPGA Tour and then won the next two events, the Kingsmill Championship and the LPGA Volvik Championship, becoming the first player in LPGA Tour history to have the first three wins of her career come in consecutive tournaments.
Ariya went back-to-back again with victories at the Women’s British Open and the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open. She is the first-ever major champion — male or female — from Thailand.
“You know even like last year I missed like 10 cuts in a row,” said Ariya.
“But I really appreciate it. Because if that thing not happen I’m not going to win all this stuff this year. This year just like try my best, so I am not really worried about in the past. Try to be focus on positive thing, not think about all like bad thing.”
With five wins, her next goal is simple. “Just try to win more tournaments and have some fun,” she said.
Ariya has risen to No.2 in the world rankings and had 10 additional top-10 finishes this season to go along with her five victories in 28 starts.
She also set a new record for most birdies in a single season with 469, passing Stacy Lewis’ mark in 2014 by 18.
At the Tour Championship, Chun made a 10-footer for birdie on the final hole to win the scoring title by the slimmest of margins, making her the first player since Nancy Lopez in 1978 to win both the Vare Trophy and rookie of the year in the same season. If Chun’s final putt had not fallen, Ko would have won the Vare for the first time.
“It’s still been a very cool season for me,” said Ko, the world’s No.1 player, who wrapped Ariya in a big hug when their rounds were complete before heading off to sign dozens of autographs.
Combined, Ko and Chun took more than 11,500 swings over 166 rounds — and the scoring title came down to one putt.
“It was big pressure for me,” Chun said. “I just tried to enjoy my last putt... It was a big honour for me, to have my name next to legends.”
Add her to the list of young stars on the LPGA Tour. She’s 22, Ariya turns 21 later this week and Ko doesn’t even turn 20 until early next year.
Add Hull to that list as well. She’s a tournament winner now.
Another 20-year-old — youth is most definitely served in this era of women’s golf — Hull looked like a savvy veteran as she stalked what would become her first win.
“I was pretty calm,” Hull said. “I went on the golf course and tried not to think about golf.
“It’s a pretty cool feeling. Hasn’t quite sunk in yet.”
LEADING FINAL ROUND SCORES
(par-72)
269 — Charley Hull (ENG) 67-70-66-66 271 — Ryu So-Yeon (KOR) 67-68-69-67
273 — Jennifer Song (USA) 72-67-66-68
274 — Beatriz Recari (ESP) 68-68-70-68, Mo Martin (USA) 68-70-68-68, Ariya Jutanugarn (THA) 72-68-65-69
275 — Chun In-Gee (KOR) 68-69-68-70
276 — Feng Shanshan (CHN) 66-73-69-68, Amy Yang (KOR) 68-72-66-70
277 — Lydia Ko (NZL) 70-62-73-72, Brittany Lincicome (USA) 69-69-66-73