For the first time in LPGA history the Rolex Player of the Year honours will be shared, after Sung Hyun Park and So Yeon Ryu finished tied at the top of the rankings.
For the first time in LPGA history the Rolex Player of the Year honours will be shared, after Sung Hyun Park and So Yeon Ryu finished tied at the top of the rankings.
Heading into the weekend at the CME Group Tour Championship with a three-shot lead, it had looked as if Park could scoop all the honours, as well as the $1 million jackpot. As it was, a third round 75 would put pay to her chances, and in a finish fitting of what has been one of the closest fought seasons in decades, the LPGA honours would be shared between a cluster of players.
With Shanshan Feng retaining the World No. 1 spot, and Lexi Thompson taking the Race To The CME Globe, as well as the Vare Trophy for the lowest scoring average, it was left to the two Korean superstars to go halves on the most prestigious awards of them all.
It would all have been so different had Lexi holed a two-footer on the last for the championship. Nonetheless, what Park has achieved this season has been nothing short of extraordinary. By winning the POY she becomes the first person since Nancy Lopez in 1978 to win the award in her rookie season.
Surprisingly, given the current dominance of their countrywomen on Tour, the pair join Inbee Park as the only South Koreans to win the award since its inception in 1966.
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