LPGA January/February Recap, Rolex World Rankings & US Solheim Cup Standings
The LPGA Tour kicked off their season the last weekend in January at the Pure Silk Bahamas LPGA Classic. Hyo Joo Kim was two strokes better than Stacy Lewis, Sei Young Kim and Anna Nordqvist at 18 under par. Hy Joo’s final round 66 was three shots better than Lewis and Sei Young and four shots ahead of Nordqvist. Paula Creamer tied for 5th place and Brittany Lincicome tied for 8th place. Hyo Joo earned $210,000 for the win. It was her 3rd LPGA Tour win. She won the Evian Championship in 2014 and played her first full season on the LPGA last year.
It was then on to Ocala, Florida for the Coates Golf Championship (Presented by R&L Carriers) the weekend of February 3 – 6th. Ha Na Jang outlasted Canadian Brooke Henderson and In Gee Chun by two shots to win the tournament at 11 under par. Jang wasn’t at her best on Sunday, firing an even par round of 72, but an opening round 65 and a third round 68 provided her the cushion she needed in the final round. Jang pocketed $225,000 for the victory. Austin Ernst, Lexi Thompson and Alison Lee were the top Americans, tying 9th place.
On February 18-21, the top LPGA players competed at the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open in Grange, South Australia. Haru Nomara fired a final round 65 (the lowest round of the day) and finished at 16 under par, holding off Lydia Ko and local favorite and 7-time major champion Karrie Webb. It was Nomara’s first career LPGA win. England’s Charley Hull and American Danielle Kang led a log-jam of five players tied for 4th place. Annie Park was the only other American in the top ten. Nomura took home $195,000 for the win. Playing in the next to last group, Nomura birdied the 15th, 16th and 17th holes to put the tournament out of reach.
Through February 22nd, the Rolex World Golf Rankings look like this:
South Korea is continuing its recent domination of women’s professional golf with 6 Koreans in the world top 10. South Korea also demonstrates its great depth by placing 151 players in the top 500. New Zealander Lydia Ko is marking her 18th consecutive week at the top. American Stacy Lewis is enjoying her 228th consecutive week in the Rolex top ten.
In the race to make the 2017 Solheim Cup American Team, the top dozen through February 21st are Lexi Thompson (150), Stacy Lewis (112), Alison Lee (59), Cristie Kerr (54), Jessica Korda (48), Brittany Lincicome (44), Jennifer Song (42), Gerina Piller (41), Austin Ernst (41), Kris Tamulis (40), Sydney Michaels (39) and Brittany Lang (34).
