Park In-bee (left) and Lydia Ko (right) [Courtesy of KLPGA]
The intense rivalry between Lidia Ko and Park Inbee is set to fuel a big interest in LPGA Tour in 2016. The world’s best women golfers finished the 2015 season with big honors and a sense of accomplishment.
At the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship in Florida on Sunday, Cristie Kerr eagled the par-five 17th for a one-shot win while Lydia Ko held off Park to claim the $1 million Race to the CME Globe jackpot. World number one Ko was in a tight battle to hold on to her edge in the jackpot race, with Park missing a birdie putt at the 17th that would have put them out in front for that prize.
Ko,18, last year’s Rookie of the Year, also became the youngest-ever Rolex Player of the Year, while Park narrowly edged her out 69.41 to 69.44 for the Vare Trophy for the season's lowest scoring average.
Ko became only the fourth LPGA player to follow up rookie honors with being Player of the Year, following Nancy Lopez, Beth Daniel and Annika Sorenstam.
The 28-year-old Park, who won five tournaments including two majors this season, also celebrated another achievement.
By winning the Vare Trophy, Park earned her 27th point to qualify for the LPGA Hall of Fame, where she will be enshrined after completing a 10th LPGA season.
"Hall of Fame was really on my mind all this week," she said.
Ko spent 19 weeks as World No 1 from February to June this year before Park hunted her down. But Ko's surging game over the last couple of months has pushed her to regain the top spot in the world rankings.
Next year's LPGA Tour will grow to 34 tournaments, two more than this year, with a record prize money total of $63.1 million and Olympic gold at stake.
Women's Olympic golf, contested only in 1900, returns to the Games at Rio de Janeiro next August. A 60-player Olympic field will be determined by the world rankings of July 11, 2016. The top 15 players will be eligible for Rio with a limit of four players from any nation.
The 2016 season tees off on Paradise Island in the Bahamas from Jan. 28-31 before moving on to Ocala, Florida, then Australia, Thailand and Singapore in a whirlwind start to a season that ends with the Nov. 17-20 CME Group Tour Championship in Naples, Florida.
Television coverage has been significantly upped from this year and six events in 2016 will benefit from network TV broadcasting in the United States over the weekend.
The first women's major of the season, the ANA Inspiration at Rancho Mirage, California, will be held from March 31-April 3.
The KPMG Women's PGA Championship at Sammamish, Washington takes place from June 9-12, with the U.S. Women's Open to be played at CordeValle Golf Club in San Martin, California from July 7-10.
Woburn Golf and Country Club in England will host the Women's British Open from July 28-31 before the fifth and final major of the year, the Evian Championship, is staged in Evian-les-Bains in France from Sept. 15-18.
The 2016 LPGA Tour's total purse of $63.1 million represents an increase of $4 million from this year.
By Alex Lee
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
