FOURTH MAJOR STAGING FOR EVIAN
The LPGA Tour heads to picturesque Evian-les-Bains for the fifth and final major of the golf season for The Evian Championship hosted at Evian Resort Golf Club. The event has a long-standing history including the last three with major championship status starting in 2013. The previous 13 years the Evian Masters was held as an LPGA and LET co-sanctioned event from 2000-2012 and as just an LET event from 1994-1999.
KO PRIMED TO DEFEND EMOTIONAL FIRST MAJOR TITLE
Rolex Rankings No. 1 Lydia Ko returns to the grounds of Evian Resort Golf Club where so once again wrote her name in to the history books after becoming the youngest major champion in LPGA history with her six-shot triumph last year.
The usually passive Ko had tears flowing on the 18th green after sinking a 15-foot birdie putt to close with a final-round 63 to clinch her ninth LPGA victory. Ko’s final round 63 broke an LPGA record for low final round by a winner at a major championship.
“Yeah, a couple teardrops,” said Ko. “I didn’t totally cry-cry. But I kind of got a little overwhelmed, and I could kind of feel tears coming when Jason said, enjoy the moment, coming down onto the green. I kind of felt back over the whole week and all the questions I’ve been asked. But in a way I was relieved. But to kind of have that putt go in, I think just everything dropped.”
Ko has not let down since her victory here a year ago as she has picked up five more victories including her second major title at the ANA Inspiration in April. She’s coming off back-to-back top-10 finishes in Canada – T7 at the CP Women’s Open and T5 at the Manulife LPGA Classic– following a silver medal performance at the Olympic Games four weeks ago. The nineteen year-old has been spectacular at this championship and has not finished worse than T8 in her first three starts.
Lydia Ko Career Finishes at Evian Championship
| Year | Scores | Finish |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 69-69-67-63 = 268 (-16) | Win |
| 2014 | 69-68-72-71 = 280 (-4) | T8 |
| 2013* | 68-67-70=205 (-8) | 2 |
*rain shortened to 54-holes
ROLEX ANNIKA MAJOR AWARD DECIDED THIS WEEK IN EVIAN
The third edition of the Rolex ANNIKA Major Award will be decided this week with the four major winners (Lydia Ko, Brooke Henderson, Brittany Lang, Ariya Jutanugarn) standing as the only players with a chance to win the honor. The award recognizes the player with the most outstanding record at all five majors. Points are awarded for top-10 finishes at majors and breakdown is as follows:
1st place - 60 pts.; 2nd place - 24 pts.; 3rd place - 18 pts.; 4th place - 14 pts.; 5th place - 12 pts.; 6th place - 10 pts.; 7th place - 8 pts.; 8th place - 6 pts.; 9th place - 4 pts.; 10th place - 2 pts.
Lydia Ko and Ariya Jutanugarn control their own destiny and would lock up the award with a win this week at Evian.
The four finalists hope to join the likes of Michelle Wie (2014) and Inbee Park (2015) as winners of the award.
BIG POINTS UP FOR END OF THE YEAR RACES AT FINAL MAJOR
Only nine events remain on the 2016 LPGA Tour schedule and this week will be the last for those players in the hunt for season-ending awards to earned increased points as Race to the CME Globe, Rolex Player of the Year and Louise Suggs Rookie of the Year have increased points at each of the Tour’s five majors.
Lydia Ko and Ariya Jutanugarn have made the Race to CME Globe and Player of the Year into a two-player race with just 248 points separating them in CME and just five points in the POY standings.
In Gee Chun has a commanding lead for Rookie of the Year and holds a 496 point lead over Gaby Lopez.
Click here for Race to the CME Globe point structure.
Rolex Player of the Year & Rookie of the Year point structure (for major championships):
1st place - 120 pts.; 2nd place - 48 pts.; 3rd place - 36 pts.; 4th place - 28 pts.; 5th place - 24 pts.; 6th place - 20 pts.; 7th place - 16 pts.; 8th place - 12 pts.; 9th place - 8 pts.; 10th place - 4 pts.
Race to the CME Globe
| Rank | Player | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lydia Ko | 4,214 |
| 2 | Ariya Jutanugarn | 3,966 |
| 3 | Brooke Henderson | 2,676 |
| 4 | Sei Young Kim | 2,469 |
| 5 | Haru Nomura | 2,144 |
Rolex Player of the Year
| Rank | Player | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lydia Ko | 247 |
| 2 | Ariya Jutanugarn | 242 |
| 3 | Brooke Henderson | 131 |
| 4 | Sei Young Kim | 110 |
| 5 | Ha Na Jang | 85 |
Vare Trophy
| Rank | Player | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lydia Ko | 69.197 |
| 2 | In Gee Chun | 69.789 |
| 3 | Ha Na Jang | 69.929 |
| 4 | Ariya Jutanugarn | 69.963 |
| 5 | Amy Yang | 70.051 |
Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year
| Rank | Player | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | In Gee Chun | 923 |
| 2 | Gaby Lopez | 427 |
| 3 | Megan Khang | 338 |
| 4 | Su Oh | 309 |
| 5 | Lee Lopez | 230 |
FENG RETURNS TO ACTION AFTER BRONZE MEDAL OLYMPIC PERFORMANCE
Shanshan Feng will be back in action for the first time since winning a bronze medal at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in August and said that the festivities at home for two weeks included meeting the President and singing karaoke with friends. The always quotable 27-year-old said that she had some impulse when President Xi Jinping made his rounds with the Olympic medalists.
“Then I got to meet our President, and actually said something to our President because I didn’t know. The others didn’t say anything. But when it came to my turn, I was like, ‘President, you’re so handsome.’ (Laughs). I did say that. I mean I really felt that. And I think it’s a compliment. So it’s nothing bad. And yeah, I thought it was funny. I mean I didn’t think about it at the moment, but I did say it.”
Feng said she doesn’t think an eruption in popularity of golf will happen overnight in China but said her podium appearance will definitely help.
“They don’t see us that often,” Feng said of her Chinese compatriots at home. “But this time, you know, they’re seeing us, all the time seeing us playing to see how great the Chinese golfers are. And this time I got a bronze medal. Maybe it make more people think golf is more interesting. Maybe -- I think there will be more people that will actually start to join the sport. But it’s going to take a little time. It’s not going to be like, you know, after I got a medal, golf is going to become so, so popular in China.”
EVIAN NUMBERS TO KNOW
2 – Number of players, Yani Tseng and Laura Davies, who could complete the Career Grand Slam with a win this week at The Evian Championship
6 – With a win at Evian, Karrie Webb would have won six different major championships
3 – Winners at the Evian Championship since it became a major have come from three different countries
61 – Hyo Joo Kim shot the lowest round in major championship history, a 61, during the first round of the 2014 Evian Championship which she went on to win
18/4/20 – Lydia Ko became the youngest player to win a major championship last season at the Evian Championship
T8 – Lydia Ko has yet to finish outside of the top-8 at the Evian Championship. She won in 2015, finished T8 in 2014 and finished second in 2013
2 - of the three champions of this event were teenagers; Lydia Ko was 18-years-old last year and Hyo Joo Kim was 19 in 2014
LPGA NUMBERS TO KNOW
21.5 - Average age of winners in 2016
21 - Thru 24 events, 21 were won by players 23 years old or younger
3 - Three teenagers have won on the LPGA Tour in 2016 (Lydia Ko, Brooke Henderson, Minjee Lee)
7 - In the current Rolex Rankings, seven of the top-10 players in the world are 24 years old or younger
5 - In the current Rolex Rankings, the top-5 players hail from five different countries
9 - Players from nine different countries have won on the LPGA Tour in 2016
QUOTABLE
“And once I landed in Guangzhou, I mean it was surprising kind of because there were like more than 100 people waiting for me outside of the exit, and that made me feel like I was a star, you know. It’s really different. I think this is what the Olympics has done. It’s just so special.” -Shanshan Feng on her return to China after winning a bronze medal in golf
A GOOD COMBINATION
Shanshan Feng says the par 71 track at the Evian Resort Golf Club is a ball strikers’ paradise and said it suits her game very well. The nine-year LPGA member will be making her eighth appearance here and has played in the event since 2009 when it was a regular Tour event. In her past three appearances in the major, Feng has not finished worse than T11.
She has yet to record a win in 2016 but believes a combination of recent rest and confidence in her putting will be a good thing this week. Feng ranks ninth on Tour in greens in regulation (73.3%), one spot ahead of Lydia Ko.
“I think this golf course is not really about hitting long,” said Feng. “It’s more about accuracy, and that’s what my strength is. My iron game is usually pretty accurate. So that’s why I’ve always done well here. And this year I mean I just played 18 holes today and yesterday. I think they really grew the grass, I mean the rough. So the rough is really, really long by the fairway and by the greens. So I mean this time is going to be like an accuracy challenge again. And I think it’s good for me.”
Shanshan Feng - Career Finishes at Evian Championship
| Year | Scores | Finish |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 68-68-70-70= 276 (-8) | 3 |
| 2014 | 70-70-73-69= 282 (-2) | T10 |
| 2013 | 70-72-69= 211 (-2) | T11 |
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