WITH SOLHEIM ON THE BRAIN, RED, WHITE AND BLUE MAKE STATEMENT
Lexi Thompson led a strong group of American players on Sunday, with five USA flags among the top nine at Kingsmill.
Angela Stanford finished in solo third at 11 under, her best finish of 2017 and best showing since she tied for second at the 2016 Citibanamex Lorena Ochoa Invitational. Her $87,308 paycheck at Kingsmill moved her to $10,019,725 in career earnings, making her just the 13th player in LPGA history to cross the $10 million mark.
Danielle Kang’s fourth-place finish at 10 under is tied for the second-lowest performance of her career, following a T3 at the 2012 Kingsmill Championship; she also tied for fourth at the 2017 Honda LPGA Thailand and 2016 ISPS Handa Australian Open.
Ryann O’Toole and Gerina Piller tied for seventh at 8 under, along with Swedish rookie Madelene Sagstrom. This is O’Toole’s third-best career finish, following a T5 at the 2011 Safeway Classic (a 54-hole event) and a T6 at the 2016 Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic. For Piller, this marks her third top-10 showing of 2017, joining the Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic (fourth) and the Kia Classic (tied for fourth).
These strong showings also helped each player in her quest for a coveted berth on the USA Solheim Cup Team. Of these five players, Thompson, Piller and Stanford are currently in position to automatically qualify for the team, as they rank first, fourth and eighth, respectively, in the point standings. Coming into Kingsmill, Kang sat in 12th and O’Toole, a member of the 2011 team, was 17th.
CME GROUP CARES WEEKENDS UPDATE
Players scored nine eagles over the weekend at the 2017 Kingsmill Championship Presented by JTBC, raising $9,000 for charity. This brings the total to 105 eagles on the year, which translates to $105,000 dollars raised.
RACE TO CME GLOBE UPDATE
Lexi Thompson earned 500 points and is projected to move from fifth to third in the Race to CME Globe with 1,480 points.
KO PROTECTS NO. 1 RANKING
Thanks to a T10 finish, Lydia Ko’s position as the top player in the Rolex Rankings is safe for at least another week.
Heading into the week at the Kingsmill Championship Presented by JTBC there were numerous scenarios that would have had No. 2 So Yeon Ryu or No. 3 Ariya Jutanugarn take over the top spot. Ryu tied with Ko at 7-under par, while Jutanugarn finished T18 at 4-under par.
This is Ko’s longest stretch without a win on the LPGA Tour. It has been 18 starts since her win at the 2016 Marathon Classic presented by Owens Corning and O-I.
Top Three Players (Since 2016 RICOH Women’s British Open)
|
|
No. 1 Lydia Ko |
No. 2 So Yeon Ryu |
No. 3 Ariya Jutanugarn |
|
Starts |
19 |
17 |
20 |
|
Wins |
0 |
1 |
2 |
|
Runner-ups |
1 |
4 |
3 |
|
Top-10s |
9 |
13 |
16 |
Ko is not in the field at the LPGA Volvik Championship next week, while both Ryu and Jutanugarn are set to tee it up in Ann Arbor.
QUOTABLE
“Tomorrow I’ll be out practicing, working on my game to improve even more, I’m sure.
- Lexi Thompson on her celebration plans
QUICK HITS
Lexi Thompson made 23 starts between her last victory (2016 Honda LPGA Thailand) and today’s win
With her victory, Thompson becomes the first LPGA wire-to-wire winner since Amy Yang at the Honda LPGA Thailand
Thompson is the third American to take home the Kingsmill Championship title, following Lizette Salas (2014) and Cristie Kerr (2013, 2009, 2005)
Thompson’s 20-under par tournament score,breaks the nearly 10-year-old tournament record set by Annika Sorenstam in her 2008 19-under-par victory
At age 22 years, 3 months and 11 days old, Thompson is the youngest winner on the LPGA Tour this season, besting Sei Young Kim who was 24 years, 3 months and 16 days old when she took the Lorena Ochoa Match Play title
In Gee Chun’s runner-up finish is her third of the season (Bank of Hope Founder’s Cup and LOTTE Championship)
Angela Stanford’s third-place finish is her best in 13 appearances (every single Kingsmill Championship)
Minjee Lee was disqualified from the 2017 Kingsmill Championship due to failing to sign her scorecard for the final round
It’s now been 11 LPGA events without a Rolex First Time Winner, going back to the 2016 CME Group Tour Championship, where Charley Hullcaptured her first win on Tour
The Kingsmill Championship was the 11th event of the 2017 season. With 11 different winners so far, this is the longest the Tour has gone without having a repeat champion since 1991. That year the LPGA did not have a repeat winner until the 16th event.
Through 11 events of the 2017 season, American players have now taken home three tournament titles: Brittany Lincicome (Pure-Silk Bahamas LPGA Classic), Cristie Kerr (LOTTE Championship) and Lexi Thompson (Kingsmill Championship). During the 2016 season,Thompson (Honda LPGA Thailand) and Brittany Lang (U.S. Women’s Open Conducted by the USGA) were the only Americans to take home a tournament title.
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