LPGA Announces a Race of their Own
by Maura Hutchinson
It is the first time the LPGA has incorporated a points-based contest into its schedule. Pairing up with the CME Group, the Race to the CME Globe winner will pocket a purse of $1 million USD, while the winner of the season ending CME Group Tour Championship will walk away with a cool $500,000.
The Race will officially kick off at the Pure Silk Bahamas LPGA Classic later this month and end with the Lorena Ochoa Invitational in November. All tournaments will carry the same points value with major titles adding an additional 25 percent.
LPGA Commissioner Michael Whan said, “The addition of this concept fundamentally connects every event on our Tour and promises big things in 2014 and beyond. The stakes have risen dramatically and the excitement level goes up for our players and each of our tournaments.”
The new system has got players excited as well. With Inbee Park weighing in on the news yesterday.
“I was so honored to win the LPGA money title in 2013 and now I have something even bigger to play for as I look to make it two in a row,” Park said in a statement on the LPGA website. “Nothing is guaranteed with this new system so this new Race is going to make everyone on our Tour work a little bit harder because the payoff is so big.”