Thompson takes LPGA finale
NAPLES, Fla. – Lexi Thompson was the best this week, and Ariya Jutanugarn was the best all season.
Neither left any doubt about Sunday.
Thompson shot a 2-under 70 to finish at 18-under 270 and win the LPGA’s season-ending CME Group Tour Championship by four strokes over Nelly Korda. The win makes this the sixth consecutive year that Thompson has won at least once, extending the longest such active streak on the LPGA Tour.
“Golf is my life,” Thompson said. “But it is just what I do. I’m coming to realize that. Still not there some of the days because it is so much a part of my life, but it is just a sport. There is so much to life other than that, my family and my friends and just loving every bit of that and just being grateful for what I have.”
Jutanugarn took the other two big prizes that were up for grabs this week, clinching the yearlong Race to the CME Globe prize – and the $1 million bonus that comes with that – as well as the Vare Trophy for winning the season’s scoring title.
The world No. 1 already had wrapped up player of the year honors, and finished 2018 with a 69.415 scoring average to edge Minjee Lee (69.747) for the top spot there.
Jutanugarn shot a 66 on Sunday, finishing the week tied for fifth at 12-under 276.
Jutanugarn briefly lost the lead in the projected Globe standings on Sunday after Brooke Henderson made three birdies on her first seven holes to grab the top spot.
Jutanugarn reclaimed the advantage with four birdies in a six-hole stretch midway through her round.
The 13th hole Sunday provided the shift that Thompson used to hold off Korda. They went to the tee of that par-4 with Thompson up by two; she made birdie, Korda made bogey, and Thompson was suddenly up four with five holes to play. “It was just very special to win in front of all my family and friends,” Thompson said.
Jutanugarn finished in style, rolling in a 15-footer for birdie on the final hole to cap the year where she swept the LPGA’s biggest prizes.
It was the 10th career win for Thompson, who grabbed the lead on Friday and kept it the rest of the way. She hadn’t finished better than a tie for ninth in any of her last eight starts – but Tiburon Golf Club has been a haven for the native South Floridian.
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ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – Charles Howell III made a 15-foot birdie putt on the second hole of a playoff with Patrick Rodgers in the RSM Classic to end an 11year victory drought.
Howell dropped to his knees and buried his head in his hands, then tearfully embraced wife Heather and children Ansley and Chase – neither of whom were born when he last won on the PGA Tour at Riviera in 2007.
Howell earned $1,152,000 and a return trip to his hometown of Augusta, Georgia, in April to play in the Masters for the first time since 2012
“That was the first thing that popped into my head (after making the clinching putt),” Howell said. “Obviously, it means a lot to me being from Augusta but it means a lot to every player, right?’’
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Danny Willett ended his title drought in thrilling fashion, winning the DP World Tour Championship by two shots despite a last-hole blunder.
SYDNEY – Abraham Ancer went into the final round of the Australian Open with a five-stroke lead. With a few ups and downs along the way, he won it by the same margin. The Mexican golfer, making his first trip to Australia, shot a final-round 69 to finish with a 16-under total of 272 at The Lakes.