NAPLES, Fla. – Sei Young Kim was on the verge of taking all the drama out of the chase for the richest payoff in women’s golf history.

She opened with three birdies in seven holes Saturday in the CME Group Tour Championship as her challengers either stalled or faded. She led by five shots before making the turn.

Kim hit the brakes.

Nelly Korda hit the gas.

When the third round ended at Tiburon Golf Club, Kim had to settle for a 4-under 68 and a one-shot lead over Korda with one round remaining to see who wins the $1.5 million.

Both made it sound as though it will be just another round of golf.

Then again, no one in LPGA Tour history has ever played for this much cash. It’s more than either of them has made all year.

“I had a pretty solid round front nine,” Kim said. “But back nine was little tough to focus. I kept thinking about future, so I was like, ‘Nope, Sei Young. Stop thinking. Focus on it.’ I had a lot of chances back nine. Going to practice and ready for tomorrow.”

Korda, who has a chance to reach No. 2 in the women’s world ranking with a victory, fell back early with a double bogey by going long of the green on the par-3 fourth. She recovered with three birdies over the next five holes, and then really turned it on.

“Kind of hit the brakes every single day on the back nine,” Korda said. “I told myself to be really aggressive on the back nine, and it worked out today.”

She opened with three straight birdies, holing out from a greenside bunker on No. 11, and she was back in the game. Korda shot a 31 on the back nine for a 66.

Kim was at 16-under 200 and will be in the final group with Korda.

Caroline Masson of Germany, who will join them in the final pairing, had a 70 and was four shots behind, with Charley Hull of England another shot behind after a 66.

For so many others, an ideal day for scoring at Tiburon turned out to be a lost opportunity.

Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., who attracted the biggest gallery playing with Korda and with a horde of Canadians in Florida for the winter, had bogeys on three of the par 5s and never got anything going for a 71. She was six shots behind.

Dialing it in from distance! @BrookeHenderson finishes at 1 under for the day and is in a tie for 5th ?? pic.twitter.com/okOTC06Nzz

— Golf Canada (@GolfCanada) November 23, 2019

Hamilton’s Alena Sharp is the only other Canadian in the field. She shot a 69 to sit in a tie for 24th at 5 under.

Defending champion Lexi Thompson made an early charge, only to be slowed by a pair of bogeys on the back – all her bogeys this week have been on the back nine – that gave her a 70 and put her seven shots behind.

Kim has shown few signs of coming back to the field. She has made only one bogey through 54 holes, and with her strong start it looked as though the 26-year-old Korean might run away from the field.

The back nine changed everything.

Korda appeared to be in trouble on No. 11 when she fanned a shot from the waste area into a bunker. She blasted it out and watched the ball crash into the pin and drop for birdie. She made another at the par-3 12th and took advantage at the end with a 4-hybrid on the green at the par-5 17th for at two-putt birdie.

Kim gave herself plenty of reasonable looks at birdie on the back nine. She couldn’t get any to fall except for a 25-footer on the 15th hole that restored her lead to two shots, but only briefly.

Kim’s second shot into the 17th was well short and to the right into a bunker, and she blasted out to some 30 feet away. She played away from the flag on the 18th and two-putted for par from about 40 feet.

Still, she was in the lead after the third straight day, one step closer to a massive payoff.

The format changed this year from a points-based system in which only the top 12 players had a shot at a $1 million bonus to any of the 60 players who made it to the Tour Championship getting $1.5 million in official money by winning the tournament.

Jin Young Ko, celebrated Thursday night as LPGA player of the year, tried to get back into the game with a 66. She still was six shots behind along with Jessica Korda (69), the older sister of Nelly Korda.

Ko is virtually a lock to win the Vare Trophy for the lowest scoring average and needs a 65 to become only the second woman to finish with a sub-69 average score for the year.

NAPLES, Fla. – Sei Young Kim wasted two good birdie chances late in the second round Friday when she got a pep talk from an unlikely source.

Cristie Kerr was working as a commentator for Golf Channel, and on the long walk to the 18th tee, she told Kim that a strong finish in the CME Group Tour Championship would make dinner that much better.

“I just said, `Yeah, I’m going to make the birdie.’ Yeah, it come true,” Kim said.

She fired a 6-iron to the perfect spot in the middle of the green and watched it roll toward the back pin until stopping less than 2 feet away. Kim tapped in for a birdie and a 5-under 67, keeping her lead at two shots in the chase for the richest prize in women’s golf.

Kim has made only one bogey over two rounds at Tiburon Golf Club and was at 12-under 132.

Everyone around her had far more excitement, not all of it good.

Caroline Masson of Germany atoned for missing a birdie chance on the par-5 17th by rolling in a 40-foot birdie putt from off the green and through the shadows on the final hole for a 66 that closed the gap to one shot until Kim finished with her birdie.

They will be in the final group on Saturday, moving closer to a shot at the $1.5 million to the winner.

Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., began her second round with a double bogey on the par-5 opening hole. She finished much better, with five birdies over her final seven holes that put her squarely back into the mix with a 67, leaving her three shots behind.

Henderson has a home not far from Naples and gets a big following, many of them Canadians in Florida for the winter.

“Great crowd, great energy out here,” Henderson said. “I’m excited to be playing the weekend near the top of the leaderboard, so it should be fun.”

Alena Sharp of Hamilton is at 2 under after her second straight 71.

From downtown Smiths Falls ?? pic.twitter.com/dHkfYvgNHR

— Golf Canada (@GolfCanada) November 22, 2019

Also three shots back was Nelly Korda, the top American in the women’s world ranking at No. 3, who didn’t finish so well.

Korda provided the biggest challenge to Kim all day, firing darts into the seventh and ninth greens for short birdie putts that gave her a 31 on the front nine and gave her a one-shot lead.

Korda was one shot behind when she missed a birdie putt on the par-3 16th, and then shockingly missed the 2-foot par putt.

“It’s not going to be the last putt I miss,” Korda said. “It’s just how it is.”

Looking to get a shot back on the 17th, Korda instead hit a hard hook off the tee beyond the cart path and through the dirt until it came to rest under a tree.

“May be been a little ticked off,” Korda said with a grin. “I did snipe it left into the trees.”

She had no choice but to pitch back to the fairway and did well to give herself a birdie chance with a shot into about 15 feet, only to miss it. She made par on the final hole for a 68.

Su Oh of Australia had a 67 and was four behind, while the group five back included defending champion Lexi Thompson and Jessica Korda, both with 67s.

The format for the season finale changed this year, from only the top 12 in the Race to CME Globe have a chance at the $1 million bonus to all 60 players in the field winning $1.5 million in official money just by winning the tournament.

Friday was critical not to lose much ground.

Jin Young Ko, who received her award Thursday as LPGA player of the year, shot a 69 and remained eight shots behind. Jeongeun Lee6, the U.S. Women’s Open champion, felt a burden lifted and shot 67. She had six birdies, twice as many as the first round.

The burden had nothing to do with the big prize. Lee6 was rookie of the year, and she gave a moving speak in English before a full banquet room and without notes, having rehearsed it for two months. She received the loudest ovation of the night.

“A lot of people this morning were cheering and then they were congratulating me and then they saw that, `Oh, she did really well with the speech,’ and I felt really good about it,” Lee6 said. “And I felt like really good feelings about today, so my shots and my putting were good so far. But I kind of want to try my best I can for the last two rounds.”

Aaron Cockerill only needed to glance at his phone to find proof that he’d qualified for the European Tour.

Cockerill finished seventh overall at the Q-school event in Tarragona, Spain, on Wednesday, finishing 16-under overall at the six round event to earn a partial exemption on the Euro Tour this season. His cell has been ringing constantly since.

“Oh god. My phone hasn’t stopped buzzing for a couple of days,” said Cockerill during a layover on his way home to Stony Mountain, Man., 35 minutes north of Winnipeg. “It was cool to see a lot of people that I’ve run across in the past reach out, message me and all the kind words that everyone’s had to say.

“I just had a seven-hour flight and I’m pretty cheap so I don’t normally buy the Wi-Fi but I bought the Wi-Fi and I was basically going through my phone for seven hours responding to people and going through social media.”

The 27-year-old Cockerill struggled in the first round, firing a 2-over 73 but recovered with a 66-69-67-68-69 line at Lumine Golf Club to finish nine strokes behind winner Benjamin Poke of Denmark in front of a crowd that included his parents.

“My parents had never been over to Europe before and they decided to come over, so that was pretty special to have them there,” said Cockerill. “It’s a hard game, so it was pretty emotional. When I was done it was exciting and a relief.”

Cockerill has spent portions of his professional career on Canada’s Mackenzie Tour and the Challenger Tour. He’s also played in events in China and Australia. He’s excited for the new challenge the European Tour represents.

“The world ranking points, the purses, the schedule, it’s a massive difference. It’s probably the second biggest tour in the world behind the PGA Tour, right?” said Cockerill. “I’m super excited to play. Other than the PGA Tour it’s probably the best tour you can play.”

Cockerill doesn’t yet know what tournaments he’ll play on for the entire season since he has a limited exemption as a Q-school qualifier.

However, he does know that he’ll be playing in the Alfred Dunhill Championship in Malelane, South Africa next Thursday, then compete in the AFRASIA BANK Mauritius Open on Dec. 5 before heading Down Under for the Australian PGA Championship in Gold Coast on Dec. 19 before returning to Manitoba for Christmas.

Just days into the new chapter of his career, Cockerill’s still processing what it means to be on the European Tour.

“I’ve thought about it a little bit, but I’m also trying to figure out so many things right now in terms of schedule and flights for the next one that I haven’t had too much time to think about it,” said Cockerill. “It’s exciting to be playing in these bigger events. Some of the guys I know who got through last year turned it into a lot more, like full cards for the next year and better schedules. It’s just really exciting.”

In a comfortable floral jumpsuit and with her parents in the audience, Brooke Henderson added another award to her ever-growing trophy case.

The 22-year-old won the 2019 Founders Award at the Rolex LPGA Awards ceremony Thursday night in Naples, Fla. during the week of the CME Group Tour Championship.

The Founders Award is newly named for 2019. Formerly called the William & Mousie Powell Award, it was renamed for this year to celebrate the 13 founders of the LPGA.

Henderson told golfcanada.ca that the win was extra special since the winner of the award comes from a vote by fellow golfers on the LPGA Tour. It’s annually given to, in the opinion of her peers, someone “whose behaviour and deeds best exemplifies the spirit, ideals, and values of the LPGA.”

The nine-time LPGA Tour winner said she first found out at an LPGA Tour Players’ Meeting earlier in the year that she was one of the nominees, and said to know people were voting for her was ‘pretty crazy.’

“It means a lot,” Henderson said. “I spend so much time with these girls that it’s really a great honour to be given the Founders Award.

“To be considered in the same sentence as (the founders)… their passion and perseverance and what they did this Tour was amazing. This is really cool for me.”

Henderson has made a habit of capturing awards-by-votes in 2019.

Earlier in the year she became the first Canadian golfer to win an ESPY award (she won for ‘Best Female Golfer’) and in October she won the Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame People’s Choice Award – a new award designed to recognize ‘future Hall of Famers who are a champion of their sport and a champion for their community.’

“This year has been really crazy for the awards. I didn’t expect any of them,” Henderson said, flashing her recognizable smile. “To get them is just amazing. I’m honoured, humbled… and it’s just an amazing feeling.”

 

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A champion both on and off the #golf course ???⁣ ⁣ @BrookeHendersonGolf was named the 2019 recipient of the Founders Award, given to the player “whose behaviour and deeds best exemplifies the spirit, ideals and values of the #LPGA” #DriveOn

A post shared by CP Women’s Open (@cpwomensopen) on Nov 21, 2019 at 5:48pm PST

Henderson, who sat at a table with Lexi Thompson and executives from Rolex at the awards dinner, has won twice in 2019. Her victory at the Meijer LPGA Classic was the ninth in her young career. Win no. 9 gave her more than any other Canadian in the history of the LPGA or PGA Tour.

“This award that Brooke got is maybe one of the most special ones because it’s voted on by her peers and we’re so impressed and thrilled for Brooke to be recognized. We know how special she is,” said Golf Canada CEO Laurence Applebaum. “For all of her peers on the LPGA Tour to give her this award is phenomenal. It’s great for herself and her family and for all of Canadian golf.”

The native of Smiths Falls, Ont. has become a driving force for young golfers across the country – but even this week in Florida there are plenty of girls dressing with a visor and ponytail like Henderson walking outside the ropes – and she said being able to play in front of Canadians no matter where she goes makes her even more grateful for the support.

Henderson said she’s recognized her role and is happy to have an opportunity to be an inspiration both on the golf course with her record-breaking play, and off the course as well, as someone people can look up to.

“I’m always trying to become a better golfer, but I’m always trying to become a better person every day, too,” said Henderson. “When you work hard and are focused on achieving some goals, good things happen. This year is definitely proof of that.”

2019 CP Women’s Open winner Jin Young Ko was the night’s big winner, as she took home the Rolex Annika Major Award, and Rolex Player of the Year. With just three rounds left in the LPGA Tour season, she has nearly wrapped up the Vare Trophy (for lowest scoring average) as well.

Henderson sits T5 after the first round of the CME Group Tour Championship.

NAPLES, Fla., Nov. 22, 2019 – In 2020, for the first time in the history of the LPGA Tour, the world’s best female athletes will compete for a combined prize fund of $75.1 million, which includes the fourth playing of the UL International Crown, and air on more than 500 hours of television, both true signs of the continued growth for the game’s global tour.

The 2020 LPGA Tour schedule will feature 33 official events across 11 countries and regions, with the most hours of television production in LPGA history, and at least seven tournaments that will air on network television. Additionally, the UL International Crown, a unique biennial team event, will feature a $1.6 million unofficial purse and showcase the best female golfers from the top eight countries across the globe. 2020 will also see the world’s top players head to Japan for the Summer Olympics, bringing the game into even more households around the world.

“As we close 2019 and move to 2020, I could not be more excited about what the future will bring for the LPGA Tour and the sponsors that support us,” said LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan. “$75.1 million in total purse. That number is a testament to the support we are receiving from sponsors and industry partners around the globe. As I enter my second decade as commissioner, we find ourselves in a new phase of the LPGA Tour. We’ve grown, but now we must flourish. We talk a lot about the next generation, but we will lift THIS generation. I know a lot of our fans understand the difference we are making for women’s golf in America, but they might be surprised to know about the impact our Tour is having all around the globe.”

The largest purse increase for the 2020 season comes at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. The purse for the season’s third major championship will grow to $4.3 million, up $450,000 from 2019. Additionally, the purse at the ANA Inspiration, traditionally the first major of each professional golf season, will increase to $3.1 million, up $100,000 from 2019 and the sixth consecutive year with a purse increase since ANA assumed title sponsorship in 2015.

Other purses increasing in 2020 are the CP Women’s Open ($2.35 million, up $100,000), the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give ($2.3 million, up $300,000), the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational ($2.3 million, up $300,000), the Marathon LPGA Classic presented by Dana ($1.85 million, up $100,000) and the Volunteers of America Classic ($1.4 million, up $100,000).

As previously announced, the 2020 LPGA Tour season will include two new events in Florida, making it four tournaments for the Sunshine State. The Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio will be held Jan. 23-26 at Boca Rio Golf Club in Boca Raton, one week after the season-opening Diamond Resort Tournament of Champions presented by Insurance Office of America in Lake Buena Vista. Four months later, the Tour will return to the Sunshine State for the Pelican Women’s Championship presented by DEX Imaging, to be held May 14-17 at Pelican Golf Club in Belleair. Finally, for the seventh consecutive year, the LPGA Tour will end its season in Naples at the CME Group Tour Championship, a competition that awards the winner with $1.5 million, the largest single prize in women’s golf history.

2020 will also see the return of the Blue Bay LPGA, which was not conducted in 2019 to transition the competition into a spring time slot. The tournament in the People’s Republic of China will now be held March 5-8 as part of the LPGA Tour’s Spring Asia Swing, following stops in Thailand and Singapore.

The major season will kick off in Rancho Mirage, Calif., with the ANA Inspiration celebrating its 49th year on the Dinah Shore Tournament Course at Mission Hills Country Club. The U.S. Women’s Open, conducted by the USGA, will visit Champions Golf Club in Houston, Texas, while the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship will be held at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pa. The final two majors send the LPGA Tour overseas, with the Evian Championship returning to Evian Resort Golf Club in Evian-les-Bain, France, and the AIG Women’s British Open heading to Royal Troon Golf Club in Troon, Scotland.

In early August, between the Evian Championship and the Aberdeen Standard Investments Ladies Scottish Open, the LPGA Tour will go on hiatus to accommodate the 2020 Olympic Games in Japan. The women’s golf competition will be held Aug. 5-8 at Kasumigaseki Country Club, located 40 miles outside Tokyo. Qualifying for the 60-player field ends following the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, with the top 15 players in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings automatically qualifying for the Games (no more than four players per country). The remaining spots will be awarded to the highest-ranked players from countries that do not already have two qualified players. Weekly Olympic golf rankings are posted every Monday on the International Golf Federation website.

The 2020 UL International Crown will be held Aug. 27-30 at Centurion Club, located outside of London, England. Spain won the inaugural competition in 2014, with the United States winning in 2016 and the Republic of Korea winning in 2018.

The 2020 LPGA Tour season will again feature three season-long races. In its second year, the Aon Risk Reward Challenge will award $1 million to the players on the LPGA and PGA Tours who best navigate risk across the season’s most strategically challenging holes. Carlota Ciganda captured the inaugural title on the LPGA Tour, while Brooks Koepka won on the PGA Tour. For the third consecutive year, the LEADERS Top-10s competition will award $100,000 to the player with the most top-10 finishes, with Ariya Jutanugarn (2018) and Jin Young Ko (2019) earning the first two awards. Finally, the Race to the CME Globe will see the top 60 players following the season’s penultimate event heading to the CME Group Tour Championship with the opportunity to win the $1.5 million winner’s check.

While the overall TV schedule is still being finalized, the 2020 LPGA Tour will see 500 global hours of broadcast coverage, including at least seven events aired on network TV. The Tour will be televised in more than 175 countries and in more than 500 million households.

The Symetra Tour, which is celebrating its 40th season, is still finalizing a schedule that will include at least 20 events for players on the LPGA Tour’s Official Qualifying Tour. Earlier this year, the Symetra Tour announced that the Circling Raven Championship, the first new event of the 2020 campaign, will be held at Circling Raven Golf Club at Coeur d’Alene Casino Resort and Hotel in Worley, Idaho. Since Symetra’s inaugural sponsorship year in 2012, the Symetra Tour has grown from 16 tournaments and $1.7 million in prize money to a record $4 million awarded over the course of 23 tournaments in 2019.

2020 will see a date change for the Senior LPGA Championship presented by Old National Bank. After three years in October, the tournament will move to July 30-Aug. 1, but will remain at the Pete Dye Course at French Lick (Ind.) Resort. Additionally, the LPGA’s Q-Series presented by Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, the two-week qualifying tournament that replaced Stage III of Q School, will be held Oct. 19-31 in Pinehurst, N.C., while the LPGA T&CP National Championship will be held Aug. 31 to Sept. 2 at Reynolds Lake Oconee Golf Course in Greensboro, Ga.

2020 LPGA Tour Schedule (bold = major; italics = new event; * = unofficial money; ** = to be confirmed)

NAPLES, Fla. – Sei Young Kim set a goal of winning three times this year on the LPGA Tour, and she’s down to her last chance.

Reaching the goal would pay off big at the CME Group Tour Championship.

Kim scrambled to keep bogeys off her card Thursday along the back nine at Tiburon Golf Club, and then she pulled away from the pack with one big shot. Her approach on the par-5 17th narrowly stayed on the fringe of the green, and she holed the 12-foot eagle putt that carried her to a 7-under 65 and a two-shot lead in the final LPGA Tour event of the year.

The winner gets $1.5 million, the richest prize in the history of women’s golf.

“This tournament really special,” Kim said. “But I try to just make myself comfortable. I don’t put any extra pressure on myself.”

Nelly Korda, the highest-ranked American at No. 3 in the world ranking, did her best to make sure Kim didn’t get too far away, even after one round. She birdied the par-3 16th, holed a 35-foot eagle putt from just off the 17th green and closed with a 20-foot birdie. That took her from middle of the pack to a 67, leaving her two shots behind.

So Yeon Ryu and Georgia Hall, both past major champions, also were at 67.

“To be honest, this year is one of the worst seasons I’ve ever had,” said Ryu, who has yet to win this year. “So if I can win this tournament, it’s going to be awesome to finish the season, and then I’m not going to complain.”

That’s the effect of $1.5 million, which dwarfs the $1 million payoff at the U.S. Women’s Open, won by Jeongeun Lee6. The next-biggest check in women’s golf was $675,000 at the Women’s British Open.

The change this year at the Tour Championship is that all 60 players who qualified get the $1.5 million if they win the tournament. Previously, it was based on points from earned all season, and only the top 12 were given a shot at the $1 million bonus.

Because the money is official, Jin Young Ko is not assured of capturing the money title even though she has been the best in women’s golf this year. Ko, who won two majors among her four LPGA titles, clinched the LPGA player of the year with three tournaments left, and she leads the money list by more than $700,000.

Playing for the first time since an ankle injury caused her to withdraw in Taiwan three weeks ago, she made her way around Tiburon without a limp, but without many birdies, either. Ko took double bogey on the fourth hole, made her third birdie with a 12-foot putt on the par-3 eighth and closed with 10 pars for a 71.

Still, this day was more about players not shooting themselves out of the tournament.

That’s what Ariya Jutanugarn might have done. She didn’t make a birdie until the final hole to salvage a 76, leaving her 11 shots behind. Jutanugarn has yet to win this season, one year after she swept all the major awards on the LPGA Tour.

Brooke Henderson, one of seven players to win multiple times on the LPGA this year, did well to stay in the mix. She hit a thin 7-iron out of the pine straw on the 15th hole, a bad shot that turned good when it ran on the fast turf of Tiburon between bunkers and onto the green to 12 feet for birdie. She followed that by chipping across the green for a sloppy bogey on the 16th, and then failing to birdie the par-5 17th.

But the Canadian finished with a birdie to join the group at 68, leaving her just three behind with a lot of golf left.

“That made my round feel a lot better,” Henderson said. “I saw Sei Young at minus 7, which is a good score today. The wind was kind of hard to judge at times, but I think once you get on a roll, you can make a lot of birdies out here.”

There’s hope for Henderson and others, and concern that it also applies to Kim, a streaky player who holds the LPGA Tour 72-hole record to par at 31 under.

Defending champion Lexi Thompson made consecutive bogeys on the back nine and had to settle for a 70.

OAKVILLE, Ont. – Today, Hilton (NYSE: HLT) announced a new multi-year integrated partnership with Golf Canada as the official hotel partner for the National Sport Federation and its members.

Hilton is proud to support Canada’s legendary National Open Golf Championships – the RBC Canadian Open and CP Women’s Open. As a result of the partnership, Hilton is now also the official hotel partner for Golf Canada’s National Team Program, Canadian Amateur Golf Championships and the World Junior Girls Championship.

As part of the partnership, Golf Canada members receive access to an array of travel benefits through Hilton including exclusive discounts and special offers.

“We are thrilled to partner with Golf Canada and their world-class golf programs, national team and championships,” said Andrew Flack, vice president, regional marketing & eCommerce Americas, Hilton. “Canada offers golf enthusiasts some of the most pristine courses in the world and we look forward to welcoming golfers from all over the destination with our signature Hilton hospitality.”

“Hilton is deeply engaged, and we are pleased to integrate their commitment to Canadian golf across so many pillars of our organization,” said Laurence Applebaum, CEO of Golf Canada. “Hilton represents the highest quality in hospitality with premium offerings for both serious and recreational golfers. Our robust partnership has a touchpoint with so many levels of Canadian golf and its exciting for our members across Canada to begin accessing a meaningful suite of travel and lifestyle benefits.”

TARRAGONA, Spain – Canadian golfer Aaron Cockerill has earned a European Tour playing card for the 2019-20 season.

The native of Stony Mountain, Man., finished Wednesday’s sixth and final round tied for fifth at the tour’s final qualifying tournament, putting him well inside the top-25 cutoff for a full card.

Cockerill, 27, was 16 under for the tournament, nine strokes behind winner Benjamin Poke of Denmark.

Cockerill played on the Challenge Tour, the top feeder to the European Tour, this year. He finished 49th in the standings.

Cockerill made the trek overseas after spending the past three years on the Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada following a four-year NCAA run at the University of Idaho.

The European Tour often is called the second best tour in the world, behind the PGA Tour.

The 2019-20 season begins Nov. 28-Dec. 1 with the Alfred Dunhill Championship in South Africa.

NAPLES, Fla. – Mike Whan pulled the LPGA Tour out of a deep hole when he took over as a commissioner nine years ago, and he’s not finished yet.

Whan has signed what the LPGA described only as a long-term contract extension that keeps him in charge as women’s golf tries to expand its exposure through a new television deal being negotiated.

Peter Carfagna, the outgoing chairman of the LPGA board of directors, said Wednesday in announcing the extension that Whan has taken the LPGA Tour “from a struggling sports brand to what it is today – a true powerhouse in women’s sports, equality and opportunity.”

“As my tenure on the LPGA board comes to an end, I could not be leaving this organization in better hands,” he said.

Whan took over in September 2010 for Carolyn Bivens following what amounted to a player mutiny over a heavy-handed style that alienated sponsors right about the time the economy went into a recession.

The LPGA had 24 tournaments that year with total official prize money of $41.4 million, and it had 23 events on the 2011 schedule in Whan’s first year. Only one tournament – the U.S. Women’s Open, run by the USGA – had a purse of $3 million or more.

Now, the LPGA is finishing up a season with 32 official events and $70.2 million in prize money. Five tournaments had a total purse of $3 million or more, and the CME Group Tour Championship has $5 million in prize money, with $1.5 million going to the winner, the richest payoff ever in women’s golf.

The LPGA expanded to five majors with the Evian Championship. It joined forces with the PGA of America to reshape another major, the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, held this year at Hazeltine, with future sites at Aronimink and Congressional.

Whan also introduced the International Crown, a biennial competition among eight qualifying countries with four-player teams.

“Ten years ago, I’m not sure many of us would have been bold enough to predict where we are today,” Whan said in a letter to his members, in which he pointed out that 19 of the 33 events on next year’s schedule didn’t exist in 2010. “We have built incredible alliances with many industry stakeholders, who have also helped us to create a stronger LPGA and fuel the growth of young women in the game.”

What said that when he gets asked where he wants to go next in his career, “Three words run through my head: I’m not done.”

The LPGA Tour now has a Tournament of Champions in Florida to start its season, and it has added another Florida event in the spring. It also has three international swings – Asia and Australia in the late winter, Europe in the summer and Asia in the fall.

Even as prize money increases, however, Whan is hopeful of broadening the exposure through television. The Tour Championship, the most significant individual event this side of the majors, is being broadcast on tape delay by Golf Channel until NBC airs the final round live.

The LPGA Tour is using the PGA Tour as its negotiator for the next TV contract, which expires after 2021. The LPGA typically uses an outside agency to help with negotiations, and Whan said this summer no one has been more successful than the PGA Tour.

He also is bullish on trying to persuade more companies to pour sponsorship dollars in the women’s game as they do for the men, either through tournaments or individual players.

“There is no doubt we’re at a tipping point and more executives, shareholders and investors are questioning whether their corporate values are reflected in every aspect of their company, including marketing and sponsorship decisions,” he said in his letter. “Increased corporate support translates into more opportunities for women in golf and more opportunities for female athletes to be seen as role models of confidence, ability and accomplishment.”

LIBERTY CORNER, N.J. and ST ANDREWS, Scotland – The USGA and The R&A today announced the World Amateur Golf Ranking ® (WAGR ®) will be determined by a new system called the Power Method beginning with the first update in January 2020.

The Power Method aims to better reflect the current performance of golfers by placing greater emphasis on current form and results by improving the algorithms used to determine the WAGR.

In the new structure, every event in the world will earn a Power based on the strength of its starting field which will then determine the total number of ranking points on offer to the field. This will extend to a maximum of 1000 for amateur events with players also able to gain ranking points from playing in professional tournaments.

The Power Method can be applied to all competitive events: amateur, professional, stroke play, match play, and can also cater to formats the previous system would not accommodate, such as Stableford.

Ranking points will be allocated to players based on their overall finishing position in the tournament rather than on the previous round-based allocation.

“We are thrilled to introduce the Power Method which will significantly improve the World Amateur Golf Ranking,” said Jeff Holzschuh, Chairman of the WAGR Committee. “We have listened to feedback about WAGR since its inception and we believe this change addresses many of the challenges within the previous system.”

Professor Steve Otto, Director of Equipment Standards and Chief Technology Officer for The R&A, commented, “The simplicity and elegance of the revised WAGR system will be of great benefit to competitive players at every level.

“It will be easier for players to become ranked under the Power Method but with the system recognizing current form and rewarding recent top results it will be tougher to remain ranked compared to the previous system.

“The Power Method will make WAGR a true indication of the ranking of the world’s best and leading amateur golfers.”

To ensure WAGR is truly representative of the current competitive environment, event aging will also be introduced as part of the Power Method to best reflect and reward players’ current form. Points from events within the most recent 52 weeks of a player’s record will count at full value. From there, event points will reduce proportionately, approximately two percent, per week before their removal after 104 weeks.

The divisors under the Power Method will also become event based versus the previous round-based divisor scheme. Like the points, divisors will also be aged after 52 weeks. The new minimum divisors will be seven for women and eight for men. Due to the aging of points and divisors under the Power Method, unlike the previous system, minimum divisors will be the same for newly ranked and long-established players.

“We are grateful to our colleagues at The R&A for their work in developing this effort and their partnership in bringing it to life,” said John Bodenhamer, USGA Senior Managing Director, Championships.

“As we have begun to discuss the upcoming changes to WAGR with various constituents, we have received great feedback and believe this will be very warmly received by players and event organizers.”