DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The LPGA Tour announced today that Ariya Jutanugarn has earned the 2018 Rolex Player of the Year award, the second time in three seasons that the long-hitting Thai has secured this prestigious accolade.

With three events remaining on the 2018 LPGA Tour schedule, Jutanugarn leads the standings with 219 points, 83 ahead of second-placed Sung Hyun Park, and cannot be caught. Minjee Lee is third, with 122 points, and Brooke Henderson is fourth, with 110.

“It feels great to win this award for a second time, and I’m really excited about that,” said Jutanugarn, a 10-time winner on the LPGA Tour who returned to the No. 1 spot in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings on Monday. “I’ve played well this season and it’s a huge honor for me to have my name on this trophy again. I would also like to thank my entire team. I am grateful to be working with all of them, and I am blessed to have my family and my sponsors who believe in me. I would also like to thank all my fans in Thailand. I am really proud to be from Thailand, and to win this prestigious award.”

Jutanugarn has produced electrifying form on the LPGA Tour this year, winning three times and recording 12 additional top-10 finishes in 25 starts. She claimed her first victory of the season in May at the Kingsmill Championship presented by GEICO, then added a second just two starts later at the U.S. Women’s Open, where she edged out Hyo Joo Kim after four extra holes to secure the second major title of her career. Another win followed for Jutanugarn at the Aberdeen Standard Investments Ladies Scottish Open in July, when she fired a 5-under 66 in the final round to triumph by one shot over Minjee Lee.

With three events still to be played this season, Jutanugarn leads the LPGA Tour in multiple statistical categories. She heads the Official Money List with $2,459,240 in season earnings, is No. 1 in scoring average at 69.379 and sets the pace in the CME Race to the Globe standings with 4,002 points. She also leads the way with total birdies (421) and top-10 finishes (15).

Jutanugarn will receive the Rolex Player of the Year award at the 2018 Rolex LPGA Awards ceremony, to be held on Thursday, Nov. 15, at Tiburon Golf Club during the week of the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship.

In 2016, Jutanugarn clinched the Player of the Year award for the first time after a dominant season in which she led the Tour with five victories and recorded 11 additional top-10 finishes. She became only the second player to win the Rolex Player of the Year, Race to the CME Globe and the LPGA Official Money Title in the same season, emulating Lydia Ko (2015).

Since its inception in 1966, there have been 13 multiple winners of the Rolex Player of the Year award: Kathy Whitworth (1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973); Joanne Carner (1974, 1981, 1982); Judy Rankin (1976, 1977); Nancy Lopez (1978, 1979, 1985, 1988); Beth Daniel (1980, 1990, 1994); Betsy King (1984, 1989, 1993); Pat Bradley (1986, 1991); Annika Sorenstam (1995, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005); Karrie Webb (1999, 2000); Lorena Ochoa (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009); Yani Tseng (2010, 2011); Stacy Lewis (2012; 2014); Ariya Jutanugarn (2016, 2018).

This week at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas marks the tour debut for the next generation Titleist Pro V1 and Pro V1x golf balls, available to players for the first time to play in competition. Over the next three days of practice rounds at TPC Summerlin, members of the Titleist Golf Ball R&D team will be busy testing these final Pro V1 and Pro V1x prototypes with players and fitting them into the model that helps them play their best.

Over the years, Titleist’s tour seeding and validation process for new Pro V1 and Pro V1x golf balls has become a holiday of sorts held biennially at the PGA TOUR’s Las Vegas stop, with players arriving to their lockers to find the prototypes in their signature white boxes and sleeves. It was at TPC Summerlin in 2000 that the original Pro V1 prototype was first introduced with 47 players immediately making the switch, including eventual winner Billy Andrade, a historic shift in equipment usage for a single tour event.

This process, which also signals the near conclusion of Titleist’s rigorous two-year golf ball development cycle, continues to be critical step in providing golfers with the best performing golf balls in the game. Earning final validation from the best players in the world ensures that new products are faithful to the Titleist brand promise of innovation, performance, consistency and quality excellence.

PINEHURST, N.C. – It was the start the Canadian LPGA hopefuls were looking for in the newly revamped LPGA Q-Series segment.

Calgary’s Jaclyn Lee leads the way with sole possession of second place through the opening four rounds of play at 9 under par (68-70-70-71). The Team Canada National Amateur Squad athlete is one of 11 amateurs in the field—four of which are inside the top 10. Among them is top-ranked female and 2017 Canadian Women’s Amateur Champion Jennifer Kupcho of Westminster, Colo.

Fellow Canadian Anne-Catherine Tanguay of Quebec City also holds strong positioning at Pinehurst Resort, sitting in solo 10th at 4 under par.

Maude-Aimée LeBlanc of Sherbrooke, Que., is tied for 60th at 9 over.

The 102-player field is in pursuit of the leading Klara Spilkova of Czech Republic. Approximately 45 spots are up for grabs for the 2019 LPGA Tour campaign.

Great first week at #QSeries for @JaclynLee57 and @ACTanguay ! Proud !?? Rest up ????

— Alena Sharp (@AlenaSharp) October 28, 2018

The second week of action will resume from Oct. 31 – Nov. 3 at Pinehurst No. 7.

I haven’t seen No. 7 yet, but I heard that it’s a good course as well. It’s not that we’re starting over next week, but I’m going to kind of view it as starting from day one again,” said Lee, a senior at Ohio State. “I’m excited to go play that course tomorrow and have a good week.”

The field will be 102 players and there will be approximately 45 spots up for grabs for the 2019 season.

Click here for scoring.

JACKSON, Miss. – Cameron Champ’s prodigious drives weren’t finding the fairways during much of Sunday’s final round at the Country Club of Jackson. Even so, he wasn’t fazed.

The 23-year-old was ready to prove he’s more than just a big hitter.

Champ birdied five of the last six holes thanks largely to clutch putting, fending off Canadian Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., to win the Sanderson Farms Championship, recovering for his first PGA TOUR victory after giving up a four-shot lead.

“I’ve kind of been a streaky putter at times, so I’m just trying to slowly grow other parts of my game,” Champ said. “Short game and putting, but mainly putting.”

That hard work on the greens paid off in a big way during a wire-to-wire win. Champ won in his ninth career tour start, closing with a 4-under 68 for a four-stroke victory. He finished at 21-under 267.

The rookie has made a name for himself during his short career by being extremely long off the tee, but it was his putter that saved him on Sunday. He made a 38-foot birdie putt on the par-4 16th that gave him a two-shot lead and saved par on No. 17 with a 15-footer.

“Just to see those putts go in and the confidence it gives me through the rest of my game really helped this week,” Champ said.

Champ played on Sunday with his backup driver after snapping the head of his regular driver during pre-round warmups. He said the switch didn’t have much of an effect, instead attributing his accuracy issues off the tee to adrenaline.

“The front side, there were some nerves,” Champ said. “But on the back side I brought it all together and finished strong. It was awesome.”

Champ began the day four shots ahead, but played the front nine in 1 over to fall into a tie. He cruised through the first six holes at 1 under, but back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 7 and 8 brought him back to the pack.

While Champ was struggling, Conners, a product of the Canadian national team, was surging on a warm day in central Mississippi that saw temperatures climb into the 80s. The 26-year-old Canadian had three birdies on the front nine, and his birdie putt on the par-4 No. 9 had him in serious contention.

 

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Shoutout to Canadian @coreyconners on a solid runner-up finish at the @sanderson_champ ????

A post shared by RBC Canadian Open (@rbccanadianopen) on Oct 28, 2018 at 2:46pm PDT

Champ and Conners then engaged in a tense back-and-forth for much of the back nine before Champ’s run of four straight birdies starting on the 13th.

Even with that impressive stretch, Champ could only push ahead by two shots because Conners birdied two of those four holes as well.

But Conners missed a 7-foot eagle putt on the short par-4 15th that proved costly. He finished with a 68 en route to collecting his best career finish on the PGA TOUR.

Another thrilling run by Canada’s @coreconn with a 2nd place #PGATOUR finish. It’s only a matter of time, CC!

Until next time ???? pic.twitter.com/T3VdDTkT8C

— Golf Canada (@GolfCanada) October 28, 2018

Carlos Ortiz (64) and Sam Burns (68) were six shots back.

Nick Taylor (69) of Abbotsford, B.C., finished tied for 26th at 8 under. Ben Silverman (71) of Thornhill, Ont., tied for 39th with Adam Svensson (68) of Surrey, B.C.

Champ closed out his victory with one final stunning moment on No. 18. After another long, wayward drive, he punched a 158-yard recovery shot from the left rough that stopped just 7 feet from the hole. No surprise: He made the putt for yet another birdie.

Champ earned $792,000 and 300 FedExCup points, and he’ll be fully exempt on the PGA Tour through the 2020-21 season. The victory does not earn him an invitation to the Masters because the event was held opposite the World Golf Championship in Shanghai, but he’ll have plenty more opportunities to make his way to Augusta National.

TAOYUAN, Taiwan – Nelly Korda shot a 4-under 68 to win the Taiwan Championship on Sunday for her first LPGA tour title.

Korda – the younger sister of Jessica Korda, who has won five titles on the LPGA tour – had an eagle on the par-5 sixth hole and added two more birdies at the Ta Shee Golf and Country Club to finish at 13-under 275. She was two strokes ahead of Minjee Lee, who shot a bogey-free 66.

“Truthfully, I cannot put it into words,” Korda said. “It still hasn’t hit. It’s definitely one of the best days of my entire life. I can finally check that off of my list, winning an LPGA event, something that I dreamed of ever since I started playing.”

Korda got her first birdie of the day on the par-4 No. 4 before the eagle on the sixth hole.

“I was hitting it really well on the front nine,” Korda said. “I mean, I played really solid. No. 4 is definitely probably one of the hardest holes on this golf course because you have such a long approachnto the green.”

Ryann O’Toole carded seven birdies – including four of the last five holes – against a pair of bogeys for a 67 and sole possession of third place at 10-under 278.

“I just put myself in position and made putts,” O’Toole said. “I bogeyed the first hole and I think the best thing I could have done was stay in the moment after that.”

Carlota Ciganda offset two bogeys with five birdies for a 69 that left her tied for fourth with Megan Khang (71).

Local favourite Wei-Ling Hsu, who held a share of the lead with Korda after the third round, had five bogeys and closed with a 74 to finish tied for sixth with Lydia Ko (72).

Canadian Brooke Henderson (75) tied for 38th.

SHANGHAI – Xander Schauffele gave the Americans a sweep of the World Golf Championships and quickly put a winless sophomore season behind him.

Schauffele made birdie on his final three holes Sunday, the last one a two-putt birdie from about 30 feet on the par-5 18th hole to beat Tony Finau in a sudden-death playoff and win the HSBC Champions.

“When I was signing my card, I was like, ‘Oh, wow. I actually went birdie-birdie to get in the playoff,” Schauffele said. “I was just in my own world out there.”

He began the tournament by celebrating his 25th birthday. He ended it with one clutch shot after another in the closing stretch at Sheshan International for a 4-under 68, the lowest score of the final round, and his first victory in 13 months.

Schauffele won twice in his first year on the PGA Tour to win rookie of the year. Last season featured high finishes, but only one good chance at winning when he was a runner-up in the British Open at Carnoustie.

Now he has three victories, the last two at the Tour Championship to end the 2017 season and now a World Golf Championship.

Finau, who started the final round with a three-shot lead in his bid for a second PGA Tour-sanctioned victory, was ahead by one shot until Schauffele made an 18-foot birdie putt on the par-3 17th, only the fourth player to make birdie on that hole Sunday.

Defending champion Justin Rose missed a 10-foot birdie chance on the 17th and went to the final hole two shots behind. Trying to make eagle, he went from the bunker to the rough to over the green and into the water, making a bogey for a 72 to finish four shots behind.

That meant Brooks Koepka, who closed with a 69 and tied for 16th, stayed at No. 1 in the world for at least another week.

Then, it was a battle between the two Americans.

Finau faced a risky shot from his ball sitting high in the rough by going for the green. It narrowly cleared the water, leaving him an eagle putt from about 35 feet that he placed to a few feet from the cup. Schauffele’s second shot into the par-5 18th landed on the putting surface and rolled just over the back as the 25-year-old American said, “Sit!” six times before it settled just off the green.

He ran his eagle putt 3 feet by and made that for birdie. He and Finau finished at 14-under 274.

In the playoff, Schauffele again hit the fairway and hit a 5-iron to the middle of the green. Finau went into the face of the bunker on the left, had no choice but to lay up, and his third shot was 20 feet on the fringe. He missed his birdie putt to extend the playoff.

“Definitely feel like I let one get away,” said Finau, whose only PGA Tour victory was at the Puerto Rico Open two years ago. “Xander played incredible golf today. It was playing tough out there. He posted a number and made birdie on a playoff hole when it counted. Hats off to him. He played nicely today and deserved to win.”

The United States becomes the first country to have four players win the four World Golf Championships. Phil Mickelson won the Mexico Championship, Bubba Watson won the Dell Match Play and Justin Thomas won the Bridgestone Invitational.

The Americans also won all four WGCs in 2013 when Tiger Woods won two of them, Matt Kuchar won the Match Play and Dustin Johnson won in Shanghai. Americans now have won 41 of the 69 events since the World Golf Championships series began in 1999. Woods has won 18 of them.

Rose was trying to join Woods as the only players to successfully defend a WGC title – Woods has done it eight times – and birdied the 13th and 14th holes to pull within one shot of the lead. But he misfired from the fairway on the 15th into a bunker and made bogey, and he couldn’t catch up.

He needed to finish second alone to replace Koepka at No. 1 in the world.

“Tough day for everybody,” Rose said, alluding to only three players shooting in the 60s in the final round. “You just look at the scoreboard. Seems like everyone fell apart. It was a three-horse race all day. It was hard to keep the mistakes off the card completely today.”

He gets another chance to go back to No. 1 when he defends his title in the Turkish Airlines Open next week.

Rose’s third shot to the 18th nicked Schauffele’s ball, sending both balls down the slope and into the water. Schauffele was allowed to replace his ball without penalty, though it was an indication how close his shot was from trickling down the hill and into the water, which would have cost him the tournament.

Schauffele, under strong consideration but left off the Ryder Cup team as a captain’s pick, moved to No. 12 in the world.

Canadian Adam Hadwin (75) tied for 30th.

Kiradech Aphibarnrat (71) and Andrew Putnam (72) tied for fourth. Putnam was making his debut in the World Golf Championships.

JACKSON, Miss. – Cameron Champ shot an 8-under 64 on Saturday to open a four-stroke lead in the Sanderson Farms Championship.

Champ has held at least a share of the lead all three days at Country Club of Jackson, opening with a 65 and shooting a 70 on Friday. Averaging a field-best 306.7 yards of–f the tee, the 23-year-old PGA Tour rookie has hit 44 of 54 greens in regulation. On Saturday, he hit 15 of 18 and had just 25 putts.

“Obviously, today went great,” Champ said. “I executed all the shots that I wanted to … and just kept up with my game plan. Took advantage of the par 5s, made the putts when I needed to. I was just able to give myself a lot of chances.”

Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., was second, matching Champ with a 64 to get to 13 under.

“I just tried to keep the pedal down,” Conners said. “I was hitting the ball really well, so I just tried to stay aggressive. I didn’t hit quite as many fairways toward the end, but I was able to still score the ball pretty well.”

Nick Taylor (71) of Abbotsford, B.C., and Ben Silverman (71) of Thornhill, Ont., were tied for 36th at 5 under. Adam Svensson (72) of Surrey, B.C., was tied for 58th.

D.J. Trahan, the 2006 winner when the event was the Southern Farm Bureau Classic, was five strokes back with Shawn Stefani. Trahan shot 67, and Stefani had a 68.

“Unless (Champ) decides to come back to the field, somebody is going to have to run hard to catch him,” Trahan said. “That’s really good golf. I mean, what was he, 9-under to start the day? Yeah, that’s amazing golf right there.”

Norman Xiong, the 19-year-old who was tied with Champ for the second-round lead, had a 76 to drop into a tie for 36th at 5 under.

PINEHURST, N.C. – The rain-delayed third round didn’t seem to cause Canadian LPGA hopeful skip a beat on Satuday as the duo picked up right where they left off.

Team Canada National Amateur team athlete Jaclyn Lee has strung together three consistent rounds (68-70-70) to sit at 8 under par, three off the pace. Lee, a senior at Ohio State, had an up-and-down round that featured an eagle and three birdies against three consecutive bogeys. The Calgary native is one of 11 amateurs in the field this week at Pinehurst Resort.

Fellow countrywoman Anne-Catherine Tanguay had similar fortunes in the third round. The Quebec City native posted six birdies on the day before giving three strokes back with a triple-bogey on her final hole of the day. The 24-year-old holds a share of 5th place at 3 under par.

One of @ACTanguay’s six birdies on the day at LPGA #QSeries. The #TeamCanada Young Pro Squad member sits T5 through 3 rounds ???? pic.twitter.com/J5S4EDALM6

— Golf Canada (@GolfCanada) October 27, 2018

Czech Republic’s Klara Spilkova paces the field at 11 under par (70-66-69).

Maude-Aimée LeBlanc of Sherbrooke, Que., continues her fight to get into contention. She currently sits well back in a tie for T59 at 7 over par.

The field will be 102 players and there will be approximately 45 spots up for grabs for the 2019 season.

Click here for scoring.

TAOYUAN CITY, Taiwan – Nelly Korda shot a 3-under 69 to share the lead with Wei-Ling Hsu after three rounds of the LPGA Taiwan Championship on Saturday.

Playing in front of a home crowd, Hsu finished with an even-72 on Saturday after shooting 68 and 67 in the first two rounds.

Korda and Hsu have a total of 9-under 207 and both will be looking for their first LPGA titles in Sunday’s final round at the Ta Shee Golf and Country Club.

“I think I’ll definitely be a little nervous,” Korda said of Sunday’s round. “Anyone who is in contention on a Sunday will obviously feel those types of feelings. But I’ll also be excited and just happy to be in that position.”

Korda will be playing in the final round with Hsu, who she knows will be the crowd favourite.

“Wei-Ling was playing right behind me (today), but you heard a couple roars,” she said. “I think it’s awesome to see how much they support women’s golf out here and just how they support a home player is really great. It’s really nice to see.”

Korda, the sister of fellow LPGA player Jessica Korda, dropped a shot on No. 13 but birdied two of the last five holes to move into a tie atop the leaderboard.

Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., put up a 1-over 73 to sit in a tie for 25th. The 21-year-old will look to rebound in Sunday’s final round at 8:44 a.m. local time.

Five players are within two shots of the leaders: Jin Young Ko (69), Bronte Law (69), Megan Khang (70), Lydia Ko (72) and Jodi Ewart Shadoff (73).

“There’s a lot of girls stacked up on the leaderboard,” Korda said. “So you know, I’m just going to be one of those girls that’s fighting for it.’

SHANGHAI – Tony Finau struggled for so much of Saturday in the HSBC Champions that he was hopeful of a strong finish to carry some momentum into the final round.

He got much more than he imagined.

Finau closed with three straight birdies for a 2-under 70 and kept his three-shot lead because of a late collapse by Justin Rose, who played the final two holes in five more shots than Finau required.

“There was no need to panic,” Finau said. “Just play some good golf coming down the stretch, and I was able to do that.”

Finau was at 13-under 203 and led by three over Justin Rose, Masters champion Patrick Reed and Xander Schauffele.

Finau was on the verge of falling three shots behind on the 16th hole after Rose had pitched to within 3 feet for a birdie, and Finau hit wedge that came up well short. He rolled in a 20-foot birdie putt from off the green to stay within two shots, hit a tee shot that rolled to within 18 inches of the cup for a short birdie on the par-3 17th, and then holed a 12-foot birdie putt on the 18th.

Rose wasted a great round with a sloppy finish and had to settle for a 70.

He was two shots ahead going to the 17th when his tee shot went off the side of a hill and into a hazard, leading to double bogey. Then, his 4-iron to the par-5 18th was too far right and tumbled down the hill and into the water. He had a chance to save par until missing a 4-foot putt.

“Three back going into tomorrow, which is not exactly how it looked like it was going to be with a couple holes to play,” Rose said. “There are three guys at 10 under who are all going to be chasing pretty hard, but nothing to lose tomorrow. It’s going to take a good round. I’m playing well, feeling good. Just got to put that last couple holes behind me and come out a little bit angry tomorrow.”

Reed didn’t make a par over the last six holes, with four birdies and two bogeys. He missed a 15-foot eagle chance on the reachable par-4 16th, and then peeled his tee shot to the right down the slope into the hazard on the 17th to make bogey. A short birdie on the 18th gave him a 70.

But the real collapse came from Rose, who had led since a short birdie on the seventh hole and appeared to be in complete control of his game.

And then it was gone.

His double bogey on the 17th hole sent him from a two-shot lead to a one-shot deficit, and then he compounded it with another mistake on the 18th. Rose played the final two holes at Sheshan International in 11 shots compared to Finau’s six.

Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., recorded a 2-over 74 to slip to even par through three rounds.

Schauffele rolled in a long birdie putt on the 16th and momentum until his second shot went into the water on the 18th, though he scrambled for par for a 69.

Andrew Putnam, playing in his first World Golf Championship, had a 67 and was five shots behind, along with Tommy Fleetwood (72). Fleetwood was two shots behind until he chopped up the par-5 14th hole, three-putting from 12 feet for a triple bogey.

Rory McIlroy also had an 8 on the 14th hole as he continued a big slide with a 75, leaving him 21 shots behind Finau. It not only was the second triple bogey this week for McIlroy, he has had five scores of 6 or higher on his card this week.

Brooks Koepka, in his debut at No. 1 in the world, had a 71 and was 14 shots behind.

Finau’s only victory was in 2016 at the Puerto Rico Open, an event held opposite the Match Play in Texas. He had a three-shot lead going into the weekend, which was gone when he missed a short par putt on the fifth hole and failed to convert a 5-foot birdie putt on No. 7 as Rose was making his move.

The 29-year-old American took only four putts over the last four holes, starting with a tough up-and-down from a bunker behind the 15th green that barely reached the fringe and trickled down to about 4 feet.

By the end of the round, everything was going his way. Not only did he hit a flawless tee shot into short range on the 17th, he got away with a poor tee shot into a bunker on the 18th and a shot that left him a lot farther from the green than he wanted. No matter. He made the putt and was on the verge of getting a victory to go with his consistent play this year.

“I’m looking forward to tomorrow,” Finau said. “I’ve got a world-class field chasing after me. This is the position you want to be in and I’ll be looking to close out my first tournament in this position, which is exciting for me. … I’m going to have fun no matter the outcome and hopefully make a lot of birdies and have those guys have to do something special tomorrow to beat me.”