NAPLES, Fla. – Sunday upsets are rare at the LPGA season-ender.
Lydia Ko owns the largest come-from-behind victory at the CME Group Tour Championship, coming from three back to claim the title in 2014. Since then, every winner of the CME has held at least a share of lead heading into Sunday at Tiburon Golf Club with the exception of Jin Young Ko, who came from one shot back in 2020.
While that doesn’t bode well for the chasers in Naples, Florida, it’s also worth noting that no overnight leader has gone to bed thinking about a $4 million paycheck. This is unchartered territory in the women’s game.
Lydia Ko of New Zealand sits on a stack of one million dollars in cash with the CME Tour Championship trophy and the CME Race for the Globe trophy following the final round of the CME Group Tour Championship at Tiburon Golf Club on November 23, 2014 in Naples, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
For perspective, Lorena Ochoa owns the single-season earnings record at $4,364,994. That came in 2007 after Ochoa won eight times on the LPGA.
Ko, a two-time winner of the CME, said the money is the last thing on her mind this week. She simply wants to finish the season on a high note. A third-round 67 puts her at 8 under for the tournament and seven back of leaders Angel Yin and Jeeno Thitikul, who shot 9-under 63 to top the board at 15 under.
“I know [when] I won a few events – I had no idea how much the winning purse is,” said Ko when asked about if there was a check earlier in her career that was particularly impactful. “Obviously what Terry [Duffy] has done to give this kind of opportunity and the biggest purse that women’s golfers are playing for is unbelievable.
“He keeps breaking his own record and just keeps going up there. I’m excited to see how far women’s golf is going to go and I think I we deserve that. Not only in my generation, but for the future generations that are out here watching us play.
“But yeah … I think the coolest moment was when I guess there was that $1 million in that glass box. I remember taking a photo of it, sitting on it. That was a really cool moment.”
Five players are within five shots of the lead, including Ruoning Yin at 12 under, Charley Hull and Narin An at 11 under and Lucy Li and Nataliya Guseva at 10 under.