Norwegian golfer Suzann Pettersen competes during the third day of the LPGA Lorena Ochoa Invitational tournament at the Guadalajara Golf and Country Club, in Guadalajara, Mexico, last week. (EPA)
Park In-Bee has locked up LPGA Player of the Year honours, but Suzann Pettersen has Park’s world number one ranking in her sights as the season concludes with the Titleholders.
Park, Pettersen, and world number three Stacy Lewis headline the field for the season finale, which features players who have notched top-three finishes this year.
The elite field will also feature sensational New Zealand teenager Lydia Ko, who will be making her professional debut.
The 16-year-old, who won a second straight Canadian Women’s Open crown this year, announced last month she was turning pro. She’ll be an LPGA tour member next season, but will start her professional career chasing a first prize of $700,000 at the Tiburon Golf Club at the Ritz Carlton Resort.
The sizeable first-place cheque means the 2013 money title is still up for grabs. Park tops the list with $2,393,513 in winnings. Pettersen trails her by $109,187 and Lewis, too, could seize the money title with a victory.
Lewis goes into the final event leading the race for the Vare trophy for lowest scoring average, while Germany’s Caroline Masson leads the Rookie of the Year race and will be trying to hold off Thailand’s Moriya Jutanugarn. Jutanugarn is just 11 points behind Masson for the award, while Japan’s Ayako Uehara is a distant third in the chase and would need a win to have a chance to claim the honour.
World number six Choi Na-Yeon will defend her title, seeking a first win of a 2013 campaign that has included eight top-10 finishes. Those top-10s included runner-up finishes at the Women’s British Open and HSBC Women’s Champions.
“Actually some people ask me are you like in a slump or something because they always look at all the results,” Choi said. “I haven’t won this year, but I think I’m still doing really good.”
Nevertheless, Park, Pettersen and Lewis have separated themselves from the rest.
Park’s six victories included the first three major championships of the season, while Pettersen used a disappointing missed cut at the US Women’s Open as motivation to fuel a late-season surge that has included a major title at the Evian Championship.
Even if she doesn’t knock Park from the number one perch this year, Pettersen is confident golf’s summit is within her reach.
“I know I’m going to get there eventually, but I just don’t want to get there and disappear, I want to get there and dominate. So if it happens now, if it happens in January, if it happens in two years, I’m really laid back to it because I know I’m good enough to be there and it’s definitely one of my main goals,” Pettersen said.