Six different LPGA Tour players - Jiyai Shin (South Korea),Suzann Pettersen (Norway), Cristie Kerr (United States), Yani Tseng (Taiwan), Na Yeon Choi (South Korea) andAi Miyazato (Japan) - are fighting to the end for the most coveted awards on the LPGA Tour. The battle forRolex Rankings No. 1, Rolex Player of the Year, Vare Trophy and the LPGA money title will culminate at the season-finale LPGA Tour Championship at Grand Cypress Golf Club in Orlando, Florida, December 2nd -5th, 2010.
With one event remaining on the LPGA Tour schedule, Shin, Pettersen, Kerr, Tseng, Choi and Miyazato remain tightly wound in the fight for the No. 1 position in the Rolex Rankings. Despite not competing this week, Shin maintained the No. 1 spot for the third consecutive week. She holds a .49 margin over No. 2 Pettersen who jumped up three spots in the Rankings after claiming her sixth runner-up finish in 2010 at the Lorena Ochoa Invitational. Kerr, who has made three separate trips to the top spot this year, is No. 3. Tseng is No. 4. Relative newcomer to the mix Choi is No. 5, while the world's former No. 1 for 11 weeks this season Miyazato is No. 6. The battle for No. 1 has been hotly contested all season and has changed hands nine times between three players (Shin, Kerr and Miyazato) since Lorena Ochoa retired in May.
Five of the six players (Tseng, Miyazato, Choi, Kerr and Shin) in the Rolex Rankings No. 1 race also have a chance to still claim the Rolex Player of the Year award. Since winning her second major championship of the year at the RICOH Women's British Open, Tseng has been the race's front-runner. Tseng, who did not earn points this week in Mexico, yielded some ground to Miyazato, Kerr and Choi. Kerr made the biggest gain earning seven points for finishing tied for fourth. Miyazato picked up five points for sixth, while Choi secured four points for her tie for seventh-place showing. Rolex Player of the Year points are only awarded to players finishing in the top 10. A win carries a point value of 30.
Choi holds the lead in the remaining two year-ending LPGA contests - Vare Trophy for lowest scoring average and the LPGA official money list. Choi is averaging 69.77 strokes per round, a mere .09 lower than Kerr, making the Vare Trophy contest nearly a dead heat. Two other players own scoring averages below 70.00 - Pettersen (69.92) and Shin (69.95), while seven additional players are averaging less than 71.00 strokes per round. The last time more than one LPGA player finished the season with a scoring average below 70.00 was in 2006, when Ochoa and Annika Sorenstam finished one, two in the race.
The battle for the LPGA official money list title has come down to a two-player race between Choi and Shin. Choi holds a slim $34,790 lead over Shin who is attempting to win back-to-back money titles. Shin was both the LPGA money leader and Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year in 2009.
While Spain's Azahara Munoz already clinched the 2010 Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year race, runner-up honours are still up for grabs. Beatriz Recari (Spain), Gwladys Nocera (France) and Amanda Blumenherst (United States) currently stand within 19 points of one another for second place.
