Ariya Eyes on 2016 Player of the Year Award.
World No 2 Ariya Jutanugarn has several season-long rewards up for grabs this week which includes her most desirable Player of the Year title as she tees off today in the CME Group Tour Championship in Naples, Florida.
The winner of five LPGA titles in 2016 are in the running towards the Race to CME Globe Points Standings with a million dollar up for grab for this week’s winner, the No 1 position on the Money Leader and the Player of the Year which she craves for the most.
“It’s going to be a great honour for me to win the Player of the Year award because it is really hard to win,” said Ariya during a pre-tournament press conference interview on Tuesday.
It only comes down to between the 20-year-old Thai and the world No 1 Lydia Ko of New Zealand as the only candidates for this award. Ariya is now leading 261-247 points against Ko who needs a victory at the par 74 6,540 Tiburon Golf Club this week to beat the Thai rival for this title.
In terms of the Race to the CME Globe, the world top nine players have mathematical chance to win the US$1 Million bonus based on various scenarios. But the trio of Ariya Jutanugarn, Ko and Brooke Henderson of Canada will automatically win the Race with a win at the Tour Championship.
Ariya is also a strong candidate in the Official Money List race with the 2016’s top total gross of US$2,475,218 while Ko is at second with US$ 2,457,913. She just has to finish better than Ko on Sunday to snatch this race.
Although the Thai star has been neck-and-neck with Ko in all the three races, she never regarded Ko, who is one of her close buddies on the tour, as rivalry.
“I have been playing with her a lot this year and it’s very competitive. But it’s been like this since we were in the juniors. So we don’t try to beat each other. We just want to have fun on courses. ,” Ariya said.
By adopting positive attitude into her game, Ariya who smirks before each putt has a breakthrough season by sweeping three of her first titles May before claiming her maiden Major at the British Open and the latest win at the Canadian Open.
“I try to be happy with everything not just golf. Even if I hit bad shots, I try to be happy as I can learn from that shot. It inspires me to hit a better shot next time,” she said.
A win on Sunday cannot be a better way to finish the season for Ariya who she wishes to dedicate the title for His Majesty the late King Bhumibol.
“If I win this week, I will dedicate it for the king and make Thai people happy . I want to bring smile back to the Thai people. “
