The prizes were shared around following the final tournament of the 2016 LPGA Tour but arguably the happiest person in Florida was Ariya Jutanugarn. The Thai star won the Player of the Year, money title and Race to CME Globe – the latter accompanied by a $1 million bonus. After five victories during the main season, a fourth place in the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship was enough to give her the edge against main rival and world number one Lydia Ko, who stumbled over the weekend and finished 11 strokes behind Ariya at the Tiburon Golf Club. Later, she said her goals moving forward were simple. “Just try to win more tournaments and have some fun.”
On Sunday Ko played with In Gee Chun, who birdied the final three holes to beat the New Zealander for the Vare Trophy, which is awarded to the golfer on the LPGA Tour with the lowest scoring average for the season. Chun also became the first player since Nancy Lopez to win both Rookie of the Year and Vare Trophy honours in the same season.
Finally, 2015 rookie Charley Hull won the closing event for her first title on the LPGA Tour. "Yeah, it's a pretty cool feeling. Hasn't quite sunk in yet, but I last won on the LET, the European Tour, like two years ago. Had that dry like patch for a few years. Feels good now to get a win."
