Pannakorn, the 2017 ADT Order of Merit champion, closed with two straight birdies to sign for a two-under-par 70 and a winning total of 14-under 272 at the Kota Seriemas Golf and Country Club located in Nilai.

Local hopeful Leunkwang Kim, who shared the third-round lead with Pannakorn, settled for a three-way tie for second place with compatriot M. Sasidaran and Order of Merit leader Naoki Sekito of Japan after he could only muster a 73 to finish on 11-under-par 277.

Thailand’s Chonlatit Chuenboonngam and Justin De Los Santos of the Philippines both carded matching 71s to finish six shots back in fifth place at the US$54,000 event, which is the third last stop of the 19-event Tour schedule this season.

Pannakorn and Kim got the finale off to a fine start by picking up shot in their opening holes but it was the Thai who edged ahead after Kim fumbled on the second.

Although dropping a shot on hole four, Pannakorn would bounce back later on nine and 11 to open up a three-shot cushion at that point.

Not to be outdone, Kim, who had three blemishes in the first nine, charged back into contention right after the turn by firing five birdies against one bogey to draw level with Pannakorn on 13-under through 15 holes.

Pannakorn, on the other hand, had bogeys on 13 and 15.

But Kim’s hopes of adding a second ADT title to the PGM MNRB ADT Championship in September had immediately gone up in smoke when he squandered three shots over the next two holes, including a double bogey on 16.

With the pressure’s off, a buoyed Pannakorn finished off in style by sinking two back-to-back long birdie putts in the last two holes.

“I’m so happy today. This is the second time I have won this season (after the PGM Johor ADT Championship), and a third overall on the ADT.

“I didn’t play too good in the middle, but it’s okay because I managed to finish strongly.

“When Kim fumbled and I had my lead restored, I knew I had to make the opportunity counts.

“And it’s nice to finish off with two birdies. On 17, it was downhill from about 15 feet and the 18 was even more memorable as I rolled it up the slope from more than 30 feet.

“My ball-striking wasn’t the greatest this week, but I made a lot of good putts. My hot putter made the difference.

A cool US$9,529 winner’s cheque has propelled Pannakorn to second on the Order of Merit, giving him a mathematical chance to become the first ever golfer to top the ADT money list twice.

But it will be a monumental task as Pannakorn must win the remaining two events in the schedule whilst hoping Sekito, who leads by US$20,000, to miss cut in both tournaments.

“Winning the Order of Merit again? Maybe not as Sekito is really too far ahead for me to catch. But if I can win the next tournament, then we’ll see.

“But all that matters to me is to remain in the top seven until the end of the season. Now that I have gone up to second, I think I have a really good chance to secure my Asian Tour card.”

Leading final round scores

274 – Pannakorn Uthaipas (THA) 66-65-73-70

277 – M. Sasidaran (MAS) 67-72-72-66, Naoki Sekito (JPN) 65-72-69-71, Leungkwang Kim (MAS) 63-69-72-73

280 – Chonlatit Chuenboonngam (THA) 70-69-70-71, Justin De Los Santos (PHI) 69-70-70-71

281 – Chinnarat Phadungsil (THA) 71-70-70-70, Seung Park (KOR) 72-68-70-71, Gregory Foo (SGP) 68-69-72-72

282 – Sam Gillis (USA) 72-73-70-67

283 – Sam Lee (FIJ) 70-68-76-69, Airil Zahari (MAS) 67-69-73-74

284 – Sukree Othman (MAS) 71-73-70-70

285 – Nirun Sae-Ueng (THA) 71-70-74-70, Tenka Terada (JPN) 71-71-73-70

. At -12 overall, she sits two strokes clear of Caroline Masson at -10.

Kim, 26, carded six birdies and just one bogey on Friday. She capped her round with a short birdie putt at No. 18 after stuffing her approach within 2 feet.

“The last couple holes I got a little nervous because I wanted another low score,” said Kim, who tied the tournament’s 36-hole scoring record at 132. “But I think that thinking made myself a little bit of extra nervous. Tomorrow I just try and relax and then have fun.”

Masson came into the CME Group Tour Championship off a runner-up finish three weeks ago at the Taiwan Swinging Skirts LPGA presented by CTBC, her best finish of 2019. The seventh-year LPGA Tour player, a native of Germany who now makes her home on Florida’s eastern coast, has never finished better than 35th in her six previous CME Group Tour Championship appearances. So sitting at -10 through 36 holes is a welcome change of pace for Masson.

“I’ve been here seven years now. It’s a lot of experience, and I feel like that always helps,” said Masson, who birdied No. 18 to pull into solo second with a second-round 66. “Certainly helps living in Florida, I think, getting really used to the grass, to the grain, that kind of stuff. But I just think overall I’m just playing really well right now.”

After opening with a double bogey on the first hole, Brooke Henderson carded seven birdies, including five of her final seven holes, for a 5-under 67. She heads to the weekend at -9 overall, tied for third with Nelly Korda, who finished second at this event in 2018. Australian Su Oh, looking for the first win of her LPGA Tour career, rounds out the top five at -8 after Friday’s round of 67. Defending CME Group Tour Championship winner Lexi Thompson shot a second-round 67 and heads into the weekend in a tie for sixth at -7 with Yu Liu and Jessica Korda.

Following the TOTO Japan Classic, the CME Group Tour Championship field was set to the top 60 players in the Race to the CME Globe. All 60 players are in this week’s field, with a 72-hole, no-cut competition. Starting in 2019, the purse for the CME Group Tour Championship was elevated to $5 million. The winner will receive $1.5 million, the largest single prize in the history of women’s professional golf, as well as the title of Race to the CME Globe Champion.

CAROLINE MASSON OFF AND RUNNING IN NAPLES

Caroline Masson came into the CME Group Tour Championship after a two-week break. She said she needed the time to adjust after the Tour’s Asia swing, which included a runner-up performance at the Taiwan Swinging Skirts LPGA presented by CTBC. Masson said it was important not to overdo it with the stakes so high at this year’s season-ending event. With a second-round 66, she showed no signs of rust as she sits in solo second at -10, two shots behind leader Sei Young Kim.

“I’ve played really solid really the last few weeks and also the last couple days. Just giving myself a lot of birdie chances. You know, you make some, you miss some,” said Masson, who has never finished better than 35th in Naples.

Masson is bogey-free through 34 consecutive holes, with her lone bogey of the tournament coming on the second hole of the first round. She posted six birdies today, including a long putt on No. 18 to finish off strong.

“That’s a tough hole. Today the wind seemed to be a little bit into, so playing longer. I hit a 4-iron in there, which is a long club to come in with, and hit a really good shot. Just went over the green just a little bit, which it’s not awful but it’s not easy coming through the fringe which is very grainy and downhill after that. To be honest, I hit it a little bit hard. It was tracking, though. It was on line and hit the pin and went in,” said Masson. “Just the little luck that you need sometimes, and I feel like I earned that this week giving myself chances, and once in a while you make one of these, and it really feels really good.”

JEONGEUN LEE6 RIDES AWARD-WINNING HIGH TO SECOND-ROUND SUCCESS

Thursday night’s Rolex LPGA Awards were a celebration of a historic year on the LPGA Tour. Perhaps the most memorable moment of the night came when 2019 U.S. Women’s Open winner Jeongeun Lee6 accepted the Rolex Louise Suggs Rookie of the Year with a painstakingly memorized English speech. Lee6, who is working on her English skills but is still most comfortable conversing in her native Korean language, was brought to tears by the immediate standing ovation she received and said she even heard about her speech from fans during her round on Friday.

“A lot of people this morning were cheering and then they were congratulating me,” said Lee6. “They saw that, oh, she did really well with the speech, and I felt really good about it.”

Those good vibes carried over into Lee6’s second round at the CME Group Tour Championship. The 23-year-old from outside Seoul, Republic of Korea, followed up a first-round 72 with a round of 5-under 67 on Friday, carding six birdies to one bogey.

“I felt like really good feelings about today, so my shots and my putting were good so far,” said Lee6, who hit all 14 fairways on Friday. “I kind of want to try my best I can for the last two rounds.”

YU LIU ENJOYING LONG-EARNED LPGA TOUR COMFORT

2019 has been a breakout sophomore season for Yu Liu. While she has not found the winner’s circle, the 24-year-old from Beijing has earned seven top-10 finishes, including a tie for second at the Bank of Hope Founders Cup and a tie for fifth at the U.S. Women’s Open, where she played in Sunday’s final group. The lanky player is third on Tour in greens in regulation at 76.3% and came into this week’s CME Group Tour Championship third in birdies with 374.

Liu added 11 birdies to that tally over her first two rounds of the CME Group Tour Championship, carding rounds of 71 and 66 to sit tied for sixth at -7, four strokes behind leader Sei Young Kim. She points to a growing level of comfort with life on the LPGA Tour as the prime reason for her improved play.

“I just feel like I’ve been getting a lot more settled in on the Tour, just getting myself adjusted well to the life out here and getting used to playing with the big names,” said Liu, who spent one season at Duke University before turning professional in 2014. “The first year I was a little scared, I don’t know, here and there… I had a pretty nice pairing today playing with Sung Hyun (Park) and Amy (Olson). They’re both very top players in the world. Yeah, but I was feeling very comfortable out there, so I think that was the biggest adjustment.”

SU OH ENJOYING THE BRIGHT LIGHTS IN NAPLES

On day two of the CME Group Tour Championship at Tiburon Golf Club, Su Oh recorded seven birdies to shoot 5-under 67 and heads into the weekend solo fifth at-8 overall.

As the 2016 rookie continues the search for her first LPGA Tour victory, she is in prime position, just four shots back with 36 holes remaining. Although the season finale is not a major, her performance so far with a $1.5 million winner’s share up for grabs has come under what Oh thinks are the brightest lights on the highest stage of women’s professional golf.

“Not just the money, but the win itself would be pretty cool,” said Oh. “What CME has done with the Tour Championship is amazing and what they do for St. Jude Hospital, as well. This is by far the best and biggest tournament. It feels like what a Tour Championship should feel like. You play your way through Asia, which is a bonus really, then there’s only 60 players. It’s really good to be here.”

LPGA, CME GROUP CELEBRATES ST. JUDE SURVIVORS

The CME Group Cares Challenge is a season-long charitable giving program that turns aces into donations. CME Group will donate $20,000 for each hole-in-one made on the LPGA Tour in 2019, with a minimum guaranteed donation of $500,000 to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, which is leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases.

Coming into the CME Group Tour Championship, there have been 32 holes-in-one in the 2019 LPGA Tour season. Brooke Henderson is the only player to record multiple aces, with hers coming at the Meijer LPGA Classic and the Buick LPGA Shanghai. Those 32 holes-in-one translate to $640,000 donated to St. Jude, which more than covers the average cost of $425,000 needed to treat a pediatric cancer patient.

The CME Group Tour Championship is celebrating seven children who are true survivors thanks to their care at St. Jude. Mary Browder, a junior golfer, played with two-time major champion Sung Hyun Park in the pro-am and made a ceremonial opening tee shot on Thursday morning. She is joined on site by Reid, Victoria, Mikayla, Brody, Chloe and Slater, who are serving as honorary flag tenders on the 18th green. To read their inspirational stories, please visit www.lpga.com/news/2019-lpga-cme-celebrates-st-jude-survivors.

VARE TROPHY UPDATE

The 20-year-old Thai ignited his title ambitions after firing seven birdies against two bogeys to sit atop the leaderboard with Indonesia’s Joshua Andrew Wirawan, as well as Aaron Wilkin and David Gleeson of Australia at the Sutera Harbour Golf and Country Club.

Sabahan Ben Leong returned with a 67 to trail the leading quartet by one alongside in-form Joohyung Kim and Sungho Lee of Korea, India’s Rashid Khan and Wang Wei-lun of Chinese Taipei in the tournament, which is the ninth full-fiend event on the 2019 Asian Tour schedule.

Despite closing with a bogey, Phachara took pride in his opening efforts as he was able to fire at the flags all day and miss only one green in regulation. Gleeson was delighted to rediscover some of his best form as he capped a solid outing to mark his lowest round yet this season.

“I hit it really well off the tees today. I made some long putts as well for birdies. Most were from like 20 feet. Except for the three-putt bogey on the last hole ninth, everything else was good. I was able to make a lot of birdies today,” said Phachara who  came into prominence when he won the 2015 PGM CCM Rahman Putra Championship to become the youngest ADT winner at the age of 15.

“The aim was to hit fairway first and then aim for the green. I was able to do that today. Many people struggle on these greens so hitting the fairways and greens are the keys. But I think I can putt on these greens now. I feel comfortable with it,” added the Thai young gun who claimed his third top-10 result this season when he came in tied-sixth at the Thailand Open two weeks ago. He has yet to win on the Asian Tour.

A host of players, including Thailand’s Panuphol Pittayarat, Bangladeshi Siddikur Rahman and Khalin Joshi of India, were tied in 10th place after carding matching 68s in the event that is supported by the Tourism Malaysia with an aim to boost tourism in Sabah.

ROOKIES READY FOR CME GROUP TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP

The four 2019 LPGA Tour rookies teeing it up for the first time in Naples this week are excited to be vying for the $1.5 million winner’s check in the season-ending event.

Lee6 was the first of the 2019 rookie class to find LPGA Tour success, making a splash by winning major glory at the U.S. Women’s Open just three weeks after she lost in a playoff at the LPGA MEDIHEAL Championship. But as the season went on and the travel miles grew longer, Lee6 could feel the strain on both her game and her body. So while she clinched Rolex Louise Suggs Rookie of the Year honors with five events remaining in the season, Lee6 sees where she needs to change up her gameplan heading into her second season on the LPGA Tour.

“After winning the (U.S. Women’s Open), I started to feel a little bit more exhausted and my scores weren’t that very consistent just like before,” said Lee6. “I just think that I played so many tournaments, most of the tournaments. But for next year I’m just going to manage myself to save some energy and prepare for the next tournament.”

Knight became a Rolex First-Time winner at the Volunteers of America Classic, a moment that changed the course of the rest of her season. Instead of fighting to secure her card at the LPGA Q-Series presented by Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, the 22-year-old booked tickets to two tournaments on the Tour’s Asia swing. Knight said the win was not only the highlight of her professional career, but a life-changing opportunity.

“It is life changing. It opened like a lot of doors for me. And I think like how hard my rookie year was. Like so many like downs, and then that, kind of the light at the end of the tunnel. I never thought — I mean, it’s everyone’s dream to win an LPGA event,” said Knight.

Gillman finished second in the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year standings after a consistent rookie campaign. She earned four top-10 finishes including a tie for third at the Buick LPGA Shanghai, and said she learned a lot about herself as a competitor and person in her first year on the Tour.

“I think some of the things I’ve learned most out here is just you kind of can’t focus too much on golf because then it’s going to be miserable out here and just always worrying about your score and your place and all that,” said Gillman. “I’ve kind of just learned to just go out there and have fun. That’s usually whenever you play best.”

Kupcho made her professional debut at the U.S. Women’s Open after deferring her LPGA Tour status until after her college season at Wake Forest University. The inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur champion made a splash on Tour, compiling three top-five finishes including a tie for second at the Evian Championship. She said it took time, but eventually took the advice given to her by many other professionals on tour.

“The big advice I got was don’t overwork yourself and to relax, because I’m pretty hard on myself a lot,” said Kupcho. “I think I’ve definitely changed throughout the year. I started out not taking that advice and now I’ve taken it. So definitely makes life a lot more enjoyable before and after golf.”

ALL ABOUT TEAM FOR BROOKE HENDERSON

There are numerous players on the LPGA Tour with stories exemplifying “Little Girls, Big Dreams” coined by the LPGA-USGA Girls Golf program, and their careers have blossomed as they continue to grow up in front of golf fans worldwide. One such star is Brooke Henderson, a 22-year-old native to the small town of Smiths Falls, Ontario, Canada, who comes to the CME Group Tour Championship at No. 2 in the Race to the CME Globe.

For Henderson, arriving in Naples, Fla., as a top contender and reflecting on her journey to this point is all more than she could have ever imagined.

“Honestly, the last five years have been a dream come true,” said Henderson, a two-time 2019 winner. “I never could have asked for any of this. I’m just so grateful for my team. We work really hard, set lofty goals and try to chase after them. It’s hard to believe that I’ve come to this position. My parents sacrificed a lot so we could live this life, my sister works really hard. We’ve all worked hard for this.”

Each step on Henderson’s path since joining the professional ranks has been guided by goals. That is no different in her fifth year on Tour with several process-oriented marks leading the way, primarily scoring average. Currently ranked No. 4 in the category at 69.606 across 94 rounds, Henderson is 72 holes away from keeping that number under 70, which she started the year hoping to accomplish.

Furthermore, the final tournament on the LPGA calendar is Henderson’s 27th event played in 2019. It is also her lowest total since 2015, when she made 14 total starts and opened the year as a non-member before capturing the Cambia Portland Classic title. Even so, the winningest Canadian in professional golf history with nine victories to her name points to the goals and starts as all being part of the process.

“Definitely got me well rested for the rest of the year,” said Henderson. “I feel like we were strategic in the ones we took off leading into the majors. We tried to make sure I was peaking. Even though it didn’t work out as well as we would have liked, I feel like I had a really solid year. I feel like every year, my whole team, myself, we just keep getting smarter and better. Hopefully that trend can continue.”

RACE TO THE CME GLOBE, CME GROUP TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP FORMATS

The Race to the CME Globe is a season-long points competition in which LPGA Members accumulate points in every Official LPGA Tournament to gain entry into the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship. The player who wins the CME Group Tour Championship will be named the “Race to the CME Globe Champion.” Following the TOTO Japan Classic, the CME Group Tour Championship field was set to the top 60 players in the Race to the CME Globe. All 60 players are in this week’s field, with a 72-hole, no-cut competition.

STATISTICAL LOOKBACK AT 2019

The following statistical notes are provided by Amy Mills, the LPGA’s statistical research manager.

Eagles

Ariya Jutanugarn rewrote history when she recorded her 19th and 20th eagles at the Buick LPGA Shanghai to pass Laura Davies for most eagles in a season. Jutanugarn has recorded 22 eagles with one event left in the 2019 season. Davies’ old record of 19 was set in 2004. Carlota Ciganda has tied Davies with 19 eagles in 2019. Ciganda recorded nine eagles on the Aon Risk Reward Challenge holes, one more than Jutanugarn, which led to her becoming this year’s winner of the $1 million bonus.

Scoring Averages 

Nine players currently have scoring averages below 70 with three more players – Amy Yang, Sei Young Kim and Ariya Jutanugarn – within two one-hundredths of that mark. A record 12 players had scoring averages below 70 in 2017, so that could certainly be matched next week.

Jin Young Ko is in good position to earn the lowest scoring average of the season and win the Vare Trophy. Ko holds a large lead – three tenths – over Hyo Joo Kim in scoring average. Kim needs to be 22 to 23 strokes better than Ko at Tiburon Golf Club. For the record books, Ko needs to be 1-over par or better in all four rounds at the CME Group Tour Championship to give her the lowest scoring average by a Korean player in LPGA Tour history. Sung Hyun Park currently holds that record with an average of 69.2471 recorded in 2017.

Average Driving Distances

Anne van Dam is currently driving the ball an average of 284 yards, 25 yards farther than the average LPGA Tour driving distance of 259 yards. Maria Fassi is the only player other than van Dam who has averaged more than 280 yards per drive for the season. Van Dam and Fassi will make LPGA history in 2019 as only two other players have ever ended the season above this mark – Joanna Klatten in 2016 (281 yards) and Karin Sjodin in 2006 (284 yards).  Angel Yin ranks fourth in average driving distance at 279 yards.

Money Title

The top 10 players on the 2019 LPGA Official Money List have a chance at the money title at the CME Group Tour Championship. Jin Young Ko leads Jeongeun Lee6 by more than $720,000. There are several scenarios for Ko to win the money title. If Jeongeun Lee6 wins the season-finale, she wins the money title. The other eight players who trail Ko must win and are dependent upon Ko’s finish at the tournament.

BRAD ROBERTS NOMINATED FOR LPGA’S AXA LPGA VOLUNTEER SERVICE AWARD

Tournament volunteer Bill Young admits he will be watching to see which LPGA Tour players take a swing at the meticulously stacked pyramids of range balls at this week’s CME Group Tour Championship.

That’s because the practice-range volunteers at the CME event add a special touch to the stacks of 91 range balls each day.

“Those pyramid-shaped stacks of balls have one ball at the very top, so what we do is carefully balance one more single ball on top of it,” said Young, the tournament’s driving range chairman. “Sometimes the players will walk up and hit that single ball off the top of the stack.”

Perhaps for his attention to detail, Young has been named as the CME Group Tour Championship’s 2019 AXA LPGA Volunteer Service Award Winner. He will be recognized this week as one of the exemplary volunteers identified at each of the LPGA Tour events this season.

The 17-year-old Asian Tour newcomer, latest addition to the Tour’s growing list of bright young stars, refused to get ahead of himself even though he has won once and finished inside top-10 twice in his last three starts on the region’s premier Tour this season.

Having claimed his maiden Asian Tour title in India last week, Kim, the youngest professional player in the field this week, will be bidding for back-to-back wins when he steps up to the tee at the Sutera Harbour Golf and Country Club.

Kim will headline the US$300,000 full-field Asian Tour event alongside Thailand’s Phachara Khongwatmai, Indonesia’s Rory Hie and Siddikur Rahman of Bangladesh, who all entered the week in fine form, having secured recent top-10 finishes in Thailand and India.

Siddikur, who turns 35 years old today, hopes to take advantage of his recent run of fine form to bid for a third Asian Tour title and first since 2013. Hie is also aiming to end his commendable season with a flourish as he takes another shot at glory this week.

Inspired by his good friend Kim’s victory in India last week, Phachara is feeling the added motivation as he continues to hunt for a maiden Asian Tour title at the Sabah Masters, which is the ninth full-fiend event on the 2019 Asian Tour schedule.

The Sabah Masters is supported by the Tourism Malaysia with an aim to boost tourism in Sabah.

An attempt will be made to reschedule the tournament to early 2020.

Keith Pelley, Chief Executive of the European Tour, said: “The decision has been taken due to the ongoing level of social unrest in Hong Kong. As the safety of our players, staff, stakeholders and everyone involved in each and every one of our tournaments around the world is our top priority, we feel this is the correct, but unfortunate, course of action.

“The European Tour thanks everyone at the Hong Kong Golf Association, the Hong Kong Golf Club and all persons associated with the Hong Kong Open for their hard work in endeavouring to stage the tournament and we look forward to hopefully returning early next year.”

Cho Minn Thant, Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer of the Asian Tour said: “It is regrettable that the Hong Kong Open has to be postponed due to the ongoing unrest in the city.

“The unpredictability of the current situation in Hong Kong makes it very challenging to sanction the tournament especially with the safety of everyone of utmost importance. However, we are optimistic that once the situation in Hong Kong stabilises, we will be in a better position to sanction the 61st edition of the Hong Kong Open in the very near future.”

Former world number 19 and the only Thai woman to have reached the world top 20, “Tammy” Tamarine Thanasukarn has confirmed that she will compete at the WTA International event where all profits  will be donated to the Queen Sirikit Centre for Breast Cancer Foundation.

Former deputy prime minister and chairman of the Advisory Board of the Asian Tennis Federation Suwat Liptapanlop announced this at a press conference at Bangkok’s InterContinental Hotel on November 19.

World number 41 Zheng Saisai, who has also confirmed her participation, attended the press conference alongside Tammy and Paradorn Srichaphan, former world number 9 and now assistant tournament director at the WTA Thailand Open.

Representatives from APG sports marketing agency and Proudputh Liptapanlop, executive director of Proud Group, on behalf of True Arena Hua Hin, were also in attendance.

“Proceeds from ticket sales will go to the Queen Sirikit Centre for Breast Cancer Foundation to help patients with terminal cancer under the Bann Pak Ping project, she said.

“New for 2020 in terms of competition is the use of electronic line calling for the replay of the falling ball that may be too fast for the human eye, as well as the 25-second-shot clock rule,” she added.

Suwat Liptapanlop

The WTA Thailand Open 2020, which offers total prize money of US$250,000 (Bt8 million), will see the qualifying round on February 8-9 and the main draw between February 10 and 16.

The first edition of the WTA Thailand Open was held from January 29 to February 3, 2019, and attracted a world-class field including former Wimbledon champion and former world number one Garbine Muguruza alongside Chinese star Wang Qiang. The title was won by rising WTA star and current world number 22 19-year-old Dayana Yastremska from Ukraine in front of a sold out crowd.

The Road to Thailand Open 2020 programme will take place in the lead up to the event to select Thai players who will be awarded wild cards into the WTA Thailand Open and provide unique opportunities for local players.

Throughout the season, the Aon Risk Reward Challenge showcased how the world’s best golfers are among the world’s best strategic decision makers. The competition, which measured the performance of LPGA Tour and PGA TOUR golfers on a series of holes across multiple tournaments, tested players’ ability to analyze risk, utilize data-driven insights to identify opportunities and maximize performance in the moments that matter most.

“Being the first LPGA Tour player to win the Aon Trophy is such an honor,” said Ciganda. “We face so many great competitors and I worked closely with my team, specifically my caddie, to give me opportunities to deliver the best possible performance.”

Ciganda was a leading contender from the beginning, but it wasn’t until end of the season that she really started to make a move on the leaderboard. Her eagle-birdie scores on the Aon Risk Reward Challenge holes in consecutive weeks (Buick LPGA Shanghai in Shanghai and BMW Ladies Championship in Busan) stretched her lead on the way to becoming the Champion.

Aon and the PGA TOUR previously recognized Brooks Koepka as the winner of the inaugural Aon Risk Reward Challenge trophy. Both Koepka and Ciganda received equal $1 million prizes.

“It sends a powerful message for Carlota to win the Aon Risk Reward Challenge, receive the same prize money and share the title with Brooks,” said LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan. “This inaugural season was extremely exciting as our players competed week in and week out across the globe. It came down to the wire, and we have so much respect for the way Carlota rose to the challenge.”

Commissioner Whan added: “Innovative partners like Aon are key to the growth of the game. This competition has added tremendous value and interest in what we do and serves as a powerful initiative.”

“Aon approached the PGA TOUR and LPGA with the idea for the competition because it offered compelling opportunities for players like Carlota, the game of golf and our firm,” said Aon Chief Marketing Officer Andy Weitz.

“We are very proud of the program that’s been developed,” Weitz added. “Drawing on the Risk Reward narrative, we’ve been able to show the parallels between decisions made on the course and in the boardroom, demonstrating how we create value for our clients. The inaugural season of the Aon Risk Reward Challenge has exceeded our expectations and we could not be more pleased to have Carlota Ciganda and Brooks Koepka as our first champions.”

Having earned his Asian Tour card for the remainder of the 2019 season after claiming three wins on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) this year, the 17-year-old showed he is primed for the big leagues.

The Korean was making what was only his third start on the Asian Tour this year. But he produced another grandstand performance that belies his age with rounds of 70, 68 and 65 for a winning total of 13-under-par 203.

“I’m really speechless. It has been a dream of mine to play on the Asian Tour ever since I was young. And it’s really wonderful to come here, be in contention and win. I cannot describe the feeling now. I’m still trying to learn every single step of the way,” said Kim, the second youngest player to win on the Asian Tour at 17 years and 149 days Thailand’s Chinnarat Phadungsil holds the record as the youngest winner at 17 years, five days when he won the Double A International Open in 2005.

India’s Shiv Kapur was denied another victory on home soil as a costly double-bogey seven on his closing hole meant he would end the tournament in a share of second place with compatriot Chikkarangappa S. at the US$400,000 event which was contested over 54 holes at the Classic Golf and Country Club.

Australia’s Terry Pilkadaris, who held a share of the overnight lead, signed for a 71 to finish in outright fourth place while Indonesia’s Rory Hie was tied for fifth with Chinese Taipei’s Hung Chie-yao and India’s Vikrant Chopra.

Hie created history by becoming the first Indonesian to win on the Asian Tour just six weeks ago at the Classic Golf and Country Club.

Leading Scores after round 3 of the Panasonic Open India 2019 being played at the par 72, 7114 Yards Classic Golf and Country Club course (am – denotes amateur):

203 – Joohyung Kim (KOR) 70-68-65.

204 – Chikkarangappa S. (IND) 69-68-67, Shiv Kapur (IND) 67-67-70.

205 – Terry Pilkadaris (AUS) 66-68-71.

206 – Rory Hie (INA) 70-68-68, Vikrant Chopra (IND) 67-70-69, Hung Chien-yao (TPE) 67-69-70.

208 – Settee Prakongvech (THA) 70-69-69, Veer Ahlawat (IND) 69-69-70, Siddikur Rahman (BAN) 69-67-72.

209 – Arjun Prasad (IND) 67-74-68, M. Dharma (IND) 67-73-69, Teemu Putkonen (FIN) 70-67-72.

210 – Danthai Boonma (THA) 70-71-69, Pavit Tangkamolprasert (THA) 70-71-69, Om Prakash Chouhan (IND) 70-70-70, Itthipat Buranatanyarat (THA) 64-75-71, Karandeep Kochhar (IND) 67-72-71, Mathiam Keyser (RSA) 69-69-72, Khalin Joshi (IND) 67-71-72, Travis Smyth (AUS) 69-69-72, Rashid Khan (IND) 67-70-73.