Before the 2017 season began in January, the LPGA Tour headlines had been mainly about the rivalry between world No.1 Lydia Ko of New Zealand and No.2 Ariya Jutanugarn from Thailand.
Lydia Ko during the Honda LPGA Thailand in Pattaya. photo: Pattanapong Hirunard
They were the most successful tour players of 2016 with 21-year-old Ariya winning five tournaments and Ko, 19, taking four as well as an Olympic silver medal.
However, at the start of this season, other players have proven the tour is not all about the duo by producing four champions in the first four events of the year.
Brittany Lincicome won in the Bahamas, Jang Ha-Na in Australia, Amy Yang at the Honda LPGA Thailand and Park In-Bee at last week's HSBC Women's Champions in Singapore.
Park's success may be the most remarkable as it was only her second event since winning the Olympic gold medal at the 2016 Rio Games.
Although Ariya shot an impressive final-round 66, the South Korean fared even better with a 64 to beat the Thai by a shot.
Park, 28, has proven she is still the player to beat on the tour. She needed only one event to readjust to tournament golf, having finished tied for 25th at the Honda LPGA Thailand a week earlier.
"I thought it may take maybe a couple months to kind of get back out on the tour and to get my rhythm back," seven-time major winner Park said.
"You know, I thought I was going to be just a little bit rusty. That's how I felt exactly last week. This week was totally different. Especially the final round was just what I wanted."
Last year, Park had a season to forget on the tour although at 27 she was the youngest ever player to qualify for the LPGA Hall of Fame.
With unconvincing results ahead of the Rio Games and plagued by injury, there were calls in her home country for her to relinquish her Olympic spot to make way for another South Korean.
Having not made the cut on the LPGA Tour since April, Park silenced critics with her success in Rio.
Park ran away with the gold medal, beating Ko by five strokes.
Apart from her skill, her calmness is the biggest asset of the South Korean.
"She's the best player," said Ariya after losing to Park in Singapore.
"I learnt a lot from her. She is very calm. I feel like she made every putt. I don't think she missed one today."
Ko knew this at the Olympics.
"There's a lot for me to learn about her calmness," said Ko, Park's playing partner in the Rio final round.
With her left thumb healed, Park, who jumped from No.12 to No.9 in the world rankings after the Singapore triumph, may be able to regain the top spot.
Beating Ariya could be a good omen for Park.
In 2013, Park won the Honda LPGA Thailand title after Ariya's collapse on the last hole.
With a two-shot advantage after 71 holes, Ariya suffered a triple bogey at the last to hand the title to Park.
It would become the most successful season of her career as she won five more tournaments that year including three majors -- the Kraft Nabisco Championship (now the ANA Inspiration), LPGA Championship (now the Women's PGA Championship) and the US Women's Open.
This year is likely to be one of the most exciting LPGA seasons as several players look capable of winning.
Although Ariya has not yet lifted a trophy this season, she has had creditable results.
After her poor start to the season in the Bahamas where she finished tied for 47th place, she has since had top-10 finishes.
Ariya was joint third in Australia, joint eighth at the LPGA Thailand and runner-up in Singapore.
With a new coach, a new caddie and a new set of clubs, Ko needs time to adjust to these new things.
After tying for 46th place in Australia, she has since shown signs of improvement with two top-10 results -- joint eighth at the LPGA Thailand and tied ninth at the HSBC Women's Champions.
South Korea's Jang Ha-Na is the hottest player in the early stages of this year with her win at the Women's Australian Open and a tie for fourth at the HSBC Women's Champions.
While the likes of Brooke Henderson, who was tied for fourth along with Jang in Singapore, and Lexi Thompson can win any tournaments on their day, Michelle Wie proves she still has something to offer.
Having failed to win since her success at the 2014 US Women's Open, Wie took the lead after three rounds in Singapore only to settle for a joint fourth place following a poor final round.
"Overall, I can't complain, but right now it stings a little bit," Wie said after the HSBC Women's Champions.
"Obviously I wanted to walk away with the trophy, but there's so many leaps and strides forward that I made this week. I'm really proud of myself."
The LPGA Tour heads to the US with three tournaments this month beginning with the Founders Cup this Thursday and the Kia Classic next week.
Many players may use the two tournaments as venues to tune up for the ANA Inspiration, the year's first major, at the end of the month.