MIAMI - The 2016 LPGA season opens Thursday at the Bahamas LPGA Classic with top-ranked New Zealand teen Lydia Ko absent and players mindful about women's golf returning to the Olympics.
Park In-Bee of South Korea tees off on the ninth hole during the second round of the LPGA KEB Hana Bank Championship golf event in Incheon on October 16, 2015
Second-ranked Park In-Bee of South Korea, third-ranked American Stacy Lewis and her fourth-ranked compatriot Lexi Thompson will be among the favorites at the par-72 Ocean Club layout on Paradise Island.
Ko, an 18-year-old Kiwi of Korean heritage, will skip the Caribbean start to avoid playing four weeks in a row, opening her season next week in Florida before defending her Women's Australian Open and New Zealand Women's Open titles next month.
"It's just part of a scheduling strategy," Ko's coach, David Leadbetter, told the Golf Channel. "She just wants another week to get sharp."
Scheduling becomes more critical this year as golf returns to the Olympics, players looking to the world rankings of July 11 that will determine the 60-player Olympic lineups. The top 15 qualify with a limit of four per nation, with the rest of the field being the top-rated golfers from each nation with a maximum of two per country.
This week, South Korea has four players in the top eight, six of the top 10 and eight of the top 15, making that the toughest lineup to crack.
Thompson, Lewis and Cristie Kerr would represent the United States but Brittany Lincicome, 16th this week, would just miss out.
In all, 26 of the top 35 ranked women are US or South Korean golfers.
A record $63 million in prize money will be at stake in an LPGA season spanning 34 events across 14 nations.
Newcomers will be trying to make their mark quickly this season, just as seventh-ranked defending champion Kim Sei-Young of South Korea did last year when she won three events to finish fourth on the money list.
Canada's Brooke Henderson begins her first full season this week after matching Ko and Thompson last year by winning an LPGA event before her 18th birthday.
Henderson, 18, won the Portland Classic last August by a season-high eight strokes last year at age 17 and has jumped from 221st in the rankings a year ago to 18th now.
Asked to give herself a grade on how her 2015 season went, Henderson said she was extremely pleased with her on-course performance.
"Last year was kind of an A-plus year," Henderson said. "I did a lot of really good things and I'm hoping to just continue those on this year."
LPGA Rookie of the Year honors are out of her hands, having played four events last year after being granted LPGA membership after her triumph. But she is looking at another trophy -- LPGA Player of the Year.
"I'll chase after that instead," Henderson said.