6 Thais gunning for glory at season finale

6 Thais gunning for glory at season finale

Naples: Six Thais, led by world No.9 Atthaya Thitikul and former champion Ariya Jutanugarn, will vie for one of the biggest prizes in women's golf at this week's Tour Championship in Florida.

The other four Thai stars in the 60-player field at Tiburon Golf Club are tournament debutant Chanettee Wannasaen, major winner Patty Tavatanakit, Pajaree Anannarukarn and Jasmine Suwannapura.

Atthaya and South Korea's Kim Hyo-Joo are chasing the Vare Trophy for the season's lowest scoring average.

Atthaya has a very slim lead of just 0.013 stokes, meaning Kim would need to shoot just one to two strokes better than the Thai in the season finale.

Two-time major champion Ariya, who finished tied seventh at The Annika last week, remains Thailand's only winner of the Tour Championship with her success in 2017.

The tournament offers a total purse of US$7 million with the winner receiving $2 million.

It is for the top-60 players in the Race to the CME Globe.

Patty secured one of the last tickets to the Tour Championship with her performance at The Annika.

She carded a T15 result to jump from No.61 to No.57 in the rankings.

This week's star-studded field features all 2023 major champions -- Lilia Vu of the US (Chevron Championship and Women's British Open), China's Yin Ruoning (Women's PGA Championship), American Allisen Corpuz (US Women's Open) and Celine Boutier of France (Evian Championship).

Also in the tournament are 18 additional winners from the 2023 season.

World No.1 Vu and No.3 Boutier are this year's headliners, each claiming four victories.

In total, the 60-player field claims a whopping 163 career LPGA victories, 27 of which are major titles.

Vu has clinched the Annika Major Award with her second major victory at the Women's British Open.

The 26-year-old is the favourite to win the money title and the Player of the Year Award.

With a $2 million winner's cheque up for grabs, the top 19 players on the official money list have a shot at winning the money title.

Vu currently leads with $3,252,303 in earnings.

After her win at The Annika, Vu has a 27-point lead in the Player of the Year race over Boutier, meaning the Thai-French star would need to win and Vu would have to finish eighth place or worse for Boutier to earn the honour.

In fact, Vu just needs a seventh-place finish or better to clinch the award outright.

Do you like the content of this article?
COMMENT