CME GROUP TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW

Golf Town Athlete Brooke Henderson is looking to finish her 2024 LPGA Tour season strong as she heads to the last event on the schedule, the CME Group Tour Championship!

(Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

Only the top 60 on the Race to CME Globe standings earn their way into the final event of the year, with the biggest prize in women’s golf – $4 million (U.S.), from an $11-million purse – up for grabs.

Brooke has had a wonderful year again on the LPGA Tour, notching eight top-10 finishes (more than double her total from 2023), with highlights coming at the Chevron Championship – the first major of the year – where she finished tied for third. She also had three top-10s in her first four starts this year including two other third-place results, at the HSBC Women’s World Championship and the season opener, the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions.

She was also thrilled to finish tied for eighth at the CPKC Women’s Open in Calgary.

Brooke has admitted her season has been a little on the inconsistent side – despite the collection of solid results – but there’s no time like the finale to break through for her first win of the year.

She also will tee it up alongside Corey Conners at the Grant Thornton Invitational team event in December, where the Canadian duo finished second last year.

(Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)

“Really excited for the opportunity to hopefully finish off the year on a high note,” Brooke said in Hawaii at the LOTTE Championship “It’s been a little bit of an up and down year for me. I would love to finish the year strong and then get ready for 2025.”

Brooke finished 12th a year ago at the CME Group Tour Championship. It was a solid result, but no one was going to beat Amy Yang that week as she finished at an incredible 27 under par. Yang, at 31, became the oldest winner on the LPGA Tour last season with her triumph, and delivered an all-time quote, too.

“Age is just a number,” she said. “At one point I thought my season would be over very soon. Throughout my career I went through so many ups and downs, and especially recent injury. I thought (I) might not be able to play any longer.

“I still can’t believe it.”

Amongst those who are also teeing it up at the CME Group Tour Championship include a foursome of golfers who have had some seriously impressive 2024s – Nelly Korda, Lydia Ko, Hannah Green, and Ruoning Yin.

(Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

Korda was recently named the LPGA Tour’s Rolex Player of the Year, despite the fact that at the time of the announcement, there were still three events left in the season. Because the LPGA Tour’s Player of the Year race goes by a points-based system, however, it was mathematically impossible for anyone to catch Korda – who won seven times this year, including five in a row.

“Winning the Rolex Player of the Year means so much to me,” Korda, 26, said in a press release. “This season has had its highs and challenges, and I’m just really grateful for the people around me who have helped me get here. It’s been a team effort, and I’m proud to share this moment with them.”

Ko, meanwhile, had her own incredible 2024. She won the season opening Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions before capturing the AIG Women’s Open (at St. Andrews) and the Kroger Queen City Championship. She also rounded out her medal collection at the Olympics winning gold – and earning a spot in the LPGA Hall of Fame in the process.

Both Green and Yin have won three LPGA Tour titles this season. Green won the HSBC Women’s World Championship, the JM Eagle LA Championship, and the BMW Ladies Championship while Yin won the DOW Championship (alongside Jeeno Thitikul), the Buick LPGA Shanghai, and the Maybank Championship – the latter two titles coming in a three-week span while the LPGA Tour was in Asia this fall.

So, once again, the LPGA Tour’s best will be playing at the final event of the year with the biggest prize in women’s golf up for grabs. And that, of course, includes Brooke Henderson, as she looks to finish her 2024 with a bang!

The CME Group Tour Championship takes place from Nov. 21-24 at the Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Fla. And will be broadcast on Golf Channel, with the final round on NBC.

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