CATRIONA MATTHEW SLUMPS IN LAST ROUND

LYDIA KO (17) WINS $1million PLAY-OFF

Lydia Ko receiving $1 million dollars
Image courtesy Joyce Hunnam

 
FROM THE LPGA TOUR WEBSITE

The youngest player in the field at the CME Group Tour Championship - 17-year-old Lydia Ko from New Zealand – became the first ever Race to the CME Globe champion at Naples, Florida today, winning the $1 million dollar  bonus prize before she even has her driver’s license.
The 2014 Rolex Rookie of the Year already owned the title of youngest millionaire in LPGA history with two wins heading into the final event but fired a four-under-par 68 on Sunday get into a three-way play-off with long-time leader Julieta Granada (Paraguay) and Spain's Carlota Ciganda - and then won it at the fourth extra hole, where Ciganda was bunkered, Granada have been eliminated earlier in the play-off, to lock up the $1 million bonus prize and also the $500,000 for winning the inaugural Race to the CME Globe title.
The $1million bonus is "real" but it does not count for the official money table which was headed by Stacy Lewis.
Ko, Ciganda and Granada had finished the regular 72 holes on 10-under-par 278.
Morgan Pressel (USA) finished fourth on 280.
Catriona Matthew, after a poor start to the tournament with a 75, climbed up, on the back of rounds of 68 and 70, into joint 10th place at the start of the final round.
Then it all went wrong for the North Berwick player. She managed only one birdie but plenty of bogeys. Catriona birdied the second but dropped shots at the first, seventh, ninth, 10th and 11th before stopping the rot with seven straight pars to finish on four-over-par 76 for a one-over-par total of 289 and a share of 27th place.
Catriona earned $14,716 from this the final event of the 2015 LPGA Tour season.
Jodi Ewart Shadoff from Yorkshire, the only other Briton in the field, had a nightmare 80 to close and finished T56 on 299. Jodi earned $5,137.
American Stacy Lewis, who finished joint ninth on 284, became the first American since Betsy King in 1993 to the Rolex Player of the Year award, the Vare Trophy and the money title with a total of $2,503,308.
Inbee Park was second with $2,208,460.


LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4x72)
278 Lydia Ko (NZ) 71 71 68 68, Carlota Ciganda (Spain) 70 67 71 70, Julieta Granada (Paraguay) 66 71 70 71 (Ko won sudden-death play-off at fourth extra hole).
280 Morgan Pressel (USA) 72 66 70 72
281 Michelle Wie (USA) 72 67 72 70, Sandra Gal (Germany) 68 71 70 72
283 Hee Young Park (S Korea) 70 73 71 69, So Yeon Ryu (S Korea) 70 70 70 73
284 Stacy Lewis (USA) 68 74 70 71, I K Kim (S Korea) 71 72 71 70, Brittany Lang (USA) 74 68 70 72 (T9)
SELECTED TOTALS
289 Catriona Matthew (Scotland) 75 68 70 76 (T27)
292 Suzann Pettersen (Norway) 71 72 70 79 (T36)
299 Jodi Ewart Shadoff (England) 74 72 73 80 (T56).