CME Group Tour Championship: Ariya wins tournament; Lexi takes $1 million, Vare Trophy

Lexi Thompson was two feet away from perhaps the biggest sweep of awards in LPGA Tour history. 

But Thompson missed her par putt on No. 18, and Ariya Jutanugarn birdied the last two holes -- the last a 15-footer -- to win the CME Group Tour Championship on Sunday at Tiburón Golf Club at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort.

"It wasn't the way I wanted to end it," Thompson said. "I don't really know what happened there. Yeah, it just happens. I guess it's golf. I guess we all go through situations we don't like sometimes.

"... Crazy things happen like that. I'll move on."

Jessica Korda, who played with Thompson, ended up tying with her. The two were on the practice green awaiting a possible playoff when Jutanugarn sank her birdie putt.

"You know what it? It (stinks)," Korda said of Thompson. "She played amazing golf today, no mistakes. I had a great time out there. We were pumping each other on. We were both wanting to play well. She had a lot on the line, and hopefully it all went her way at the end of the day, even though she didn't get the win."

Thompson, who hit a very good lag putt from 60 feet on No. 18, still has plenty to move on with. She won the $1 million Race to the CME Globe and the Vare Trophy for season-long lowest-stroke average.

"Overall a lot of positives to take from today," she said. "Just tried to go out there and stay very relaxed with my caddie, Kevin. Really just tried to be confident coming into today, and definitely showed in a few of the shots I hit out there. Definitely going to a positive from that. Winning the Race to the CME Globe and the Vare Trophy is a huge honor."

And Thompson also has plenty to move on from. The season included tough situations on and off the golf course.

Thompson was leading the ANA Inspiration on the back nine in the final round when she was told she was being given a four-stroke penalty after a TV viewer called in to say she had improperly marked her ball on the green in the previous round. She ended up losing in a playoff to So Yeon Ryu.

In late June, Thompson announced her mother, Judy, had been diagnosed with uterine cancer and was undergoing radiation treatments. Her grandmother passed away in September. But Thompson revealed this week that her mother had been officially diagnosed as cancer free, and her mother and father were here this week, plus her brother Curtis and a dozen other family and friends were there Sunday.

"It was very special," Thompson said of having her mom here. "Just to have her out there supporting me, it means the world. She's been through a lot recently especially, and just to see how strong she is and see a smile on her face outside the ropes there, it meant the world to me."
 

Jutanugarn won the $500,000 first-place prize for the tournament and finished at 15 under, one ahead of Thompson and Korda. Pernilla Lindberg and Eun-Hee Ji tied for fourth at 13 under. Michelle Wie and Sung Hyun Park tied for sixth at 12 under.

Jutanugarn had won the $1 million Race to the CME Globe last year, and had said Saturday this was a place she had good memories of. Those came into focus on No. 17 -- sinking a 15-footer after coming out of the bunker -- and then on No. 18, her downhill one sliding in.

"My caddie tried to tell me 'OK, don't look at the leaderboard. Just make some putts and be done,'" Jutanugarn said. "As soon as he say that, I turn around and look at the leaderboard. I'm like 'Wow, I better make this one.'"

Korda, 24, played with Thompson and stayed within striking distance all day. The Bradenton native shot a sizzling 31 on the back, but didn't get her birdie putt on No. 18 to drop.

"I can't believe I left my putt short," Korda said. "I mean, wow. I mean it is what it is. I played my heart out. I left everything I could out there. That's just the way that the cards were laid. Ariya, she just did what Ariya does. She struggled through the year and this was really good for her."

Michelle Wie had the lead at one point as well, but took a double bogey on No. 9 after her ball was too close to the edge of the stacked sod bunker to allow a direct shot to the green. 

Thompson birdied Nos. 3, 4, 6, 9 and 13 to take control. It looked she was going to be in trouble on the par-5 17th when her second shot went left of the green, but the ball caromed off the gallery and went back in a more manageable position. She hit her pitch shot within a few feet and sank the birdie putt.

When Lindberg missed a short par putt on the 18th, that gave Thompson a two-shot lead in the fairway. But Jutanugarn birdied No. 17, then Thompson missed the par putt, leaving the door open.

"I'm really, really proud of myself, not because I win the tournament, but I have more confidence after this week," Jutanugarn said. "Even though I play so bad last few months, I learned a lot and I'm growing up a lot and I'm really ready to have fun next year."

Park and So Yeon Ryu tied for Rolex Player of the Year, meaning Park won both the player of the year and the Rookie of the Year. Nancy Lopez was the only player to do that, back in 1978.

Thompson, who still lives in Coral Springs, could have won Player of the Year by winning the tournament itself as well as possibly become World No. 1. Shanshan Feng remains No. 1, and Jutanugarn moved up to fifth, with Park, Ryu and Thompson still at Nos. 2-4.

"No matter what you're put through, you can always push through anything if you go through it with the right attitude and just keep moving forward," Thompson said. " Not going to lie and say some things didn't get me really down and I struggled, but I had to keep moving on. 

"I love this crazy game and what it puts me through and the challenge of it. It's all a learning experience every time I tee it up."