Last chance saloon for Meadow as McKibbin seeks Nedbank jackpot
Stephanie Meadow. Picture: PGA of America
Stephanie Meadow likely needs a top 15 finish in The Annika this week to qualify for next week's season-ending $7 million CME Group Tour Championship.
The Jordanstown star (31) has had a solid year on the LPGA Tour, with her tie for third in the KPMG Women's PGA Championship the highlight of a season that's brought her $641,362 in earnings.
But at 69th in the Race to CME Globe rankings, she's 44.8 points short of the top 60 who will battle for the $2 million winner's cheque next week and will be looking to contend at Pelican Golf Club in the season's final full-field event.
"Obviously being sponsored by CME, the last thing I want to do is not be there," Meadow said in Shanghai last month.
Leona Maguire, who is 18th in the standings, will also be looking to make a move before returning to Tiburon next week for another crack at the CME Group Tour Championship, where she was second to Lydia Ko last year.
On the DP World Tour, Galgorm's Tom McKibbin makes his debut in the Nedbank Golf Challenge at Sun City, where Tommy Fleetwood is aiming to join Tiger Woods and Sir Nick Faldo in an exclusive club by winning the same DP World Tour event three times in a row.
At 41st in the Race to Dubai, McKibbin still has a chance of making a late bid for one of 10 PGA Tour cards, but he needs a big performance in South Africa or next week's DP World Tour Championship to overcome 17th-ranked Joost Luiten, who currently holds the tenth spot.
He also faces a quality 60-man field with Fleetwood joined by Ryder Cup teammates Nicolai Højgaard and Robert MacIntyre and American duo Max Homa and Justin Thomas.
Meanwhile, Pádraig Harrington will be looking to feed off his TimberTech Championship win when he defends the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship at Phoenix Country Club.
On the Asian Tour, Graeme McDowell plays the Hong Kong Open amid speculation that he could lose his place on LIV Golf as he's out of contract and failed to finish in the top 24 in this year's standings.
In amateur golf, the R&A and USGA yesterday announced the first update to the World Handicap System, with several changes coming on January 1.
They include a significant reduction in overall length requirements for Course Rating in the WHS to 1,500 yards for 18-hole courses and 750 yards for nine-hole courses and enhanced guidance on conducting a handicap review.
Meanwhile, Golf Ireland has appointed Tracy Bunyan — the National Coaching and Games Development Operations Manager with the GAA — as its new Chief Operations Officer.
