The penultimate LPGA Tour event of the season, The Annika, comes from Florida’s Pelican Golf Club, where the final jostling for positions in the Race to CME Globe standings takes place.
That will determine the top 60 and ties who will progress to the lucrative and prestigious season finale, the CME Group Tour Championship.
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Minjee Lee leads the Aon Risk Reward Challenge
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The contest sees one strategically challenging hole selected at each course throughout the season, with players’ two best scores at that hole counting towards a season-long average to par. The player with the lowest average at the end of the regular season claims a one-off $1m prize.
The Annika is the final tournament of the season that counts towards the challenge, with the current leader being Minjee Lee.
Her risk-reward score stands at -0.921 ahead of the tournament, with World No.1 and 2024 Aon Risk Reward Challenge winner Jeeno Thitikul right behind her with a score of -0.912.
Jeeno Thitikul won the Aon Risk Reward Challenge in 2024
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Both players have long since booked their places in next week’s season finale, so they are not competing this week.
Of course, for Thitikul, her absence means she can’t improve her average, putting her out of the running. However, the door is ajar for two players to pip Lee at Pelican.
A Lim Kim is the player in third with a risk-reward score of -0.905, while Jennifer Kupcho is in fourth with an average of -0.885.
A Lim Kim is third in the Aon Risk Reward Challenge standings
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For either player to take the $1m in the 30th and last counting tournament, they will need an eagle and a birdie at the hole, the 529-yard par-5 14th.
Whether Lee holds onto the top spot without playing remains to be seen, but if either Kim or Kupcho is to take the prize, they will need accuracy off the tee thanks to bunkers in the landing area, while they will also need to be mindful of another bunker guarding the green on their approach.