8 Big Names In Danger Of Missing Out On The LPGA Tour's CME Group Tour Championship

The LPGA Tour season is rapidly reaching a conclusion, with just one more event to play before the decisive CME Group Tour Championship.

The penultimate event is also one of the biggest, the Annika Driven by Gainbridge at Pelican, where the world’s best players will tee it up in Florida.

For many big names in the field, their participation in the final event of the season is already assured thanks to strong positions in the season-long Race to CME Globe rankings.

To progress to the Tiburon Golf Club season finale, players need to have secured a place in the top 60 and ties following the penultimate event.

Leading the way is World No.1 Jeeno Thitikul, while other high-profile players assured of their spots in the CME Group Tour Championship include Nelly Korda, Charley Hull, Lydia Ko and this year’s Major winners, Mao Saigo, Maja Stark, Minjee Lee, Grace Kim and Miyu Yamashita.

However, for other well-known players, it’s crunch time at The Annika, with strong performances required to book a place in the season finale.

Here are some of the biggest names with work to do to continue their season, along with their current ranking.

Gemma Dryburgh (67th)

The Scot boosted her chances of reaching the top 60 with a timely T10 at last week’s TOTO Japan Classic.

That was Dryburgh’s best performance this season and lifted her to 67th in the rankings, but she’ll need to back it up with a similar result at The Annika to take her place at the CME Group Tour Championship.

Julia Lopez Ramirez (68th)

LPGA Tour rookie Lopez Ramirez is 68th in the rankings and 64 points beneath 60th meaning that, realistically, a top-10 finish is required this week.

The Spaniard he proved she can do it once this season, when she produced a T3 at the ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open.

She also contended at the US Women’s Open before a triple-bogey eight on the 72^nd hole at Erin Hills saw her place 19th.

Can she hold her nerve in another big tournament and clamber inside the top 60?

Lilia Vu (74th)

A dream 2023 that saw Vu win four times on the LPGA Tour, including two Major titles, helped her move to the top of the world rankings, and she followed that up with another win in 2024.

However, this year has not gone as well for the American, with a runner-up at the Ford Championship her only finish in the top 10.

Vu is 74th in the rankings, and she will need to find form approaching that which saw her claim victory at The Annika in 2023 to extend her season.

Ashleigh Buhai (80th)

The 2022 AIG Women's Open champion began the season well, with a T10 at the Tournament of Champions, closely followed by T11 at the Founders Cup and a tie for ninth at the T-Mobile Match Play.

However, the South African has largely struggled to kick on from there, although in 80th in the Race to CME Globe rankings, all is not lost for her hopes of making it to the season finale.

To achieve it, she will need to aim high at The Annika, with a top-four finish the likely requirement.

Emily Kristine Pedersen (85th)

The five-time LET winner is 85th in the rankings, and will need to place in the top three to continue her season.

The problem for the Dane is that she has not been able to achieve a top-10 finish all season, with a T11 at Amundi Evian Championship the closest she has come.

Rose Zhang (87th)

Few players made a bigger immediate impact on the professional game former World No.1 amateur Rose Zhang.

She won her very first event as a pro in 2023, claiming victory at the Mizuho Americas Open.

Anyone who had followed her glittering amateur career closely would have known that was unlikely to be a one-off and so it proved, with Zhang’s second LGPA Tour victory coming less than a year later at the Cognizant Founders Cup.

After a T10 at the opening event of the season, the Tournament of Champions, Zhang opted to concentrate on her studies at Stanford for two months in an effort to bring balance to her life.

However, not long after returning to action, she suffered a neck injury, which has played a big part in curtailing her progress this year

Unfortunately for Zhang, her progress has been curtailed this year.

As a result, she begins The Annika 87th in the rankings, in what will be her first appearance since September.

Zhang is 195 points behind Cassie Porter in 60th, meaning she’ll need to at least be in the top three to reach the CME Group Tour Championship.

In Gee Chun (103rd)

The three-time Major winner is languishing 103rd in the rankings amid a difficult season where she has failed to finish in the top 10.

Her placing of 103rd in the rankings with 192 points offers some hope ahead of The Annika, but she may need to win for the first time since the 2022 Women's PGA Championship to book her place in the CME Group Tour Championship.

Yuka Saso (130th)

Since winning her second US Women's Open title in 2024, Saso has just one top-10 finish - fourth at last year's Kroger Queen City Championship.

Even more alarming for the Japanese star is the number of missed cuts to her name this year, 14, ensuring she has a mountain to climb to reach the CME Group Tour Championship.

Saso is 130th in the rankings on just 93 points, meaning only a win, which would earn her 500 points, will do.