Two-time major winner Lilia Vu no longer leads Player of the Year race

With only three events remaining in the 2023 LPGA season, the race for the tour’s season-ending awards is narrowing down. The most intriguing race is for the Rolex Player of the Year Award. Celine Boutier has surpassed two-time major winner Lilia Vu in the POY race after collecting her fourth title of the season. Vu, a three-time winner this season, still has a chance to challenge Boutier.

Last year, Lydia Ko won the POY title, Vare Trophy, and money title after winning the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship. However, this year it will be challenging for her to qualify for CME.

In August, Vu clinched the 2023 Rolex Annika Major Award by winning both the Chevron Championship and AIG Women’s British Open.

Here’s how the current standings look:

Rolex Player of the Year

Boutier has taken the lead in the POY race after winning the Malaysia event. With her fourth win this season, she now holds a three-point lead over Vu and a 36-point lead over Ruoning Yin. No French player has ever won the LPGA Player of the Year award. Players earn points by finishing in the top 10, with a victory worth 30 points.

Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year

Three players have a chance at winning the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year award, but Hae Ran Ryu is currently leading. Ryu, from South Korea, has a 255-point lead over Grace Kim and a 410-point lead over Yuna Nishimura. Ryu can mathematically secure the award with a 12th-place finish or better at The Annika driven by Gainbridge at Pelican. Rose Zhang is currently in third place but is not competing at the Pelican. To have a chance, Zhang would need to win all three remaining events on the schedule. Her victory at the Mizuho Americas did not count towards her points total as she was not yet a member.

Vare Trophy

Hyo Joo Kim leads the race for the Vare Trophy with a 69.671 average. She is ahead of Atthaya Thitikul by 0.090 strokes. Thitikul would need an average of 68.916 strokes per round in her last two events to surpass Kim’s current average. The record for the lowest scoring average was set by Annika Sorenstam in 2002 at 68.70.

LPGA money list

Allisen Corpuz is currently leading the money list with $3,017,771 in 22 starts. She is ahead of Vu by $252,968 and Boutier by $287,431. There is $12.25 million in prize money remaining through the CME Group Tour Championship, with the winner taking home $2 million.

Aon Risk Reward Challenge

The Aon Risk Reward Challenge will conclude at The Annika. Angel Yin is currently leading with an average score of -0.933 and is 28 under over 30 holes played. Thitikul ranks second and would need at least two eagles to surpass Yin. Carlota Ciganda, the 2019 Aon winner, would need at least one eagle and a double eagle. If Yin makes a birdie or worse at the Pelican, other scenarios will come into play. The winner of the Aon Risk Reward Challenge will receive $1 million.

Originally appeared on GolfWeek