Notable players missing from this week’s CME Group Tour Championship field
While nine players are making their debut at this week’s CME Group Tour Championship, there’s still plenty of talk about who didn’t make the field in Naples, Florida.
Throughout the season, players earn points toward the Race to CME Globe, which is used not only to determine the field at Tiburon Golf Club but also to determine what kind of status – if any – players have for the next season.
The top 60 players and ties after The Annika driven by Gainbridge event qualify for the Tour Championship, which features a $7 million purse and $2 million payout to the winner.
Here’s a list of notable names whose seasons have ended early:
70. Emily Kristine Pedersen
Despite holding the 54-hole lead at The Annika last week, Pedersen couldn’t hang on to qualify for the season-ender.
75. In Gee Chun
After finishing ninth on the CME points last season and winning her third major title, Chun posted only one top 10 in all of 2023.
76. Maria Fassi
It looked like Fassi might make a late charge after a T-8 in Japan, but the mountain proved too much.
79. Lexi Thompson
Thompson misses the CME for the first time after a shocking first half of 2023. She ended the season with three top-10 finishes, but the positive surge came too late.
82. Moriya Jutanugarn
An unusually lackluster year for the elder Jutanugarn sister. The normally consistent Thai player posted only one top-10 finish all season.
83. Hinako Shibuno
Three missed cuts midseason sent the “Smiling Cinderella” in a bad direction. The former British Open champ ranks 92nd on tour in greens in regulation.
86. Stacy Lewis
It proved too hard for Lewis to balance Solheim Cup captaincy with her own game. As the season came to an end, Lewis was simply happy to have a few weeks at home to get to work.
90. Marina Alex
Six consecutive missed cuts toward the end of summer proved too much to overcome for Alex, who ranks 99th in putts per green in regulation.
100. Lydia Ko
Ko’s struggles were the most shocking development of the season after such a sterling 2022. Like Thompson, Ko found something toward the end of the season but ran out of time to qualify for Naples.
