Lewis in the Groove, World No. 1 Scenario and more from ANA Inspiration

Defending ANA Inspiration champion and World No. 1 Lydia Ko has reason to be feeling positive this week returning to the site of her second career major victory where she became the youngest female ever to win two major championships here at the ANA Inspiration (18 years, 11 months, and 9 days). Ko also became the second-youngest golfer (male or female) to two major wins and youngest since Young Tom Morris won the 1869 Open Championship.

“Obviously you know, being the defending champion, there is a little bit of pressure but then at the same time, I think it gave me the confidence to say that I can play well at this course,” Ko told the media on Tuesday.

Adversely, Ko is coming off of a similar situation in attempting to defend a title last week at the Kia Classic. Unfortunately the 19-year-old missed just her second cut in 95 career starts and was unable to play over the weekend in Carlsbad. Yet in typical Lydia fashion, the New Zealander’s glass remains half-full.

“I’m just going to try and erase last week,” Ko stated. “I know that even though I did miss the cut, there were still a lot of positives and you know, the things that we’ve been trying to work on in the off-season, I think they are starting to show a little bit by little and I think those are the confidence boosters and not only just results.”

This week at the ANA Inspiration, Ariya Jutanugarn can pass Lydia Ko and become the No. 1 player in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings if she wins AND Lydia Ko finishes 5th or worse.

Jutanugarn must win for a chance to pass Ko. If Jutanugarn wins, Ko remains No. 1 with a second, third or fourth place finish this week.

Seven months ago, the average points differential between No. 1 and No. 2 in the world was 6.57 points. This week, the difference is now 1.33 average points.

2011 ANA Inspiration winner Stacy Lewis is returning to one of her favorite courses and is off to a fast start in 2017. This season, Lewis already has a third-place finish and recorded her 12th runner-up since her last win on the LPGA Tour at the 2014 Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G (25 career runner-up finishes).

At ANA, Lewis has five top-10 finishes in nine career starts including a T5 result in her first-ever appearance, her first career win in 2011 and a runner-up finish in 2015.

“It’s been a really good start to the year,” said Lewis. “I had two kind of close calls already, and played some really solid golf. It’s nice to sit here feel like I’m playing well and not searching for my golf swing and not trying to make things better.

Now it’s just about playing the golf course and shoring up some little things. It’s not looking for a golf swing or a putting stroke. I feel like everything’s there and I’m really excited, because this is one of my favorite courses we play all year.”

Brittany Lincicome enters this week as the only American player that has won on the LPGA Tour in 2017. She cooled off a bit after taking the season-opening Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic shooting 26-under par, but the power-hitting 31-year-old is picking up steam looking to become just the fourth player to reach three wins at the ANA Inspiration alongside Amy Alcott, Betsy King and Annika Sorenstam.

Lincicome, who ranks first on Tour this year in eagles (6) and second in average driving distance (274.05) sounded excited as she talked about unleashing her driver once again on the Dinah Shore Tournament Course.

“The tournament last week, I only got to hit three drivers the whole week, and I love hitting my driver,” Lincicome said. “It’s my favorite club. So out here I can hit a fewer drives, which is fun. I think the longer, the better for me personally fits into my game better. It’s obviously narrow this week, so you need to drive it well, and obviously my distance will give me shorter clubs into the tough greens.”

The World Golf Hall of Fame and the LPGA held a special press conference and celebratory toast for 2017 Inductee Meg Mallon on Tuesday. Mallon was joined by World Golf Hall of Fame President Jack Peter and LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan.

It was announced late last year that Mallon would be enshrined into the World Golf Hall of Fame during the 2017 Induction Ceremony, the week of the Presidents Cup in New York on September 26, alongside Davis Love III, Lorena Ochoa, Ian Woosnam and the late Henry Longhurst. Mallon’s 18-career LPGA Tour victories and four Major Championships are just part of her winning make-up. A member of eight Solheim Cup teams as a player (she was captain in 2013), Mallon was recognized during the LPGA’s 50th Anniversary as one of the LPGA’s top-50 players and teachers. She also earned the Golf Writers Association of America Female Player of the Year award in 1991.

Lydia Ko has spent 75 consecutive weeks as the top player in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings. Her 94 weeks overall at No. 1 rank third all-time behind Yani Tseng (109 weeks) and Lorena Ochoa (158 weeks).

Lydia Ko has spent 189 consecutive weeks inside the top ten of the Rolex Rankings, the longest current streak of any player.

Lydia Ko needs $510,710 to surpass $8 million in career earnings. Ko currently holds the record as the fastest player to reach $2, $3, $4, $5, $6 and $7 million in career earnings. Yani Tseng currently holds the record as the fastest player to reach $8 million in career earnings at 4 years, 1 month, 4 days (98 events, 2012 RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup).

Before last week’s Kia Classic, the one and only cut that Lydia Ko missed in an LPGA event in her career came at the 2015 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.

Brittany Lincicome (2009) and Stacy Lewis (2011) are two of 15 players all-time that won their first career major championship at the ANA Inspiration.

There have been six playoffs in the 45-year history of the ANA Inspiration. The last playoff occurred in 2015 when Brittany Lincicome outlasted Stacy Lewis on the third hole of sudden death in the longest playoff in the event’s history.

Stacy Lewis (2nd, 347.5 points) and Brittany Lincicome (8th, 177 points) are both in contention to compete in the 2017 Solheim Cup. The top-8 U.S. Solheim Cup Points earners automatically earn a spot on Team USA. Lewis has appeared in three Solheim Cups for the U.S. in her career and Lincicome is a five-time U.S. Solheim Cup team member.

South Korea leads all nations in wins by country in 2017 with four wins by four different players. The United States (Brittany Lincicome) and Sweden (Anna Nordqvist) are the only other countries represented in the winner’s circle thus far this season.