Kerr wins LPGA finale, Ko wins CME Globe, Park qualifies Hall of Fame

There were three big winners on Sunday on the LPGA Tour.

Cristie Kerr won the actual golf tournament at hand, taking the CME Group Tour Championship at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Fla., winning by a shot over Gerina Piller and Ha Na Jang at 17-under 271. Kerr’s eagle 3 on the 17th hole gave her the winning edge and was the highlight of a Sunday 4-under 68.

In a year where an 18-year-old and a 27-year-old dominated, Kerr, 38, defied the trend.

“I think good golf is just good golf,” she said. “It doesn’t really matter what age it is. I think I proved that.”

Lydia Ko didn’t win the tournament, but her final round of 72 left her at 11 under par and in a tie for seventh place. While she finished a shot behind Inbee Park, who finished in solo sixth, the result was good enough for Ko to win the LPGA’s points-based Player of the Year award, the money title and, for the second year in a row, the Race to the CME Globe, the tour’s season-long points race. With the CME Globe, Ko took home a $ 1 million bonus.

However, when Ko holed out for a closing bogey, she had no idea that the points worked in her favor.

“I didn’t know how these points worked out. I didn’t know if sixth place was good enough or whatever,” she said afterward. “My mind kind of went completely blank, but at the same time trying to calculate things that I don’t know how to calculate.”

While Park didn’t wind up with the trophy or the big bucks on Sunday, she did manage to hang on to the Vare Trophy, awarded to the LPGA player with the lowest season-long scoring average. And winning that trophy earned her the 27th and final points required to qualify for the LPGA Hall of Fame.

Park will have to complete a 10th LPGA season to earn enshrinement, but that honor is a formality at this point.

“The trophy, that sounds really good,” Park said. “Being the last point to achieve all the points for the Hall of Fame, it’s even more special.”

Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.

Follow @RyanBallengee

Devil Ball Golf – Golf – Yahoo Sports