Out of the Rough: CME Group Tour Championship (2025)

Following 32 events played across 11 different countries, the 2025 LPGA Tour season comes to an end with this week’s CME Group Tour Championship.

As the final event of the season, golfers ranked within the top-60 of the season-long Race to the CME Globe standings qualify for this week’s event. 

It was first staged in 2014, taking over for the former LPGA Tour Championship.

Since 2014, the event has been staged at the Tiburon Golf Club’s Gold Course and will again be played there this season.

This event also holds one of the largest overall purses in the women’s game at $11 million, while holding the largest purse to any winner across the season at $4 million.

The Field

This week’s field features the top 60 players from the season-long Race to the CME Globe standings.

With that being said, there isn’t much to dive into here with this week’s field, simply, if you’re looking for the full field, click here.

Just know that the best golfers in the women’s game will be in attendance this week. 

The Course

The Tiburon Golf Club’s Gold Course comes in as a par-72 at 6,556 yards.

It is the design of golf hall-of-famer Greg Norman and is often ranked as one of the best courses in Florida that anyone can play as a semi-private club.

Off-the-tee golfers will be faced with a slew of obstacles.

Most notably, water comes into play on 15 holes this week.

Additionally, numerous stacked sod wall bunkers and red-orange coquina sand waste bunkers are strategically placed throughout the course.

Although the venue lacks conventional rough, the fairways are lined with pine straw instead.

Turf across the entirety of this course is maintained at one-half inch or less meaning that the fairways will run fast-and-true, making them hard to hold and bringing the hazards listed above into play when even finding the fairways.

The greens are laid in a Tifeagle Bermuda and can measure up to 12-to-13 on the Stimpmeter, making them some of the fastest in the region and some of the fastest greens faced all season.

In all, this course follows Norman’s philosophy of maximizing the natural allure of the land. All plant life is native to the area and there are no altered undulations not native to the original area.

The Weather

As of the time of writing this, Thursday currently calls for a five-percent chance of precipitation, Friday a 15-percent chance as Saturday and Sunday are calling for a zero-percent chance. Temperatures are set to begin at 83-degrees across both Thursday and Friday before dipping to 82-degrees on Saturday and 81-degrees on Sunday. Winds are currently set for eight miles-per-hour for both Thursday and Friday before settling to seven miles-per-hour on Saturday. Winds will be at the highest on Sunday at 12 miles-per-hour. 

Key Stats

• Driving Accuracy Percentage

• Strokes Gained: Approach (SG: APP)

• Sand Saves Percentage

• Par 5 Scoring Average

• Strokes Gained: Putting (SG: PUTT)

• Scrambling Percentage

• Birdie-or-Better Percentage

Betting Card

Lydia Ko (+2200)

I saw this number and didn’t think twice before clicking it. Over the past four years at this event, Ko placed third in 2024, won in 2022 and placed ninth in 2021. It hasn’t been a season to the standard that we’re used to seeing Ko playing, but it still was a good one. Over her last three starts she placed ninth at the Maybank Championship, 14th at the Kroger Queen City Championship and fifth at the CPKC Women’s Open. She is currently first on Tour in par-five average scoring, second in scrambling, third in both sand saves percentage and SG: PUTT, 33rd in birdie-or-better percentage, 46th in SG: APP and 59th in driving accuracy percentage. 

Celine Boutier (+3500)

Just as quickly as I clicked Ko at 22/1, I clicked Boutier at 35/1. Boutier is currently sixth on Tour in both sand saves percentage and par-five average scoring, seventh in scrambling, 13th in SG: APP, 21st in birdie-or-better percentage, 27th in SG: PUTT and 30th in driving accuracy percentage. She most recently placed 15th at last week’s The ANNIKA. Prior to that she placed 16th at the Maybank Championship, third at the BMW Ladies Championship and 22nd at the Kroger Queen City Championship. Boutier placed 12th here a season ago, 16th in 2023, tenth in 2022, third in 2021 and 19th in 2020. 

Ayaka Furue (+6500)

My “long shot” this week is Furue. She has good course history here, placing eighth a season ago, 16th in 2023 and 25th in 2022. She missed the cut at last week’s The ANNIKA but before that placed tenth at the TOTO Japan Classic, ninth at the Maybank Championship, 59th at the Kroger Queen City Championship and 13th at the FM Championship. Future is currently sixth on Tour in driving accuracy percentage, 19th in SG: APP, 39th in birdie-or-better percentage, 43rd in scrambling, 46th in SG: PUTT, 47th in par-five average scoring and 65th in sands saves percentage.