Thompson Moves into Top-10 in Rolex Ranking with Third Win


After winning the third title of your budding career, Lexi Thompson has moved into the top-10 of the LPGA Tour's Rolex Rankings for the first time.

The 18-year-old from Coral Springs, Fla., closed with a 3-under 69 Sunday to win the Ochoa Invitational at Guadalajara Country Club, finishing a stroke ahead of No. 3-ranked Stacy Lewis in the 72-hole tournament and earning $200,000.

Thompson will join the rest of the players in the top 10 for the CME Group Titleholders, which starts Thursday. The $2 million event - with $500,000 to the winner - in Naples, Fla., is the 2013 season-ender on the LPGA Tour.

By finishing fourth at Guadalajara, No. 1-ranked Inbee Park wrapped up the LPGA Tour's points-based Player of the Year award with only the Titleholders left on the schedule. The 25-year-old South Korean is a six-time winner this year, including three majors.

This week at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples will also mark the professional debut of New Zealand sensation Lydia Ko, who at 15 years, eight months, supplanted Thompson (16 years, seven months) as the youngest LPGA champion. Among her other international victories on pro circuits, Ko won two straight Canadian Women's Open titles as an amateur.

Park is the first South Korean to receive Rolex Player of the Year honors. She'll be presented with the trophy at an awards presentation November 22 at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort in Naples.

He's the top 10, listing player's name, home country and ranking points' average:

1. Inbee Park, South Korea, 11.77
2. Suzann Pettersen, Norway, 11.37
3. Stacy Lewis, United States, 10.03
4. Ryu So-yeon, South Korea, 7.04
5. Lydia Ko, New Zealand, 6.87
6. Choi Na-yeon, South Korea, 6.58
7. Feng Shanshan, China, 6.18
8. Karrie Webb, Australia, 5.77
8. I.K. Kim, South Korea, 5.28
10. Lexi Thompson, United States, 5.21