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Michelle Wie

LPGA tour on youthful upswing

Steve DiMeglio
USA TODAY Sports
Lydia Ko of New Zealand holds up her Race to the CME Globe trophy on the 18 green Sunday, Nov. 23, at the Tiburon Golf Club at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort in Naples, Fla., after the final round of the LPGA's CME Group Tour Championship. Lydia Ko of New Zealand defeated Carlota Ciganda of Spain in a four-hole playoff.

Who had a better 2014 than Michael Whan?

The commissioner of the LPGA could not have envisioned in his wildest dreams so many uplifting and headline-making moments that launched women's golf upward with a bullet.

Stars Lexi Thompson and Michelle Wie both won their first major championship. Stacy Lewis and Inbee Park continued their rivalry as the best players in the game, with Park collecting the fifth major of her career and Lewis sweeping the triple crown of the game's most coveted awards.

And the future looks secure as sixth-grader Lucy Li made history in the U.S. Women's Open and 17-year-old Lydia Ko had the richest payday in LPGA history in the last tournament of the season.

Next season is already off to a great start as more than $62 million in prize money will be up for grabs, the most in the organization's history.

Here is a recap of 2014:

"Without your downs, without the hardships, I don't think you appreciate the ups as much as you do. I think the fact that I struggled so much, the fact that I kind of went through a hard period of my life, the fact that this trophy is right next to me, it means so much more to me than it ever would have when I was 15."

Michelle Wie, after winning the U.S. Women's Open by two strokes.

"Just because I'm a millionaire now doesn't mean I'm going to spend all of it. I want to keep it for the future, because you never know what's going to happen."

Lydia Ko, after becoming, at 17, the youngest player to win $1 million in LPGA history.

"It's more of a job. And this is no lie: In the '80s, on a Monday, you could blow a bomb off and no one was here. And now everybody's here on Sunday night and everybody is playing, practicing on Monday, and it's a grind. Whether that's good or bad, I don't know, but I'm just glad I'm drinking with my kids instead of putting diapers on them, that's for sure."

Juli Inkster, 54, during her 35th -- and last -- start in the U.S. Women's Open.

"I can't put into words how I'm feeling right now. I'm still riding so many emotions. It feels surreal. I can't explain. I'm so overwhelmed right now. I'm so proud and honored to be a champion for such an incredible tournament. I can't … I can't … I just can't."

Christina Kim, after winning the Lorena Ochoa Invitational. Kim has battled depression that led to thoughts of suicide. The tournament in Mexico this month was her first LPGA tour victory in nine years.

By the numbers

0 Cuts missed by Lydia Ko in 42 LPGA tour events, including 26 this season. She has 22 top-10 finishes in her career.

1.5 Million dollars Ko cashed in for in the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship, the largest payday in LPGA history. Ko, 17, won the tournament and $500,000 in a playoff as well as the inaugural season-long Race to the CME Globe and its $1 million jackpot.

2 Strokes under par Michelle Wie signed for at the end of the U.S. Women's Open, which was also her margin of victory in winning her first major championship. In holding off Stacy Lewis, Wie bounced back from a double-bogey 6 on the 70th hole with an electrifying birdie from 20 feet on the next hole.

Michelle Wie plays a shot on the second hole during the third round of the CME Group Tour Championship at Tiburon Golf Club on Nov. 22, in Naples, Florida.

4 Players with sub-70 scoring averages for the season, the first time in LPGA history four accomplished the feat in the same season. The players were Lewis (69.53), Inbee Park (69.68), Wie (69.82) and So Yeon Ryu (69.98).

11 Age of Lucy Li when she became the youngest player to qualify for the U.S. Women's Open. The then-sixth grader was the center of attention for the week and shot respectable rounds of 78 but missed the cut.

13 Putts Lexi Thompson had on the front nine in the final round of the Kraft Nabisco Championship as she built a five-stroke lead in her last-group duel with Wie. Thompson, who had battled putting woes before the season, shot 4-under-par 68 to finish off her 3-shot victory over Wie. At 19, Thompson became the second- youngest player to win a major in LPGA history.

18 Top-10s for Lewis, who led the LPGA tour.

75 Feet Paula Creamer's eagle putt heard round the world traveled before disappearing into the cup to give her the win in a playoff at the HSBC Women's Champions in Singapore.

237 Yards Mo Martin had to the flagstick for her second shot on the final hole of the Ricoh Women's British Open at Royal Birkdale. Martin, using a 3-wood, hit the flagstick with her shot on the par-5 hole, setting up a 6-foot putt for eagle that she made to win her first tournament by one shot.

307 Combined yards of the two holes Danielle Kang aced in consecutive weeks, both coming on the 17th hole and both with a TaylorMade golf ball marked with the No. 17. She used an 8-iron from 151 yards for her first ace in the Blue Bay LPGA event in China. Then she used a 7-iron from 156 yards at the Fubon LPGA Taiwan Championship. National Hole in One Registry officials deemed the feat a 350,000-1 shot. The kicker? Kang won cars for each of her aces – a Buick LaCrosse for the first one, an Audi A6 T2.0 for the second.

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