CME Group, owner of the world’s largest futures exchange, will be the title sponsor of the Ladies Professional Golf Association’s first ever points race, which is set to launch for the 2014 season.
CME has been an LPGA sponsor for the past three years, with the new initiative set to be titled the Race to the CME Globe. The inaugural Race will kick off the week of January 20 at the season-opening Bahamas LPGA Classic. Players will accumulate points at each official LPGA event from the Bahamas through the Lorena Ochoa Invitational in Mexico on November 13-16.
The Race to the CME Globe will then come to a conclusion on November 23 at the newly renamed CME Group Tour Championship. The winner of the Championship will take home a $500,000 (€368,000) first-place prize, while the player who has accumulated the most points in the season-long points competition will be announced as the Race to the CME Globe champion with a $1m money payout – the largest in all of women’s golf.
Terry Duffy, executive chairman and president of CME Group, said: “The LPGA is the most diverse tour in the world and that is a great fit for us. Sponsoring the new CME Group Tour Championship provides our company with a powerful branding opportunity in a way that appeals to our global customer base. In addition, the all new Race to the CME Globe will generate added momentum in 2014, giving the athletes an even bigger goal to play for throughout the year.”