If I’m being honest, I still am not completely over the ending of the LPGA’s streak of different individual winners. We now have 28 different winners this season and two repeat winners with just two events remaining on the LPGA schedule. The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at the Pelican is one of my favorite tournaments on the entire LPGA calendar, and not just because it has the longest name ever.

The ANNIKA is hosted by one of the best players ever, features a very strong field and is played on a golf course that rewards length and precision. It also has the added benefit of being the last tournament on the schedule before the CME Group Tour Championship. The top 60 and ties in the Race to CME Globe Points List at the end of the tournament qualify for the Tour Championship. Unlike most weeks when the focus is mostly on the top of the leaderboard, this tournament will feature intriguing storylines up and down as players look to earn the last few points that could secure their place in the last tournament of the year. All four days of the tournament will be televised on The Golf Channel and these are the nine players I’m most excited to watch this week.

Nelly Korda

It is still crazy that Nelly is not among the 28 different players who have won this season. She is second on tour this season with eight top-10 finishes without a win, behind Hye-Jin Choi. That being said, she should probably be the favorite this week. Nelly has won this tournament three of the five times they’ve held it, including last year for her seventh win of the season. Nelly’s stats are not too far off from her historic 2024 season, and a win here would feel like a bit of justice. If Nelly does not win The ANNIKA or the Tour Championship, it would be her first season without a win since 2020.

Caitlin Clark, Lexie Hull, and Sophie Cunningham

Caitlin Clark is playing in Wednesday’s Pro-Am for the second consecutive season, and this year her Indiana Fever teammates Sophie Cunningham and Lexie Hull will be her celebrity guest caddies. I don’t usually pay attention to LPGA tournaments until the strokes actually count, but this should be a fun group as Clark plays alongside the aforementioned Nelly Korda.

Miyu Yamashita

Yamashita is the highest-ranked player in CME Points in the field, and the only player with a shot to catch Jeeno Thitikul for Rolex Player of the Year. They are the only players with multiple wins on tour this season, though Yamashita has done it in five more events. Yamashita finished third in the rain-shortened TOTO Japan Classic last week, her seventh top-10 in her last 10 tournaments. She has nearly wrapped up the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year, thought that could change if Rio Takeda, Chisato Iwai, or Akie Iwai are able to pick up their second wins of the season.

Lillia Vu

Currently ranked 74 in the Race to CME Globe Points List, Lillia Vu needs to finish sixth or better to have any chance of advancing to next week’s CME Group Tour Championship. That is a tall order, but as the only player not named Nelly Korda to win this tournament in the last four years, I wouldn’t rule it out. Last year in her second start in this tournament, she finished T34. Vu has just one top-10 this season, but she has made three consecutive cuts. It is unlikely that anyone this far down the CME Points List is going to make a dramatic move into the top 60, but she is as good a bet as any.

Julia Lopez Ramirez

Anyone who has read my LPGA articles this season probably knew Lopez Ramirez would make an appearance sooner or later. That being said, there are good reasons she is here beyond her being one of my favorite young players. The success that Nelly Korda, Charley Hull, Linn Grant, Stephanie Kyriacou and Lexi Thompson have had at this tournament in recent seasons demonstrates the importance of driving the ball long and straight on this course. Julia Lopez Ramirez is currently tied for fourth in strokes gained driving and is first in driving distance. She is also 68th in the Race to CME Globe Points List. The CME Group Tour Championship bubble doesn’t have any household names on the outside looking in, but Julia Lopez Ramirez has the game to vault herself into contention this week and perhaps even be a factor next week.

Lexi Thompson

While there aren’t many big names in the 60s in the Race to CME Globe Points List, there are several notable players in the 50s. Lexi Thompson is currently 52nd, followed by Patty Tavatanakit at 55 and Leona Maguire at 56. All three will be under some pressure to at least make the cut and perhaps even get into the top 10 to secure a spot in the field next week.

I have decided to highlight Lexi Thompson here for a few reasons. Firstly, I don’t think it has gotten enough attention how well she has played in her first season as a part-time player. She has played just 11 events this season and is still on track to qualify for the CME Group Tour Championship. The only player with fewer starts who even has a chance of making the field is Lottie Woad. Lexi has two top-10s and just three missed cuts in her 11 starts.

She hasn’t played an official event since the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G in September, which was rained out after one round. She missed the cut the two other times this season, she went more than a month between events, which could be a problem this week. However, her history at this course is working in her favor. Lexi finished second to Nelly Korda here in 2022 and was one of three players to lose in a playoff to Nelly in 2021. Lexi finished T7 here in 2023 before missing the cut last year. It has been great to see how well Lexi has adjusted to her part-time schedule, and it would be great if she could pay that off with another top-10 and a spot in the Tour Championship.

Charley Hull

I rarely need a reason to watch Charley Hull, but I am even more intrigued than normal to see how she does this week. She has wrapped up a spot in the Tour Championship thanks in part to her improbable win at the Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G in September. She has played just once since then, a T14 at the LOTTE Championship presented by Hoakalei in October. Like Lexi Thompson, Hull has excelled in a condensed schedule, though Hull’s schedule was shortened due to illness and injury. As I mentioned above, I believe this course suits Hull’s game, so maybe we will see her secure the first multi-win season of her career.