Lydia Ko to Atthaya Thitikul: Here are the golfers in the run for LPGA Player of the Year

The LPGA The Player of the Year award is among the most prestigious honors female golfers receive. Naturally, every golfer dreams of winning it. The award is not only coveted, but it also adds a Hall of Fame point to the awardee's account. But winning the award is certainly a tough path to navigate.

Unlike the PGA Tour, the LPGA devises a season-long points system with a foursome of golfers who are still in contention for the top honor. This year, the race is between tour veteran Lydia Ko, reigning US Women's Open champion Minjee Lee, current Evian champion Brooke Henderson, and sensational teenager and former World No. 1 Atthaya Thitikul.

As the season is coming to an end, the contest for the LPGA Player of the Year award is getting more intense. Ko entered the week with a one-point lead over Lee and a 20-points lead over Henderson and Thitikul.

The decider would most likely be the CME Group Tour Championship, where if Ko or Lee win, they are guaranteed the LPGA Player of the Year award. However, Henderson and Thitikul are still not out of the race as they, too, can bag the award if they win the CME finale and both Ko and Lee finish third or worse.

Although it is a tall order to follow, golf is an unpredictable sport. And if history teaches anything, it is to always expect the unexpected.

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Who gets the LPGA Player of the Year award if there is a tie between two players?

So Yeon Ryu and Sung Hyun Park at the CME Group Tour Championship - Final Round - Portraits (Image via Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)

The points race between the four golfers is very tight. So it is natural to wonder what would happen if the points are tied. The answer is not very complicated, as both the players would receive the award.

It happened before in 2017. So-Yeon Ryu and Sung-Hyun Park were tied for points at the end of the season and shared the award.

As the LPGA Player of the Year award also gets the golfer a point in the Hall of Fame points system, the stakes are much higher for all the golfers. A player needs 27 points to qualify for the Hall of Fame.

Currently in the list of the players in contention for the award, Lydia Ko has 22 points, Minjee Lee has 10, Brooke Henderson has 14, and Atthaya Thitikul has two. Ko has a second chance of winning that one point this week by bagging the Vare Trophy, which honors the player with the lowest scoring average for the season.

Ko won it last year and is leading the pack this year as well. Her average of 69.049 is .386 lower than Thitikul's. Since the difference is not monumental, it would require Ko to execute one of her worst performance weeks in quite a while. The 25-year-old would be just three points away from the Hall of Fame if she manages to win both the Vare Trophy and the LPGA Player of the Year award.