Lydia Ko wins season finale as Korean golfers continue to struggle on LPGA Tour

Golf

Published: 21 Nov. 2022, 15:01 Updated: 21 Nov. 2022, 17:10

Lydia Ko wins season finale as Korean golfers continue to struggle on LPGA Tour

Lydia Ko of New Zealand poses with the trophy after winning the LPGA CME Group Tour Championship on Sunday at Tiburon Golf Club on Sunday in Naples, Florida. [AP/YONHAP]

The 2022 LPGA season came to a close on Sunday with Lydia Ko of New Zealand clinching the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship trophy.

After 31 official tournaments this season, the CME Group Tour Championship was the final event on the Tour and the culmination of the season-long points competition, the Race to the CME Globe. LPGA golfers accumulated points in every official LPGA event throughout the season to enter the season-ending championship.

The field was set to the top 60 in the Race to the CME Globe points standings after the Pelican Women’s Championship, with all 60 golfers competing in the 72-hole, no-cut competition for a chance to win the $2-million winner’s prize, the largest in the history of women’s golf.

Ko became the owner of that fat check on Sunday after a wire-to-wire victory at the season finale. She shot a 2-under, 70, on Sunday to finish with an overall 17-under-par, two strokes ahead of third-round co-leader Leona Maguire of Ireland.

With her win, the Kiwi is now a 19-time LPGA champion and the youngest player to reach 19 career LPGA Tour wins since Korean golf legend Pak Se-ri in 2003. The CME Championship being her third win of the season, Ko also gets to add the 2022 Player of the Year award to her resume, marking the second time in her career she has achieved the feat.

Despite the windy conditions, Ko was still able to set herself apart from the very start, leading the leaderboard by one stroke carding a 65 on the first round. Ko took that lead ever further in the second round with a 66, heading into moving day with a five stroke lead over second place Kim Hyo-joo.

While it looked like the Kiwi could easily run away with the five strike lead, Maguire shot an incredible bogeyless 63 on Saturday, carding nine birdies. Making the most of moving day, she carded the lowest round score to tie with Ko at the top of the leaderboard.

But that form didn’t carry in to the final round for the Irish golfer, who carded two birdies and two bogies while Ko was able to run away with two bogies and four birdies.

Lydia Ko, right, of New Zealand, hugs her fiance after winning the LPGA CME Group Tour Championship golf tournament at Tiburon Golf Club on Sunday in Naples, Florida. [AP/YONHAP]

“To be the Player of the Year and to win the Vare Trophy again and to win the CME Group Tour Championship, it's a dream come true,” said Ko after her win on Sunday. “To be able to do it in front of family and my team, you know, it's a very special one. As much as I'm excited that I have won, I'm also excited for some time off and get ready to become a bride soon.”

Ko is expected to tie the knot this December with Jeong Jun, the youngest son of Hyundai Card vice chairman and CEO Jeong Tae-young.

Ko Jin-young looks on from the third tee during the first round of the CME Group Tour Championship at Tiburon Golf Club on Thursday in Naples, Florida. [AFP/YONHAP]

Lee Jeong-eun hits her second shot from the fourth fairway during the final round of the LPGA CME Group Tour Championship on Sunday at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Florida. [AP/YONHAP]

While this has been an exceptional year for the New Zealander, this LPGA season has been unusually bad for Korean golfers.

This season, the total number of wins by Korean golfers on the LPGA Tour stands at just four.

Ko Jin-young started off with a win at the HSBC Championship in March then Kim won the Lotte Championship, Ji Eun-hee added another win in May at the Bank of Hope LPGA Match-Play then Chun In-gee’s major win at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in June rounds off four titles. Over the last 15 events, not one Korean golfer has been able to clinch a trophy.

The four titles this season marks the lowest number of wins by Korean golfers on the LPGA Tour in the last decade.

The Korean contingent won just three titles in 2011, but then rebounded to eight in 2012, 10 in 2013 and 2014 each, 15 in 2015, nine in 2016, 15 in 2017, nine in 2018, 15 in 2019 and seven each in 2020 and 2021.

Ko Jin-young was looking to go three-in-a-row this week at the CME Group Tour Championship, having won the last two season finales. However, it seemed that the wrist injury that she has been struggling with for the last few months was still an impediment as she finished tied for 33rd after carding two double bogies for 75 on Friday.

Lee Jeong-eun was the top finisher of the Korean contingent, tying for fourth with a total score of 12-under-par. This matches her second best finish this season after taking a solo fourth place at the Kroger Queen City Championship in September. She had tied for fourth toward the start of the season in March at the HSBC Women's World Championship.

Kim, who played a formidable first two rounds, failed to keep that form up over the weekend and finished tied for seventh.

The 2023 LPGA season will start on Jan. 19 next year with the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions. The Tour Friday announced that the 2023 schedule will include 33 official events, with a total prize fund of $101.4 million, with the addition of the biennial playings of the Solheim Cup and the Hanwha Lifeplus International Crown.

BY YUN SO-HYANG [yun.sohyang@joongang.co.kr]