NAPLES FL. — Mom!
Lydia Ko played some of her best golf since her entry to the LPGA almost 10 years ago. However, she still had to face her biggest critic throughout the year, Tina.
Ko stated that her mom sometimes jokes to her about me before she played Sunday’s final round of the CME Group Tour Championship. “She’s like, ‘You performed so much better when your were, like 15,’
“I was, like, ‘Thanks, Mom. What’s the point of all that information?
Maybe you can take it and prove her right?
This is because that’s exactly what the New Zealand 25-year-old did at the last event of the LPGA Season.
Ko completed a remarkable comeback year winning the CME Group Tour Championship at Tiburon Golf Club as well as the $2 million prize money. This was Ko’s third win of the season, and she finished 14th in her top 10.
In case mom doesn’t pay attention, Ko might have to make a new case in Orlando just for the hardware she brought home Sunday.
She also won the Rolex Player Of The Year trophy, and the Vare Trophy (a silver bowl that goes for the golfer who scores the lowest season-long score) for her second consecutive year.
Will mom now give her credit?
She said, “Oh, hell no!” “I look like 5 in the eyes of my mom.”
Ko wouldn’t have it any other. Ko credits her mom with keeping her “super grounded”, like when she asked her about Sunday’s one shot.
“Remember the thing you hit on 14 that went in to the water?” she asked her mom. “I was like, Yes, Mom.”
It is hard to overstate the significance of Ko’s weekend reward for shooting 2-under 70, finishing 17-under par and two shots better than Leona Maguire from Ireland.
Big check for Ko and bigger checks to come on the LPGA Tour
Ko will cash the largest check in the history the game, as a prelude to what’s to come on LPGA.
Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan said that the tour will distribute over $100 million in prize money next season.
Even though Ko’s season-end earnings of $4,364,403 fell $591 short the Lorena Ochoa record in 2007, she moved into the fifth position in career earnings, with less than $16.7million.
Ko will be two years closer to her 2022 performance and Ko will surpass Annika Sorenstam in career money in women’s golf.
Ko’s season was highlighted with bookend wins at both the Gainbridge LPGA Boca Raton, and the Tour Championship. The BMW Ladies Championship in South Korea was her other win. It was just as memorable as any victory in her career.
She said, “A bucket-list thing.”
This is her first consecutive win season since 2016, when she was the youngest golfer to reach No. She was 17. She was 17.
She said, “This year was special.”
Maguire and Ko started the day windy, cool and damp at 15-under. They were five shots ahead of everyone else. Maguire was only one shot ahead of Ko twice in seven holes, before Maguire birdied the par-3 No. Ko was one shot ahead of Maguire in the first seven holes, before Maguire made a birdie on No. 3.
The win was sealed by birdies on 16-17
Ko stated, “I didn’t want to set too high expectations.” “I want to finish the season on high but also know that whatever happens, it’s been an amazing season.”
Even mom can be a good listener.
Ko stated, “She might be my toughest critic but I know she wants me just to keep growing.” “I should be saying ‘thanks’ more often but I don’t always end up saying it. It’s easier to say it when she isn’t there, but I must thank her for everything she does for me.
