Lydia Ko solidified her legacy as a golf superstar in 2022. She won three times en route to earning Rolex Player of the Year honors and reclaiming the No. 1 spot in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings for the first time since 2017.
The Kiwi ranked first in strokes gained total and strokes gained putting, and won the Vare Trophy, awarded annually to the player with the lowest scoring average on Tour, for the second year in a row.
Fast forward three months later to the start of the 2023 season and Ko is nowhere near those impressive numbers she put up last year. According to KPMG Performance Insights, she ranks 50th in strokes gained total, 100th in strokes gained putting and 47th in scoring average – almost a complete 360 from where she was a year ago today.
“If only I knew, then I would do it,” Ko said when asked about the stark differences between this season and last season. “Golf is one of those weird sports. You could miss seven cuts in a row and then win the next week, and you’re like, ‘what was the difference?’ It’s a head-scratcher. I haven’t really gotten off into a good momentum of things, and I feel like if I do catch that – have a good week – hopefully that will build the confidence and kind of build that momentum into the week after and the week after.”
Right now, Ko’s momentum is dragging her down the leaderboard. In seven starts, she has only cracked the top 10 once, finishing T6 at the Honda LPGA Thailand, her first event of the season. Since then, Ko hasn’t even been able to crack the top 30, her second-best result coming a week later at the HSBC Women’s World Championship where she finished T31.
Last year, Ko earned 14 top-10 results in 22 starts without missing a single cut. She’s already missed two cuts this year, at The Chevron Championship and last week at the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give. Ko is well aware of where she stands and, in some ways, her subpar performance is starting to wear on her.
“I feel like after missing the cut, you can’t really go below that,” Ko told the media on Wednesday. “I just try to keep being positive, and that’s sometimes been a struggle. I think if people say it’s just rainbows and sunny days after missing a cut, I feel like that wouldn’t be the most honest answer. It’s been frustrating the last couple months.”
Ko is no stranger to these dry spells, having gone winless in 2017, 2019 and 2020, but the 26-year-old hasn’t lost hope yet. Ko said her results aren’t an accurate reflection of the way she’s been playing, and she hopes to turn things around in the second half of the season, starting this week at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
There’s a lot more on the line this week than just another win and a chance to regain momentum. Ko is just two points shy of entry into the LPGA Hall of Fame at 25, and a major title this week would grant her the two points she needs to get the 27 necessary for induction. Additionally, if Ko wins this week and current world No. 1 Jin Young Ko finishes solo third or worse, Lydia could regain the top ranking. While there’s plenty of motivation for Ko to fight for a win at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, that’s not her focus going into this weekend – she just wants to keep working toward finding her best golf.
“Just because you had a great year last year, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to have that amazing year the following season,” Ko said. “I’m going to continue to work hard and keep working with my team so that I can be more consistent. I had a spell where I didn’t win a couple times, so it’s not like I’ve never been there before. It hasn’t been that long, and I’ve still got over half the season left. A lot of golf to be played and I’m just trying to be positive.”
Though she’s been through it all before, her experience hasn’t made this rough patch any easier. Lately, Ko has been relying on her family and friends off the course for a much-needed boost through this slump she’s dealing with in her game.
“I definitely have a tendency to get down and frustrated and disappointed in myself, but my family and team have helped me to keep my head high,” Ko said. “No matter if I shoot a high or low score, I come back home and I call my husband and I’m still the same me. It’s always great to feel that love outside of what happens out on the golf course for us.”
Ko is likely still a far cry from a win this week, but just making the cut or breaking the top 25 would be a huge step in the right direction for the 19-time LPGA Tour winner. Luckily for Ko, she performs her best early in majors, currently 33-under total in the first 36 holes of major championships since 2017.
But regardless – Hall of Famer or not – Lydia Ko is still Lydia Ko, forever one of golf’s greatest superstars.
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