2022 Lydia Ko Mixtape: Embedded In Excellence
Prior to a wee break from LPGA Tour golf, Lydia Ko was enjoying the spoils of gritty mahi. This time last year she was cruising through a delightful patch of golf as she became the only golfer ever to win two Olympic medals which was part of a strong 2021 for Ko, although a tinge of inconsistency was still evident. That flipped into a steady pocket of excellence this year as Ko has made the cut in all 12 tournaments and her tied-46th at the Women's PGA Championship is Ko's only finish worse that 25T.
For 11 consecutive LPGA tournaments, Ko finished 25T or better. The second stanza of her campaign this year featured five consecutive results of 15T or better, with four of them being top-five finishes. Ko has a win at the Gainbridge LPGA event back in January as a headline-grabbing result and her consistent excellence has seen Ko settle among the best players in the world in a highly competitive landscape.
Ko now plays the Evian Championship in France this weekend and she carries a 6T result from last year into this year's event. Perhaps Ko's recent break was timely as she played four tournaments in June, with three consecutive top-five finishes followed by her worst result of the year. As her last event was a month ago, Ko won't carry her divots into the Evian Championship and should be refreshed for the upcoming flow of tournaments.
In her run of splendid results, Ko registered scoring averages below 70 in five consecutive tournaments. This blew out to 73.50 in her last event and this has impacted Ko's overall scoring average for the year which is now slightly above 70, ranked 8th at 70.02.
Forming a basic marker for Ko's mahi, that scoring average is also intriguing when compared to CME Globe Season rankings that measure the best players of the year. Ko is 3rd in the CME Globe Season, sitting behind Australia's Minjee Lee and American Jennifer Kupcho. Ko has less event wins that both of those players, but has more top-10 finishes and Ko's scoring average is better than Kupcho; Lee is 1st in scoring average and CME Globe Season.
This also sets up the next string of tournaments as Ko can easily wiggle up various rankings without wins, just solid results as she has done. Five players have scoring averages below 70, then five more sit between 70 and 70.10. This ain't the LPGA Tour of 2013, this is 2022 where Ko is perched alongside at least 10 players who can genuinely make waves at the highest level of wahine golf.
Ko is still 1st for Sand Saves which is her leading skillset. Along with her 3rd ranking for CME Globe Season, Ko is 4th for Putts per GIR, 3rd for Putting Average and 4th for Birdies. None of this excellence is new as Ko has been top-five in the last three years for Putts per GIR, Putting Average and Sand Saves. Ko has also been top-10 in the last three years for Scoring Average.
The Evian Championship starts a European adventure with the Scottish Open following next weekend, then the Women's Open also in Scotland the week after. This sparks up another phase of tracking Ko closely the tour rolls through weekly events and we will learn more about Ko's LPGA standing. A baseline of top-10, or slightly worse finishes will ensure Ko's elite standing as the LPGA Tour shakes through tournaments and sorts out the best players.
Average Driving Distance
2019: 245.47 - 152nd
2020: 254.41m - 57th
2021: 259.21m - 64th
2022: 256.50 - 81st
Driving Accuracy
2019: 70.08% - 102nd
2020: 66.62% - 121st
2021: 65.52% - 129th
2022: 63.61% - 154th
Greens in Regulation
2019: 67.73% - 96th
2020: 68.91% - 36th
2021: 73.06% - 34th
2022: 70.33% - 43rd
Putts per GIR
2019: 1.78 - 23rd
2020: 1.77 - 4th
2021: 1.72 - 1st
2022: 1.74 - 4th
Putting Average
2019: 29.15 - 7th
2020: 29.13 -5th
2021: 28.79 - 2nd
2022: 28.79 - 3rd
Sand Saves
2019: 55.95% - 10th
2020: 68.25% - 3rd
2021: 59.34% - 3rd
2022: 67.27% - 1st
Scoring Average
2019: 70.98 - 39th
2020: 70.26 - 6th
2021: 69.33 -3rd
2022: 70.02 - 8th
Rounds under Par
2019: 47 - 32nd
2020: 26 - 10th
2021: 54 - 5th
2022: 31 - 6th
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