Women’s golf, which continued to flow for a while without an absolute powerhouse, faced a new trend in the second half of last year. Lydia Ko (26, New Zealand), a forgotten ‘genius’, has succeeded in a splendid revival and is outrunning her rivals.
Lydia Ko, who had already won 14 wins, including two major championships,헤라카지노도메인 on the LPGA Tour before she even turned 20, lost her goal and fell into a slump. It seemed obvious that he would become a ‘legendary golfer’, but after 2017 he only won 2 wins in 5 years and seemed to be an ordinary golfer.
But Lydia Ko made a perfect comeback last year. He refined his mind through mental training and showed off his hidden skills again.
Lydia Ko, who has maintained stable results since June, won the BMW Ladies Championship, the only LPGA event held in her home country, Korea, in October, followed by the final match of the season in November. Along with his 3 wins of the season, he made 2022 his own by sweeping the Player of the Year award, prize money king, most wins king, and lowest stroke award. It is a bonus that he returned to the top of the world rankings after 5 years.
Because she succeeded in perfect resurrection, the most notable figure in women’s golf in 2023 is bound to be Lydia Go. Moreover, in December of last year, he added to his mental stability by signing a 100-year marriage with Jeong Jun, the son of Hyundai Card Vice Chairman Chung Tae-young. Recently, while enjoying their honeymoon in New Zealand, news was heard that they had made a hole-in-one.
The impact that Lydia Ko showed in the second half of last year was enough to remind us of the ‘genius’ of a teenager who commanded the world. If that trend continues this year, we can expect Lydia Ko’s ‘solo system’.
Lydia Ko will start her new season at Aramco Saudi Ladies International, the European Women’s Professional Golf Tour (LET), to be held in Saudi Arabia in mid-February. It is predicted that she will compete in her first LPGA Tour event at the Honda Classic held in Thailand next week.
American and Korean players are the first to be counted as ‘opponents’ against Lydia Ko.
World No. 2 Nellie Corda (USA) will lead the way. Koda rose to the top in 2021 by winning 4 wins and winning the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics. Nevertheless, he returned in the second half and even won the championship, proving his ‘class’.
This year, he joined the ‘Nike Division’ and gained more momentum. As the world’s leading sports brand, Nike is known for being the most generous of its main sponsors. Koda is known to have been guaranteed a larger amount than the four-year, $20 million contract that Michelle Wie signed in 2004. It is proof that he has such high expectations.
In addition to Koda, Lexi Thompson, who has long been a ‘top ranker’, and Jennifer Kupcho, who rose to stardom with three wins including the Chevron Championship in a major tournament last year, are also those who are aiming for the top.
It is also a matter of interest whether or not the ‘Taegeukrangja Corps’ will be revived. Korean players have commanded world golf since the mid-2010s, starting with Inbi Park (35, KB Financial Group). Players who were active on the domestic stage, such as Jeon In-ji (29, KB Financial Group), Kim Hyo-joo (28, Lotte), Park Seong-hyeon (30, Solaire), and Ko Jin-young (28, Solaire), also entered one after another and achieved great results. N’s performance was particularly disappointing.
Including Jeon In-ji, who conquered the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, Ko Jin-young, Ko Jin-young, and Ji Eun-hee (37, Hanwha Q Cells) each won one win each, but there was no “multi-win”, and 16 competitions continued for 5 months after Jeon In-ji. As Korean players did not participate in the opening game of the new season LPGA, the unrelated record continued to ’17. It is the same rate as the sluggishness that lasted from October 2013 to June 2014.
It was regrettable that Ko Jin-young, Kim Hyo-joo, and Jeon In-ji all suffered from injuries. Among them, Ko Jin-young’s wrist injury is still not completely healed, so it is unclear whether he will recover his skills until the beginning of the new season.
On the other hand, Kim Hyo-joo and Jeon In-ji are recovering from injuries and preparing for the new season.
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