Lydia Ko's "Spectacular Finale"... Korea's "Meager Report Card"

2022 LPGA Tour Recap... Lydia Ko Sweeps Prize Money, Player of the Year, and Scoring Average
Korean Players Finish with 4 Wins, 16 Consecutive Tournaments Without Victory and No Individual Titles
11 First-Time Winners 'Unknown Surge', Korda and Danielle Kang Overcome Illness 'Human Stories'

Lydia Ko is smiling brightly holding the trophy with her 'fianc?' Jung Joon immediately after winning the CME Group Tour Championship. Naples, USA=Photo by AFP Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter No Woo-rae] Lydia Ko (New Zealand) spectacularly capped off the 2022 season of the U.S. Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Tour by sweeping all the individual titles.

On the 20th (local time), Lydia Ko added a 2-under-par on the final day at the CME Group Tour Championship (total prize money $7 million), the season finale held at the Tiburon Golf Club Black Course (par 72, 6,556 yards) in Naples, Florida, USA, to secure a two-stroke victory (17-under-par 271). Atthaya Thitikul (Thailand) established herself as the next-generation leader on the LPGA stage by winning Rookie of the Year. South Korea, however, showed a disappointing performance by winning only four titles collectively and failing to produce a single individual title winner.

◆ The ‘Lydia Ko Era’ Resumes = Lydia Ko completed a wire-to-wire victory by leading the leaderboard throughout the four days at the CME Group Tour Championship. This was her third win of the season and 19th career victory. The winner’s prize of $2 million (approximately 2.682 billion KRW) is the largest in LPGA Tour history. Lydia Ko swept the money list title ($4,364,403), Player of the Year, scoring average (Vare Trophy), CME Group Race, and most wins, marking her best year yet. It was her first time winning three tournaments in a year since 2016. Lydia Ko previously won Player of the Year in 2015 and led the scoring average in 2021.

In career earnings, Lydia Ko surpassed Suzann Pettersen (Norway, $14,837,579) and Lorena Ochoa (Mexico, $14,863,331) to rise to fifth place ($16,695,357). The prospective daughter-in-law of the Hyundai family, Lydia Ko is set to marry Jung Joon, the only son of Hyundai Card Vice Chairman Jung Tae-young, at Myeongdong Cathedral in Jung-gu, Seoul, on December 30.

Korea's Jeon In-ji (Photo) has suffered from a 16-tournament winless streak since winning the major KPMG Women's PGA Championship in June.

◆ ‘Korean Victory Drought’ = South Korea has long dominated the LPGA Tour. In 2015, 2017, and 2019, Korean players collectively won as many as 15 tournaments each year, creating a wave of excitement. However, this year, they had no luck with victories. Their four wins in 32 tournaments marked the lowest number of wins in a season since 2011, when they won three, denting their pride. They also finished the season empty-handed in major category title competitions.

Korean winners included Ko Jin-young (27, HSBC Women’s World Championship) in March, Kim Hyo-joo (27, Lotte Championship) in April, Jiyai Shin (36, Bank of Hope Match Play) in May, and Jeon Ji-hee (28, KPMG Women’s PGA Championship) in June. After that, they endured the humiliation of 16 consecutive tournaments without a title. Meanwhile, the U.S. dominated Korea by sweeping nine wins, including three by Jennifer Kupcho. New Zealand had three wins, while Australia, Thailand, Japan, and Canada each had two wins.

Leona Maguire became the first Irish player to win an LPGA Tour championship at the Drive On Championship in February.

◆ ‘Unknown Player Surge’ = This year’s LPGA Tour saw a large number of first-time winners. A total of 11 players accumulated 14 wins. Starting with Leona Maguire (Ireland, LPGA Drive On Championship) in February, and ending with Gemma Dryburgh (Scotland, Toto Japan Classic) in November, first-time winners made headlines. Maguire and Nana Koerstz Madsen (Denmark, Honda LPGA Thailand) set milestones by becoming their countries’ first-ever LPGA Tour champions.

Some players returned to the field after overcoming injuries. World No. 1 Nelly Korda (USA) was diagnosed with thrombosis early in the season. She made a successful comeback with a tie for 8th place at the U.S. Women’s Open in early June after a four-month hiatus and achieved back-to-back wins last week at the Pelican Women’s Championship. Danielle Kang (USA), who won the season opener Hilton Grand Vacations Champions Tournament in January, returned in good health after two months of spinal tumor treatment, earning applause.