2019.09.03 08:07
With a quiet grace and subtle elegance, Jin Young Ko has put up numbers her first two LPGA seasons that scream for attention. But the near-perfection of her play has been a song so sweetly sung many have not yet heard its enchanting melody. She is quite simply playing the best golf by anyone on the planet right now.
Ko does not have the power of Sung Hyun Park, Lexi Thompson, Brooke Henderson or the Korda sisters, but the precision and poise she's displayed in her short career is absolutely Annika-like, and that’s not a compliment to be thrown around lightly.
The word that best described Sorenstam was “balance.” She was rarely out of balance physically or emotionally on the golf course. The same can be said for Jin Young.
The runaway Rolex Rookie of the Year in 2018 could very well be the runaway Rolex Player of the Year this season. All she has done over the last two seasons is make 42 of 43 cuts – her current streak is 26 in a row – with 23 top-10 finishes and five victories. She not only leads most significant statistical category but leads by a lot.
Jin Young is first in the Race to the CME Globe by 1,500 points over Henderson; Rolex No. 1 by 1.77 points over Park; first on the money list by $750,000 over Jeongeun Lee6; first in scoring by nearly a half-stroke over Hyo Joo Kim; has twice as many points as runner-up Lee6 in the POY race and is first by a staggering 3.1 percentage points over Park in Greens In Regulation. More evidence of her remarkable run can be seen in her staggering streak of 114 consecutive holes without a bogey, breaking a record set by Tiger Woods in 2000 when he went 110 bogey-free holes during his outrageous season in which he won nine times including three majors.
Ko also stormed to victory in the Rolex Annika Major Award by winning the ANA Inspiration and the Evian Championship while finishing third in the AIG Women’s British Open, T-16 in the U.S. Women’s Open and T-14 in the KPMG Women’s PGA championship. Dave Brooker, a veteran caddie who has carried Lorena Ochoa and Grace Park to major championships, has been the Sherpa who has guided Ko up the mountain. He’s a calm, steady influence who knows the golf courses and understands his player’s game.
When asked what makes Ko such a special player, he is at first at a loss for words but then hones in perfectly on her special skills, just as she hones in on hitting greens. “That’s a tough question,” Brooker says. “Her ability to repeat a flawless golf swing under pressure or her refreshingly mature mindset – both are special. Her intelligence is fully evident every moment I spend with her, yet her ability to deliver the perfect golf swing or putting stroke when the big moment arrives is ultimately a gift only a handful possess.” Then Brooker makes the comparison more and more people are starting to make. “Her style of play is reminiscent of the way Annika played,” Brooker says. “Accuracy, precision and simplicity.
Jin Young has the ability to improve every element of her game. She is blessed with a desire that matches her talent.” That is also a trait Sorenstam had. She never stopped trying to improve and, like all the greatest winners – Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Mickey Wright, Kathy Whitworth – forgot her wins as quickly as she forgot her losses. If Annika won a tournament, she went out the next week as if she’s never won in her life, playing with a rare and unusual hunger. Like with Sorenstam, the fire burns quietly within Ko.
At 24, Jin Young is now the same age as Sorenstam when she won her first LPGA tournament at the 1995 U.S. Women’s Open, the first of her 10 majors. Certainly, Ko has a long way to go to have her name comfortably fit into the same sentence as Sorenstam’s. All Annika did was win 72 times with 142 top-three finishes and 212 top-10s. And from 1992 through 2008, in 307 LPGA starts, the Swede missed only nine cuts. Imagine that.
While to many it seems as if Ko snuck up on success, she has been in relentless pursuit of perfection since turning professional at the age of 18. From 2013-17, Jin Young won 10 times on the Korean LPGA and when she captured the 2017 KEB Hana Bank Championship, a co-sanctioned event, she accepted membership into the LPGA for the next season. Then she announced her arrival by winning the 2018 ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open, becoming only the second player to be victorious in her first event as an LPGA member.
This year, in addition to the ANA and Evian, Ko won the Bank of Hope Founders Cup and, most recently, the CP Women’s Open, where she went 26 under par, closing with only 129 strokes in the weekend rounds. When assessing her game, Jin Young is as precise and efficient with her words as she is with her shots on the golf course. “Well, I will trust my caddie, line, target, choice of club,” she says about the keys to her game. “Yeah, that's it. I think everything, like from the tee and then to the green, everything is great, great game I think now,” she says. “Especially just one thing is putting. Yeah, putting.” Not only does she lead the tour in GIR, but she’s also third in Putts per GIR. That's a powerful combination.
The simplicity of Ko's play has lulled some to sleep but those eyes are now waking up to some remarkable golf. Jin Young Ko keeps her golf ball out of trouble, keeps her composure and makes putts. That will win you a lot of golf tournaments. Just ask Annika Sorenstam.
GC, Sirak
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2019.09.03 08:31
2019.09.03 10:24
There have been many great LPGA players in last 10-20 years. But
unfortunately, almost all of them are short lived. It is like Sakura.
Anika was an exception. She had kept her dominance right to the end.
I wish my best for Ko’s longevity to become another Anika!
2019.09.03 10:36
Dr. Hwang; 삼천포로 잠간 갑니다.
Please take a look at the "Home-Login" page (the first page or index page).
At the right lower corner in the "Recent Comments" section, check the left margin of
"Psalm 23.... by Dr. Ohn" (1 space) and "Everyone needs... by Dr. Lee" (2 spaces).
This is what I was talking to you earlier... The Left Margin.
Please click the comment at "Recent Comments" section. You will be going to the original comment.
There, see how the comment is written. The first line is not in the same level as the writer's name.
At the earlier time, I had corrected all the abnormalities that you couldn't see what I was talking about.
Here, today, you see it now. You might have thought I was barking at the moon. See, I was not.
This thing really happens. I will correct them after you see them.
Then, you will no longer see them and the left margin will look cleanly left-margined.
Many of us may not even know what I am talking about.
The rule:
1. The first line of any comment should be in the same line where the writer's name is.
If it is below the writer's name, the left margin at the Comments Section will get broken.
2. The last line of any comment should be just one space above the "comment menu".
Otherwise, we get too many empty spaces under the comment.
2019.09.03 10:49
We have seen a lot of super-star-to-be heroes or heroines and we said, "This time, he or she will rule the world!!"
As soon as we said that the super-star went down the horizon and not much visible any more.
We should realize that we are talking about "The Golf". The golf is always golf.
The golf industry tries to make a super-star in order to fatten their pockets and we are the suckers.
And the player turns into a "멘붕" victim of such hero-worshipping.
Let's not become suckers ourselves and don't make someone innocent a victim.
We play golf and we should have learned what it is. Just look at our day-to-day golfing performance.
The miraculous performance in one day or one month is not necessarily repeatable.
By now, we should know that we should not pressure this young girl, Miss. J.Y. Ko, too much.
Please, let us keep her what she is. Please don't shoot her too high into the stratosphere.
No human being can survive there.
This does not apply only to golf but to all sports and other human performances.
Anyway, there's nothing wrong for us to enjoy the victory of our country's golfer.
And I hope too just like you and us that, this time, she fulfills her and our wish according to the scenario.
Thank you for the story.
2019.09.03 13:25
The rule you wrote would be clear enough for everyone using comment lane or line
properly enough to make left margin of comment line even.
Thanks very much for your efforts for this regard and we would appreciate it. KJ
2019.09.08 10:05
They are not happy that a Korean (or the Asians) is reigning the LPGA field.
So, finally, they had to say something. There, they came out and said "Ko is playing like Annika."
In other words, Ko (an Asian) is less than Annika (a white).
The writer, sorry to say, Sirak is a white supremacist. He may not have meant it but it came out.
See, all the whites have this thing in their heart even without realizing.
I say, to be true, "There has been nobody like J.Y. Ko. Annika was pretty close to her though."
2019.09.08 22:10
I think this article is all about the encouragement for a budding young superstar potential.
Jin Young's stats are not level of Annika obviously yet and she has to prove a lot in the near
future to get or near there. I consider Annika Sorenstam is all time greatest LPGA player
regardless of her color of the skin. Thanks for your input ! KJ
2019.09.09 11:26
Doc, you are always so nice to everyone. I wish I can be like you.
You will go to heaven and I will surely end up at hell.
From heaven, you will be looking down at me in hell, take pity on me
and say, "I told you so. you got what you deserve." I will say, "Thank you, but it's too late!"
Even now, I feel that it is too late. I can't help.
There are many all-time great lady-golfers. I got suspicious that he picked Annika.
The season of LPGA 2018~2019 is winding down except several tournaments including Asian fall swings.
Next couple of weeks are temporarily time off for Solheim Cup. The writer of GC, Sirak wrote interesting
article regarding World Rankings No 1, Jin Young Ko at GC. I moved this article to our websites and share
with you. It is rather long article, but it is worthwhile to read to me.
It is real honor for Jin Young to be compared with Annika Sorenstam, who is considered as arguably the
best female golfer ever.
Jin Young Ko is indeed consistant player from tee to green and without doubt she is going to be runaway
winner of coveted 'Player of the Year' as well as many other significant stats of LPGA this season. KJ
PS, This is first time I tried making webpage using uploaded photos through attachment process of our websites. KJ