Ko’s numbers shine brightly again
Lydia Ko is more than just back, she’s playing some of the best golf of her ultrasuccessful career.
The newly-minted world No 2 has sure earned a break, having capped off her ninth season on the LPGA Tour by winning a swag of trophies, and a record US$2 million (NZ$3.25 million) payday.
In addition to winning her third LPGA Tour Race to the CME Globe crown, second player-of-the-year trophy and second straight Vare Trophy, Ko bagged three wins in a season for the first time since 2016, and 14 top-10 finishes.
Ko had more rounds in the 60s, more sand saves and more rounds under par than anyone. She was also near her best with putter in hand.
How did her 2022 season stack up? Here’s a closer look.
Scoring average
A second straight Vare Trophy, awarded to the player with the lowest scoring average over the course of the year, says it all – Ko was superb in 2022.
In fact, she was even better this year than last year, despite playing 85 rounds in the year, eight more than in 2021, and 15 clear of the minimal amount required to be eligible for the Vare Trophy.
Ko’s scoring average this year was 68.98, an improvement from last year’s 69.32, and 2015 (69.44) and 2016 (69.60), two hugely successful years for the Kiwi, who spent 85 weeks ranked first in the world between October 2015 and June 2017.
Amongst other Vare Trophy eligible players, Thailand’s Atthaya Thitikul was second with a 69.458 average through 96 rounds.
Greens in regulation
Little changed in this category from last year, with Ko’s 72.9% rate a slight drop from her 73.1% rate a year ago.
However, her 26th ranking this year was up eight spots from last year.
Ko finished second in the category during her brilliant 2015 season (77%) and was seventh in 2014 (74%).
Despite winning five times during the 2016 season, Ko ranked 31st with a 70.39% hit rate. American Ally Ewing (77.7%) topped the chart this year.
Putting
As was the case in 2021, Ko was again near her best with putter in hand this year, finishing first in putts per greens in regulation (1.72) and second in putts per round (28.61).
Only South Korea’s Yaeeun Hong (28.46) topped Ko in the putts per round category, although she played only 54 rounds.
Her mark per greens in regulation was on par with last year, while her 28.61 average putts per round mark was a slight improvement from her 28.79 last year.
Having switched to a Scotty Cameron GSS putter this year, Ko wasn’t far off her tour-leading mark of 28.31 in 2016.
Strokes gained
It’s arrived for the LPGA Tour – the statistics category to measure player performances relative to the rest of the field.
Used on the PGA Tour for more than a decade, fans of the premier women’s tour can now see who gained the most strokes from tee to green, off the tee, approaching the green, around the green, and with putter in hand.
No player gained more shots per round than Ko, whose 2.50 average wiped the floor with second-placed Canadian Brooke Henderson (1.96).
Ko led the tour in the putting (1.41 per round) category, was fourth approaching the green (1.20), 11th in tee to green (1.08) and 23rd around the green (0.21).
Perhaps unsurprisingly, she was -27.94 off the tee, leaving her ranked 123rd amongst 155 players in the category.
Average driving distance
Ko continues to prove hitting a huge ball off the tee simply isn’t essential, at least not if your short game is as tidy as hers.
After her five-year deal with PXG ended earlier this year, driver was the first club Ko switched out, following numerous other players, including Nelly and Jessica Korda, on tour and opting for Titleist, starting with the TSi3, before switching to the latest TSR3 model.
She averaged 255.34 yards off the tee this year, 93rd amongst players on tour, and slightly shorter than the career-high 259.2 yards (64th) she averaged a year ago.
Mexican Maria Fassi (279.25 yards) topped the list, while world No 1 Nelly Korda (272.28) ranked 10th.
Driving accuracy
Improving her accuracy off the tee was something Ko made clear was a focus heading into 2022 after she hit the fairway at a 65.52% (129th) rate last year.
She did so, just. However, having hit 778 out of 1171 fairways, her 66.6% strike rate resulted in a lower ranking (145th) than a year ago.
Those numbers might surprise anyone who only tuned in to watch Ko’s two-stroke win over Leona Maguire in the final event of the year. After all, she hit 53 of 56 fairways in Naples, including 13 of 14 during the all-important final round.
American Dana Finkelstein led the charge in 2022, landing her ball on the fairway 650 times from 745 attempts – that’s an impressive 87.2% rate.