Lydia Ko Mixtape 2019: That Consistency
After Lydia Ko's third top-20 finish in four tournaments this year, Aotearoa's finest is back in United States of America to play at the Founders Cup in Arizona. We've had a little break from the Lydia Ko Mixtape between the start of the LPGA Tour in Asia and then returning to USA, which has me excited to see what Ko can do back in the grind of the Tour.
Ko's last outing was at the Women's World Championship in Singapore where she finished tied-11th with rounds of par, -2, -3 and par. Finishing on -5, Ko was a shot away from sneaking into the top-10 and to start 2019, Ko has results of 8th, cut, 19th and 11th, which must again be packaged as Ko racking up top-20 finishes and finding some consistency in that regard.
Heading into the Founders Cup in Pheonix, here are Ko's major statistics and how they have shifted...
Driving Accuracy
LPGA Thailand: 66.91% (98th)
Women's World Championship: 67.71% (100th)
Greens In Regulation
LPGA Thailand: 72.78% (46th)
Women's World Championship: 72.22% (44th)
Putts Per GIR
LPGA Thailand: 1.79 (52nd)
Women's World Championship: 1.79 (49th)
Putting Average
LPGA Thailand: 30.60 (88th)
Women's World Championship: 30.14 (64th)
Scoring Average
LPGA Thailand: 70.50 (25th)
Women's World Championship: 70.57 (22)
The big improvements have come with Ko's putter and we can see how despite Ko's averages get a tad worse, Ko has improved in the LPGA rankings for specific stats. This is a sign of how difficult consistency is on the Tour and as long as Ko is hovering around these markers, she is doing a solid job as others come and go.
We now have a string of tournaments to embed ourselves in, with the Kia Classic coming up next week and then the ANA Inspiration the weekend following week - both are in California. Hopefully we'll see Ko play in as many tournaments as possible to help her find her groove and we'll be back next week to see how Ko went in Phoenix.
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Peace and love 27.