After finishing tied for 8th in the first LPGA Tour event of 2019 and thus after the Lydia Ko Mixtape warning not to expect such results to be the status-quo, Ko missed the cut of the Women's Australian Open. There was a nice start in round tahi, shooting -1 but then Ko slipped up in round rua to shoot +5, which resulted in Aotearoa's little homie kickin' back for a few days instead of competing on the weekend.

To some extent, the warning signs were kinda there after the Tournament of Champions in January as Ko shot three rounds under par to be in the mix at the top of the leaderboard, yet then shot +6 in the final round. As I always say; the LPGA Tour is highly competitive these days and you only need to be slightly off to be out of contention. Ko is now continuing on her LPGA grind, where every tournament is a battle with herself and her competitors, meaning that we as fans have to simply accept this new reality.

There is a quick turn-around for Ko as she is booked in to play in the LPGA Thailand event which gets underway tomorrow. Ko has never won LPGA Thailand and in a low key sign of how the LPGA Tour is trending north, the last three event have all been won with scores of -20 or better. Between 2009 and 2016, only once did the winner shoot better than -20 (2010 with -21) and it's over the last three years, coinciding with Ko's emergence, that we have seen the tour go from strength to strength.

Let's take a look at Ko's major stats and this time I'll include last year's overall numbers, her numbers from after the Tournament of Champions and the Women's Australian Open...

Driving Accuracy

2018: 69.63% (107th)

ToC: 69.23% (18th)

Australian: 62.50 % (105th)

Greens In Regulation

2018: 71.99% (24th)

ToC: 70.83% (19th)

Australian: 69.44% (68th)

Putts Per GIR

2018: 1.77 (16th)

ToC: 1.78 (6th)

Australian: 1.80 (46th)

Putting Average

2018: 29.07 (12th)

ToC: 30.75 (10th)

Australian: 31 (82nd)

Scoring Average

2018: 70.05 (7th)

ToC: 69.25 (8th)

Australian: 70.83 (28th)

Absorb those stats with caution given the two extremes in the two events Ko has played this year. Generally, Ko's current stats reflect the overall 2018 stuff and the main focus will be on getting the scoring average under 70, which would represent consistently solid golf from Ko and consistent top-10 finishes. I'll be back after LPGA Thailand with more spins from the Lydia Ko Mixtape.

Hit an ad to support the Lydia Ko mixtape.

And please support the Niche Cache was we try to build our base on Patreon. Support the underdogs as best you can, a little goes a long way.

Peace and love 27.