Jin Young Ko is on a run that most people can only dream of, coming off of back-to-back victories amid four wins, a runner-up and a top-10 in her last seven starts, plus tying a record set by Annika Sorenstam. But Ko wasn’t even aware of how impressive her play has been as of late.
“I would say I have no idea,” she said Wednesday at the Pelican Women’s Championship. “I just focus on my performance on the course and my body condition. I just care about my swing, my putting feel. I don’t think about how many did I play in. Yeah, I don’t want to … think about numbers.”
Even though Ko now knows her numbers, she still isn’t completely satisfied with her season, rating it a seven out of 10 because she did not win a major this year.
The 26-year-old won only once (Volunteers of America Classic) before the Olympics, where she placed T-9. But after the Tokyo Games, she split from her swing coach and returned to a former coach. Following an adjustment break, she rediscovered her groove en route to becoming the world No. 1 again after her victory at the BMW Ladies Championship, where she notched the LPGA’s 200th win by a South Korean.
Full-field scores from the Pelican Women’s Championship
“I can say my backswings are better than before chang(ing) my coach,” she said, “and like ball contact or like everything going to be better than before the Olympics. And I had, yeah, a lot of practice with my swing coach after the Olympics, so yeah, I’m happy to be back with my old coach.”
Ko overtook Nelly Korda as world No. 1 after her win in Korea, but Korda regained the throne ahead of the Pelican, despite no event last week. Korda, however, still trails Ko in the Player of the Year standings by 15 points. Before going head-to-head this week – in the tour’s penultimate event of the season – Korda praised Ko’s play.
“How dominant she’s been, it’s honestly been really super exciting to watch,” Korda said. “You’re never going to be world No. 1 forever. You’re going to jump people; they’re going to jump you. It’s been super cool to see how dominant and well she’s been playing. Because if you’re out here and you’re playing week in and week out, you appreciate how good she is playing. So she’s been on a run, and it’s going to take some really, really good golf to catch her.”
But as Ko said, she isn’t focused on the numbers. The 11-time LPGA winner just wants to go out and play the best she can and the accolades will come naturally.
“I don’t want to get stress from world ranking,” Ko said. ‘If I’m play(ing) better I can get No. 1 again, but … I don’t want to get aggressive or like stress from the world ranking No. 1.”
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