BRADENTON, Fla. — New Zealand’s Lydia Ko accomplished a rare feat last week at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, winning for the 20th time on the LPGA Tour to become just the seventh woman ever to capture 20 victories before age 27.
But this week, Ko has the opportunity to do something even more historically significant: automatically qualify for the LPGA Hall of Fame.
Her win at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club gave Ko her 26th Hall of Fame point, and now the 26-year-old is 18 holes and one victory away from locking up a spot in the LPGA Hall of Fame, becoming the first player to automatically qualify since Inbee Park last did so in 2016.
After a first-round, 6-under 65 and a ho-hum, second-round 70, Ko battled her way to a 2-under 69 on a blustery Moving Day in Bradenton, Fla., and currently sits in a tie for second, four back of 54-hole leader Nelly Korda.
Ko got off to a fast start on day three of the LPGA Drive On Championship, grabbing birdies on the second and third holes to move to 9-under early, but she dropped a shot on the par-4 5th hole to slip back to 8-under. She recovered quickly, picking up a birdie on the par-3 7th hole and then making another birdie on the par-3 9th hole to turn in 33 and sit at 10-under with nine holes to play.
The 20-time LPGA Tour winner quieted down on the back nine, making eight pars and one bogey on the par-4 14th hole to post at 9-under overall and share second with Ayaka Furue and Megan Khang. It’s the second consecutive week that Ko finds herself in contention heading into the final round, and if she were to pull out a victory on Sunday at Bradenton Country Club, she’d be the first player to win in back-to-back starts since Celine Boutier won The Amundi Evian Championship and the Women’s Scottish Open in 2023.
But, more importantly, Ko would earn that 27th point and join an impressive group of 34 legendary women in the LPGA Hall of Fame.
“I almost feel more comfortable being a point away than two points away,” Ko said. “Two is like you're there, but you're not there. I feel a lot more comfortable and that might be just because I won last week as well. To know that I can win again, I think that might be the sense of like, hey, if I keep working on the right things, I'm going to be able to put myself in contention, and then, at one point, that opportunity is going to come.
“But there is still so much golf in my position right now, and I'm the one chasing, so I'm going to try and shoot the best score I can and see where that leaves me.”
Regardless of Sunday’s final result, Ko is having a lot of fun on the golf course at the moment and is relishing this latest opportunity to be in the mix during a final round. Last year was tough for the two-time major champion in a lot of ways as she uncharacteristically missed cuts and failed to qualify for the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship.
So, finding success this early in the 2024 LPGA Tour season has been a breath of fresh air for the 26-year-old as she’s once again able to play with ease and confidence, two things that Ko has appeared to have in spades over the last two weeks in Florida.
“I think playing well on this first day was kind of like, oh, last week wasn't a fluke. It's not just a one-week thing,” said Ko with a smile. “Yesterday I don't think I had my best, even though my score was only a one-shot difference from today. I felt like I played a lot better today, which is a good position to be in. But to be able to play solid after my first win in over a year was definitely a sense of relief. I think I was more motivated by that.”
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