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BRADENTON, Fla. – Lydia Ko’s strategy shot on the primary playoff gap nestled subsequent to a bouquet of flowers and a row champagne bottles. Ko acquired aid from the grandstand (and the roses), nevertheless it was a merciless foreshadowing of what was to return.
A 3-putt on the second playoff gap gave the LPGA Drive On Championship title to hometown favourite Nelly Korda, her first LPGA title since November 2022. A victory for the 26-year-old Ko would’ve made her the thirty fifth member of the LPGA Corridor of Fame and the twenty fifth participant in LPGA historical past to have earned 27 HOF factors. 9 ladies had been inducted as honorary members (eight LPGA founders and beloved entertainer Dinah Shore).
Alas, the champagne and roses must wait, which could not be such a foul factor for the LPGA. Sunday on the Drive On was edge-of-your-seat gripping. It even held the eye of Golf Twitter through the NFL Playoffs.
With the LPGA occurring a three-week hiatus earlier than heading to Asia, it’s most likely finest for the tour if Ko drags this out somewhat bit.
Nobody within the golf world is kind of able to say goodbye.
That’s Lydia’s ball by the HOF champagne and roses! Yikes. pic.twitter.com/CR5eVF3D9S
— Beth Ann Nichols (@GolfweekNichols) January 28, 2024
What if Ko had been to get her twenty seventh level in Paris with gold on the Olympics, concluding a medal sweep? What if she had been to gather a 3rd main title to get in? Think about her marching into the Corridor of Fame on the Previous Course after which strolling off into the sundown.
A storybook end appears acceptable for a lady who gained twice on the LPGA as an newbie. Ko’s best asset is her thoughts, and for her to almost win the primary two occasions of 2024 after experiencing her worst season on tour is a testomony to that psychological fortitude.
How arduous is it to get into the LPGA Corridor of Fame? Contemplate that Bradenton Nation Membership member Hollis Stacy, a four-time main winner who gained 18 occasions on the LPGA, isn’t in it. Stacy was standing by the 18th inexperienced reveling in each second of the Ko vs. Korda showdown.
Final December, after Ko hit a stellar 3-wood on the Grant Thornton Invitational on the seventeenth to get her and accomplice Jason Day into the winner’s circle, Stacy texted Ko and instructed her to maintain a video of that swing on her cellphone.
“That’s most likely the most effective swing I’ve seen you make underneath strain,” Stacy instructed her.
On Sunday on the Drive On, Ko hit a 3-hybrid on the par-5 seventeenth that, whereas skinny, may need trumped it, settling up a tap-in eagle that propelled her to the highest of the board.
Whereas Korda takes off seven weeks earlier than her subsequent cease (she’s heading to Prague on Monday to go to her grandparents) Ko can have a stable month off. She’s not taking part in in Thailand as a result of, up till final week’s win on the Hilton Grand Holidays Event of Champions, she wasn’t within the discipline. She gained’t defend on the LET in Saudi Arabia both. Her subsequent occasion would be the HSBC Ladies’s Champions in Singapore.
Ko believes that being one level away from the Corridor is definitely much less disturbing than being two factors away. Two feels distant, whereas one feels extra doable.
“I believe I used to be loads calmer final week than I believed I used to be going to be,” she stated. “I used to be loads calmer, I believe, at present than I believed I used to be going to be.”
Ko stated good day to Stacy whereas within the midst of the motion on the 18th inexperienced, and the LPGA legend marveled at how relaxed the Kiwi seemed.
When it was over, Ko graciously thanked all of the volunteers, hugged the chums who’d caught round and made certain to congratulate Nelly’s mother and father, telling them to provide eldest daughter Jessica Korda her finest as she nears her due date.
Greater than a decade in the past, Ko made it clear from the beginning of her skilled profession that she wouldn’t play previous the age of 30. The Paris Olympics are necessary to her, but when she will get into the Corridor of Fame this season, it’s arduous to think about her sticking round for much longer.
As we speak was a loud reminder to get pleasure from Ko whereas we are able to. There probably gained’t be one other like her.
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