MIAMI (AFP) — Lydia Ko produced a near immaculate round of golf to take a commanding five-stroke lead at the LPGA’s season-ending Tour Championship on Friday.
Looking confident and comfortable with both her long and short game despite windy conditions, the New Zealander shot a bogey-free six-under-par 66 to reach 13-under for the tournament and lead South Korea’s Kim Hyo-Joo, who shot a 69.
Victory would secure Ko the LPGA’s Player of the Year award as well as the $2 million top prize, the biggest in the history of women’s golf.
The 60-player field at Tiburon Golf Club, with no cut, is competing for a total purse of $7 million.
That is the kind of money that the LPGA will help protect from any eventual advances from the Saudi-backed LIV Golf circuit should it decide to venture into women’s golf.
Meanwhile, Yuka Saso and Patty Tavatanakit, two major champions, slumped to last place on 8-over after a 77 and 74, respectively.
On Friday, the tour announced a 33-event schedule for 2023 with the highest-ever $101.4 million in total season prize money and it is star quality, such as the South Korean-born Ko, which will be vital to hopes of further boosting the tour’s profile.
Ko gained fame in her years as a teen sensation but lost her form in 2018, failing to win a tournament for three years, but she looks back to her best this season, having won twice already.
“I think I stayed really patient out there. With the wind being similar to Thursday I knew it could be tricky,” she said.
“The goal for me is to not let one hole or one shot phase me. This is my ninth year on the tour and is the last tournament of the season and I want to finish it without any regrets.”
Ko said that she was playing with a freedom that had been tough to find in her more challenging years.
“I am playing really freely now which is key. I think when I play freely, I am not tentative, I don’t try to control the ball. I think it is a little more stress-free and is better for me,” Ko said.
“Obviously, when the nerves kick in, that bit is a lot harder, but I think when I was struggling I was too tentative and trying to control the ball.”
Japan’s Nasa Hataoka put herself in contention for the weekend, six behind Ko, but she undid her good work of three straight birdies on the back nine with bogeys on the 15th and 16th, ending with a five-under 67.
Hataoka is one of four players six shots off the lead along with Sweden’s Anna Nordqvist, Scotland’s Gemma Dryburgh, South Korea’s Lee6 Jeong-eun and American Nelly Korla
