Total Domination: Jin Young Ko Walks Away With $1.1 Million At CME

There’s a reason Jin Young Ko is the No. 1 player in the world and she proved it once again on Sunday afternoon at the CME Group Tour Championship.

Ko put on a ball striking clinic over the final nine holes and closed with a six-under par 66 at Tiburon Golf Club that blew away the rest of the competition at the LPGA Tour’s season finale.

This has been a difficult golf season for all the professional tours and the LPGA Tour was no exception.  Once the COVID-19 pandemic dug in, Ko decided to stay at her home in South Korea.  As a result, she had a lot of ground to make up and had to play her way into this huge event.

Her second place finish at the U.S. Open did the trick.  She won $487,286 there to get in the field.  Ko played solid all week and entered the final round one shot behind the world’s No. 2 and defending champion Sei Young Kim.

Didn’t take Ko long to tie for the lead.  A birdie on the first hole took care of that.

Big events typically start on the back nine on Sunday, the Masters mantra.  That’s where Ko put on a most impressive display with birdies at 12, 13, 14 and a near miss at 15.  Another birdie at 16 and they were writing her name on the $1.1 million check.  Just for good measure, she birdied the 72nd hole to shoot 18-under and won by a whopping five shots.

This victory wrapped up a wire-to-wire year in the No. 1 spot for Ko, who has held the ranking since July 29, 2019. She moved to $5,600,824 in career earnings, making her the 71st player in LPGA history to cross the $5 million threshold.

The LPGA got in 18 events this year and was out of action for five and a half months.  This was Ko’s fourth event since her return.  She did manage to play six times on the Korean LPGA Tour while riding the pandemic out at home. The $1.1 million pushed her season earnings to $1,667,925.  Best on the LPGA Tour.

Ko was doused with champagne after she holed the final putt.  She was a humble champion.

“I still can’t believe I’m here and that I won this tournament,” she said afterward.  She implied her swing has a way to go. “Not perfect right now,” was how she described it.  “A swing is just a swing. You don’t have to perfect your swing on the course, just feel it in your body and your muscles, and keep going.”

She also had kind words for Sei Young Kim.  “I want to say sorry to Sei Young,”  Ko said of her friend and fellow South Korean. “She played really good but I was a little better, so I won. It was a great competition.”

The million-dollar plus check will come in handy and the world’s No. 1 has something in mind.

She plans to look for and purchase a new home in Frisco, Texas, just north of Dallas where the new PGA of America headquarters will be built along with a three-course complex.

Her friend M.J. Hur, another South Korean player, lives there.

Happy house hunting, Jin Young Ko!

CME Group Tour Championship Scoreboard: