Lake Nona Golf & Country Club – Syndication Server

After a year of tears, Lydia Ko collects 20th LPGA title at LPGA TOC, moves closer to Hall of Fame

The joke on Sunday was that Lydia Ko now owns more LPGA titles than years Alexa Pano has been alive.

ORLANDO, Fla. – The joke coming up the 18th on Sunday was that Lydia Ko now owns more LPGA titles (20) than years Alexa Pano has been alive (19). As a young Pano collected her second career top-10 finish with a runner-up showing at the 2024 Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, Ko moved to within one point of qualifying for the LPGA Hall of Fame.

Inbee Park was the last player to qualify for what’s considered the toughest Hall of Fame in sports eight years ago. At age 27, Park was the youngest to ever enter the Hall of Fame.

With 26 points, Ko is now the closest active player. Laura Davies, who is already in the World Golf Hall of Fame, remains two points shy of the LPGA Hall and plays a limited schedule of four to five LPGA events each season.

Current World No. 1 Lilia Vu remembers watching a 15-year-old Ko win on the LPGA a dozen years ago and thinking, What is going on?

“I remember being like, she’s the same age as me,” said Vu, “and I’m just in high school.”

Vu, who is glad she went the college route at UCLA, remains amazed by Ko’s prowess inside the ropes.

“She can hit the green from anywhere,” said Vu. “I’ve seen her almost in impossible places, and she’ll hit it to 10 feet. I’m like, how did you do that?”

A closing 2-under 70 on another chilly day at Lake Nona Golf & Country Club gave Ko a 14-under total and a victory at her home club. She bought a home at Lake Nona toward the end of 2019, moving in just before Christmas.

Now the seventh woman on the LPGA to reach 20 wins before age 27, Ko joins a list that includes Hall of Famers Nancy Lopez, Karrie Webb, Se Ri Pak, Mickey Wright, Lorena Ochoa and Kathy Whitworth.

Ko earned $225,000 for the win to become the fifth LPGA golfer to go over the $17 million mark in career earnings.

There have been times when a lost Ko wondered if she’d ever win again. She’s now cautious about getting too far ahead of herself.

“I won my first event last year (on the LET) and kind of went sideways very quickly,” Ko said of not getting “too cocky.”

And by that, the humble Ko simples means not to let the early success get to her head. To make sure she’s still doing practice swings in her room, along with all the other little things that got her to this point.

2024 Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions — Lydia Ko of New Zealand plays her shot from the 18th tee during the final round of the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions at Lake Nona Golf & Country Club on January 21, 2024 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)

While Ko experienced an unprecedented amount of early success on the LPGA, winning twice as an amateur before she even joined the tour, her career has had a shocking number of peaks and valleys. After ending a three-year victory drought in 2021 in dominating fashion in Hawaii, Ko won three times in 2022 and earned Player of the Year and Vare Trophy honors. She looked poised to sprint into the Hall.

The 2023 season, however, took a sharp turn south after an opening victory on the Ladies European Tour in Saudi Arabia. It got so bad, that Ko had to press toward the end of the year just to try to qualify for the CME Group Tour Championship, which she’d won the previous year. Ko ended up not qualifying and instead flew in new swing coach Si Woo Kim to Orlando. Kim had taken a look at Ko’s swing during the Asian swing in South Korea.

Soon after, she teamed up with Aussie Jason Day to win the inaugural Grant Thornton Invitational and headed into a short offseason with a more positive frame of mind.

Inbee Park, who is currently on maternity leave, leads the tour among active players with 21 titles. Both Davies and Cristie Kerr have 20. Former No. 1s Yani Tseng, who has been battling injury and off the tour since 2021, and Jin Young Ko each have 15 victories.

Ko’s said her low point last season came in Arkansas at a Staybridge Suites when she found herself crying to her husband about her inability to string two rounds together. The tears flowed often last year. Even her mom said something about how much she cried.

“I think last year I was chasing the Hall of Fame,” said Ko. “I felt like I could have – with the way I was playing in 2022 – I could back it up with another great year. Look where it put me.”

After winning at Nona, Ko thought she’d cry tears of joy. Interestingly, nothing came out.

“I don’t even know what that means,” she said with a smile.

The faucet finally turned off, and a mature, introspective Ko is left to march on toward her destiny, with each triumph feeling that much sweeter.

Jeff McNeil, aka the ‘Flying Squirrel’, wins Hilton Grand Vacations TOC celebrity division

McNeil earned the nickname the “Flying Squirrel” for the way he dove after balls in the outfield.

ORLANDO, Fla. – Golf was Plan A for Jeff McNeil, a two-time Major League Baseball All-Star who teed it up in his first Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions celebrity event this week. That is, until he had a bad second round in the 2009 U.S. Junior at Trump National in Bedminster, New Jersey, won by Jordan Spieth. Several weeks later McNeil was back on the baseball field, playing his first year of high school ball as a senior, ultimately landing a scholarship to Long Beach State.

The shift in plans worked out well for McNeil, a second baseman for the New York Mets. The man nicknamed the “Flying Squirrel” for the way he dove after balls in the outfield now gets the best of both worlds, hoisting a trophy on, of all things, National Squirrel Appreciation Day.

“I didn’t get to play a lot of golf this offseason,” said McNeil, “so tried to do the best I could and ended up working out.”

For a while, it looked like McNeil might have to work a little harder for the victory after the leaderboard had him tied with Mark Mulder at 138 points in the Modified Stableford format.

McNeil hit a pair of approach shots to within 5 feet on the last two holes thinking he needed to make birdie but missed both putts.

It turns out, however, that Mulder’s scorer put him down for a birdie on the seventh hole when he actually made double-bogey. Mulder said he tried to correct the scoring error on the golf course.

The points change dropped Mulder into a share of third and brought Lake Nona resident Annika Sorenstam into second. McNeil finished alone at the top at 138 after carding a 1-over 73 on a frigid day in central Florida, relieved to not have to go back to the 18th tee.

“I think I’ve been in one playoff in my life,” he said. “I think in junior golf when I was like 17. Ended up losing, so that’s the only memory I have from that.

“Definitely didn’t want to go to a playoff.”

Sorenstam got off to a flying start and lead the field early in the week but went home frustrated that she couldn’t keep the momentum going. The LPGA Hall of Famer said she’s unsure of what the rest of her competitive schedule will look like this year.

“I was super excited after Round 1,” said Sorenstam. “I felt like I hit some good shots. It was like old times. It was fun, had a good time.

“Then the last three rounds I’ve been struggling quite a bit and don’t feel so excited as I did after number one. But you know what? I got to take the positives out of it. I thought I really scrambled well. Some of the shots I hit were really crazy. Made some incredible up and downs. … I know I’m super close.”

Lydia Ko, determined to bounce back from dismal 2023, tied for lead after 36 holes in LPGA opener

A win this week would provide a much-needed bounce-back for the former world No. 1.

A little more than a month ago, Lydia Ko teamed with Jason Day to win the inaugural Grant Thornton Invitational, a new mixed team event for LPGA and PGA Tour players.

But a win this week would be a much bigger deal for Ko.

The 2022 champion of the CME Group Tour Championship didn’t qualify in 2023 and therefore couldn’t defend her title in the season-ender, putting a cap on a most disappointing season, her 10th on the LPGA.

But it appears that GTI win sparked something in her game.

Ko has opened 69-67 at her home course at Lake Nona Golf & Country Club in the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions and will head to the weekend tied for the lead with Ayaka Furue, who shot 65-71.

“I think Grant Thornton helped a lot,” she said Friday afternoon. “We did a lot of good work the week before with my coach flying over and spending some time here at Lake Nona. I think even though you do good work, at the end of the day you got to pull it off and make that work when you’re playing and playing competitive rounds.

“Even though it was a unique format at Grant Thornton, I think it just was really beneficial week for me to kind of be in positions where I was uncomfortable and still be able to commit to my shots.”

So far this week she has eight birdies and eagle and just two bogeys. She had eight straight pars before a closing birdie in Friday’s round even as the weather turned a bit sour.

Ko, who is committed to a more aggressive schedule this season, has the comforts of home right around the corner as she seeks her 20th career victory but admits she has to make sure she’s not too comfortable.

“I have forgotten to set my alarm once and I turned up to the golf course later than I normally do because I was so used to being at home, sleeping in my own bed, so I’m trying to not make that mistake this year.”

The tournament also features a celebrity division, made up of pro golfers, former pro athletes from baseball, basketball and hockey as well as actors and comedians. Tied atop that leaderboard is Annika Sorenstam and former NHL standout Jeremy Roenick. They each have 75 points using the Modified Stableford scoring system.

Annika Sorenstam acknowledges the crowd on the 18th green during the second round of the 2023 Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions at Lake Nona Golf & Country Club in Orlando. (Photo: Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)

“The weather in the end got a little iffy,” Sorenstam said. “I would say today was a good scramble day. Really scrambled out there. Didn’t hit as many good shots as yesterday. Just didn’t give up. Kept on fighting. Missed few more greens. Had to do some more chipping today. Just hung in there.”

Roenick sounded more than pleased with his round.

“I played well today. I think I shot 69 or 70 today, which was amazing. Didn’t make any mistakes. Just kept it on board,” he said.

Back on the main leaderboard, Gemma Dryburgh and Gaby Lopez are tied for third after 36 holes. Tied for fifth is defending tournament champ Brooke Henderson and Alexa Pano, in her second year on the LPGA.

“I was kind of a mess when I first started as a rookie last year, and I feel a lot more comfortable and got a good hang on things,” she said. “I worked really hard this off-season to be ready for this. I think this is the fun part. This is getting to see it all come to fruition.”

Other notables in the field of 35 include: Nelly Korda (4 under, T-7), Rose Zhang (4 under, T-7), world No. 1 Lilia Vu (2 under, T-16) and Danielle Kang (T-31, 3 over).

LPGA has locker rooms in place this time around at 2024 season opener

Locker room talk will likely be kept to a minimum this year.

The LPGA season kicks off this week at the Hilton Grand Vacation Tournament of Champions and locker room talk will likely be kept to a minimum this time.

Last year, LPGA players and female celebrities began the week without lockers after a storm damaged the permanent lockers that are usually in place in the women’s locker room at Lake Nona Golf & Country Club in Orlando.

The tournament planned to order temporary lockers to place on the second level of the clubhouse next to player dining, though that area did not include bathrooms. LPGA officials canceled the lockers, opting to use that space for other player uses.

On Wednesday of tournament week, after a couple of players publicly voiced concerns, 36 temporary lockers were delivered to the course.

Even with the temporary lockers, however, the locker room area was not designated as players-only – and therefore not private and secure – as it was also utilized by sponsor VIPs and tournament staff.

This year, tournament officials say LPGA players and celebrities will each have a designated locker inside the clubhouse for the Jan. 18-21 event, though the area will once again by utilized VIPs and staff.

“Similar to other LPGA tournaments, select tournament sponsors and staff will also have access to the clubhouse and this includes the restroom facilities within the locker rooms,” Aaron Stewart, VP of sports marketing at Hilton Grand Vacations, said in a statement.

“LPGA players and female celebrities will also have private restroom facilities for players-only in the upstairs area of the clubhouse adjacent to their player-only dining room. We have worked closely with the LPGA to ensure all appropriate security and access policies are followed.”

When asked how many LPGA events have locker room areas that are open to non-players, the tour said in a statement that “each LPGA Tour tournament has unique clubhouse setups, configurations, and access rules based on a variety of factors.

“Most importantly, every event has security in place throughout the venue, including at the locker room entrance, to ensure the safety and well-being of our athletes.”

LPGA winners from the past two seasons are invited to compete for a $1.5 million purse at the TOC, while a field of celebrities vie for $500,000.

World No. 1 Lilia Vu headlines the field along with No. 2 Ruoning Yin, Lake Nona member Lydia Ko, Nelly Korda and Rose Zhang.

Another Lake Nona resident, Annika Sorenstam, will compete in the celebrity field along with NBC’s Dylan Dreyer, U.S. Soccer Hall of Famer Landon Donovan, eight-time NBA All-Star Vince Carter, country music star Chris Lane and World Series champion and Hall of Famer John Smoltz.

“We are honored to partner closely with the LPGA and the fantastic golfers on the tour,” Stewart continued.

“Their feedback is always taken to heart in every decision we make in running this tournament as we want it to be an enjoyable experience that they come back to year after year. We heard from many players that they appreciated how quickly the locker situation was addressed last year because we understand it was less than ideal.”

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