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Jin Young Ko’s family went into great debt to get her to No. 1 in the world. Golf is an exceptionally expensive game in South Korea, and Ko said it wasn’t until after she won five times on the Korean LPGA that they were able to pay back the loans.
Ko dominated the LPGA in her second year on tour, taking every award that was offered in 2019. Her main goal going forward: be more grateful.
“I want to be a better player obviously,” said Ko, “but I also want to be able to spread the gratitude.”
The words are heart-warming, but the actions are too. This winter, Ko plans to buy coal for those who can’t afford to heat their homes in South Korea.
After Sei Young Kim took home the biggest check in women’s golf history – $1.5 million – she was asked what she planned to do with the money. Kim said she needed to give it some thought, but that she wanted to do something “meaningful.”
Golf, women’s golf in particular, has been blessed with givers. And we were reminded of that at every turn in 2019.
When Ko won the Evian Championship earlier this year, she was overcome with joy after having met Lorena Ochoa in France. Ko happens to employ Ochoa’s longtime caddie, David Brooker.
It wasn’t Ochoa’s record that caused such a stirring reaction from Ko. The admiration runs much deeper than that.
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At a private Q&A session at Evian, Ochoa and Lindsey Vonn took the stage to talk about their triumphs and life after retirement.
Ochoa didn’t wait until after she left the game to start her foundation. Giving back is what fueled her to dominate.
“The more I play, the more I win, the more I can help,” she said of her mindset.
It takes around 12 million pesos (about $621,000) each year to run Ochoa’s school, La Barranca. The life-changing campus sits on the edge of a magnificent ravine, where thousands of underprivileged children have been able to look out and find unending inspiration.
“They are my No. 1 motivation,” said Ochoa, who goes to more than a dozen events per year to raise money for the school. “I think it’s important that they remember us for the things that we did outside our sport.”
The same is true for Ariya Jutanugarn, who had trouble finding motivation after she reached the pinnacle of the sport until she realized that she can help more kids if she’s on top of the world.
A backstopping controversy earlier this year in Jutanugarn’s native Thailand brought up the subject of cheating over lunch in Charleston.
“For what?” asked Jutanugarn. “What’s the point? For an extra $2,000? I don’t play for money. I don’t care about money. I play for the kids.”
Sisters Ariya and Moriya Jutanugarn already have a thriving foundation that gives back to the children of Thailand. They too focus on education.
Earlier this year at a luncheon celebrating Kathy Whitworth’s 80th birthday, Suzy Whaley gave a talk that proved so inspiring that the woman sitting next to me, who was on the verge of quitting the game, was headed to the range that afternoon.
“Don’t be afraid to be brave,” urged Whaley, the first female president of the PGA of America.
It’s a trait shared by these women who dare to be great with a generous heart.
Earlier this year, the LPGA lost one of its Founders, Marilynn Smith, whose passion for giving back stretched into her 89th year. The Marilynn Smith Scholarship Pro Am will continue in 2020, where LPGA pros will gather ahead of the Founders Cup in Phoenix to help raise money for female college players.
The scholarship idea stemmed from a conversation Smith’s father had with Kansas athletic director Phog Allen in 1949, when he asked for travel money to send Marilyn to the national championship.
“Mr. Smith,” Allen replied, “it’s too bad your daughter is not a boy.”
To date, Smith’s pro-am has raised nearly $1 million worth of scholarships for 189 young women.
But the giving in this beautiful game isn’t limited to those in the spotlight. Sometimes they are the ones on the receiving end.
Smith would’ve been pleased to see the golf world rally around Haley Moore, a woman who overcame bullying to lead her Arizona team to an NCAA title. After Moore and her family detailed the financial struggle they faced in paying for the opportunity to compete at the next level, friends and strangers alike came together to raise $34,420.
Moore then delivered, earning her LPGA card for the 2020 season at Pinehurst.
As an empowered Moore readies herself for the next level, she’s already talking about ways she can use this larger platform to reach kids who’ve been bullied.
Those who helped Moore take that first step toward her dream will be part of everything she does from this point forward.
“When you give to others,” Whaley said, “you empower them to succeed. And that’s really what leadership is all about.”
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