JIN YOUNG KO

NAPLES, Fla. — (AP) — Lydia Ko is in total control at the halfway mark of the CME Group Tour Championship. “I just wanted to focus on my game," said Ko, who turned a one-shot lead entering Friday to a five-shot edge when it was over. I shot a low one yesterday and that round, it can be anybody throughout the week." Ko entered the week with a one-point lead in the race for LPGA Tour player of the year. “I’m sure she’s going to keep going, so ultimately try and shoot as low as we can over the weekend and see what happens."

Lydia Ko is in total control at the halfway mark of the CME Group Tour Championship.

Ko responded with eight birdies, including four in a row late in the round at Tiburon Golf Club, that sent her to a 7-under 65 and a one-shot lead in the LPGA Tour season finale. So much as at stake this week, even beyond the $2 million prize to the winner. Ko has a one-point lead in the race for LPGA Tour player of the year. I want to try to grab it when it's there.”It's all right in front of Ko, who has two wins in what she considers her most consistent year on the LPGA Tour. Lee, who already has set an LPGA Tour record with $3.7 million in earnings this season, opened with a 71.

Lydia Ko has shot 65 for a one-shot lead in the CME Group Tour Championship.

1 in the women's world ranking on Monday, the 16th player and second-youngest to get to the top since the ranking began in 2006. 1 by winning any of her last three tournaments on the LPGA Tour. Her first full year on the LPGA Tour has been more consistent than superb. Thitikul has won twice — in California a week before the first major and in Arkansas — to go along with 12 other finishes in the top 10. 1 during their rookie season on the LPGA Tour.

There's a new No. 1 in women's golf.

Charley Hull is forcing herself to spend more time with her putting.

Xiyu Lin made a 10-foot eagle putt late in her round.

IRVINE, Scotland — (AP) — Lydia Ko was joined by Celine Boutier at the top of the leaderboard after day three of the Women’s Scottish Open on Saturday. France's Boutier shot a 5-under-par 67 — five birdies on the front nine — to make up four shots on the New Zealander, who could manage only a 1-under 71. Canada's Maude-Aimee Leblanc started and finished with birdies for a 66 which lifted her to second place alongside Germany's Leonie Harm on 14 under, one shot off the lead. Eun-Hee Ji of South Korea (70) and Lilia Vu of the United States (71) were two off the lead going into the last round. 1-ranked Jin Young Ko was at 1 under overall, and defending champion Ryann O'Toole at 4 under.

Brooke Henderson saw her lead at the Evian Championship reduced to two shots after the third round as the Canadian seeks her second major title.

Nelly Korda is just trying to enjoy herself at the Evian Championship after a four-month injury layoff that has given her more perspective about her golf.

It was just one year ago that Nelly Korda won the Women’s PGA Championship to secure her first major and reach No. 1 in the world.

Australian rookie Stephanie Kyriacou shot a bogey-free, 6-under 65 on Friday to take the first-round lead in the ShopRite LPGA Classic at Seaview Hotel and Golf Club.

Minjee Lee won the U.S. Women’s Open by four strokes over Mina Harigae at Pine Needles on Sunday to earn $1.8 million, the largest payout in the history of women’s golf.

Minjee Lee appears to be on mission.

Jin Young Ko never seems to stress.

With an abundance of rising young stars gaining notoriety, women's golf is drawing more attention — and sponsorships — in the post-Covid era.

US Womens Open Golf Lydia Ko, of New Zealand, watches her shot off the fourth tee during a practice round for the the U.S. Women's Open golf tournament at the Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club in Southern Pines, N.C. on Tuesday, May 31, 2022. The men's 2021 U.S. Open purse was $12.5 million, with $2.25 million going to champion Jon Rahm. That came after fans chanted "Equal pay!" That coupled with a better climate for social justice in the last two years is finally ramping up the discussions for equal pay. On the 50th anniversary of Title IX, I hope sports can help lead the way for equal pay for women everywhere.”Female golfers are working hard to bridge the pay gap.

Dottie Pepper recalls being paired with Meg Mallon for the final round of the 1991 U.S. Women’s Open with what she viewed as an impressive $110,000 first-place prize on the line.

LPGA scoring leader Minjee Lee made her only three birdies on the back nine and captured the Cognizant Founders Cup by two shots over Lexi Thompson for her first win of the year.

Minjee Lee had an eagle-birdie run on the back nine and took a one-shot lead over Madelene Sagstrom Saturday, heading into the final round of the Cognizant Founders Cup.

Madelene Sagstrom shot a flawless 9-under 63 during a round she felt holes kept getting larger and grabbed a one-stroke lead over Megan Khang after the first round of the Cognizant Founders Cup on Thursday.

Marina Alex won the Palos Verdes Championship on Sunday for her second LPGA Tour title, breaking a tie with a two-putt birdie on the par-5 16th and parring the final two holes for a one-stroke victory over Jin Young Ko.

LPGA Tour Golf Hannah Green tees off at the fourth tee during the third round of the LPGA's Palos Verdes Championship golf tournament on Saturday, April 30, 2022, in Palos Verdes Estates, Calif. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis) (Ashley Landis)PALOS VERDES ESTATES, Calif. — (AP) — Hannah Green held onto the lead Saturday in the Palos Verdes Championship after a frustrating start on the hilly, windswept course perched above the Pacific Ocean. Green won both of her LPGA Tour titles in 2019, taking the major KPMG Women’s PGA at Hazeltine and the Portland Classic. Just felt confident coming into today.”Allisen Corpuz (68) also was 5 under with Gemma Dryburgh (68), Inbee Park (70), Marina Alex (70), Andrea Lee (70), Annie Park (71), Megan Khang (72) and first-round leader Minjee Lee (72). Anna Davis, the Augusta National Women’s Amateur winner, was 2 over after a 72 in her first LPGA Tour start. “To be able to play in on the weekend in an LPGA Tour event, it’s pretty good experience,” Davis said.

Hannah Green held onto the lead Saturday in the Palos Verdes Championship after a frustrating start on the hilly, windswept course perched above the Pacific Ocean.

Hannah Green took the lead into the weekend in the Palos Verdes Championship, rebounding from consecutive bogeys Thursday in gusting wind to birdie the two late par 5s in a 5-under 66.

Minjee Lee shot an 8-under 63 on Thursday to take a one-stroke lead over top-ranked Jin Young Ko halfway through the first round of the Palos Verdes Championship.

Nasa Hataoka ran away with DIO Implant LA Open on Sunday at Wilshire Country Club to open the LPGA Tour’s two-week run in the Los Angeles area.

APTOPIX LPGA Tour Golf Jin Young Ko hits from a creek bed between the 17th and 18th holes during the third round of LPGA's DIO Implant LA Open golf tournament at Wilshire Country Club on Saturday, April 23, 2022, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis) (Ashley Landis)LOS ANGELES — (AP) — Nasa Hataoka took advantage of Jin Young Ko's late meltdown Saturday to take a four-stroke lead into the final round of the DIO Implant LA Open. Hataoka birdied the 16th and parred the final two holes for a 4-under 67 and 11-under 202 total at breezy Wilshire Country Club. The 23-year-old from Japan has five LPGA Tour victories, winning twice last season. “During yesterday’s round something clicked inside me and I was able to bring that to today’s round, too,” Hataoka said.

Nasa Hataoka took advantage of Jin Young Ko’s late meltdown Saturday to take a four-stroke lead into the final round of the DIO Implant LA Open.

Jin Young Ko had five back-nine birdies in a 7-under 64 at demanding Wilshire Country Club for a share of the second-round lead Friday with Nasa Hataoka in the DIO Implant LA Open.

Jennifer Kupcho started fast and kept on going in The Chevron Championship to take a six-stroke lead into the last round ever at Mission Hills in the major championship.

Jennifer Kupcho and Minjee Lee shared the lead in The Chevron Championship at 6-under 66 after the first round of the major tournament’s final edition at Mission Hills.

This is the final year the LPGA Tour's first major is at Mission Hills in California.

Atthaya Thitikul won the JTBC Classic for her first LPGA Tour title, three-putting for bogey on the second hole of a playoff to outlast Nanna Koerstz Madsen.

LPGA Tour Golf Nanna Koerstz Madsen, of Denmark, hits her tee shot on the first hole during the third round of the JTBC LPGA golf tournament, Saturday, March 26, 2022, in Carlsbad, Calif. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy) (Denis Poroy)CARLSBAD, Calif. — (AP) — Nanna Koerstz Madsen was tied for the lead in the JTBC Classic when she teed off Saturday on the par-4 18th. Coming off a breakthrough victory two weeks ago in Thailand that made her the LPGA Tour’s first Danish champion, Koerstz Madsen took advantage of An's closing triple bogey to pull away at Aviara Golf Club. “I do think it’ll be easier going into tomorrow with a lead than it was in Thailand,” Koerstz Madsen said. “It does tell me that I’ve come a long way,” Koerstz Madsen said. The greens are really, really, really tricky.

Nanna Koerstz Madsen was tied for the lead in the JTBC Classic when she teed off Saturday on the par-4 18th.

World No. 1 Jin Young Ko birdied the 18th hole on Sunday for a 6-under 66 to win the LPGA Tour’s HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore by two strokes over fellow South Korean player In Gee Chun and Australian Minjee Lee. Ko has won six times in her last 10 starts and her round set the LPGA Tour’s all-time record for most consecutive rounds in the 60s (15) and most consecutive sub-par rounds (30). Ko was making her return to the LPGA Tour after a three-month break which included time with her family in South Korea before a few weeks of intensive practice in Palm Springs, California.

The Florida swing on the PGA Tour resumes with the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill.

LPGA Tour Golf Lydia Ko of New Zealand smiles as she holds her trophy after winning the Gainbridge LPGA golf tournament, Sunday, Jan. 30, 2022, in Boca Raton, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell) (Rebecca Blackwell)BOCA RATON, Fla. — (AP) — Lydia Ko pulled ahead with a birdie on the 15th hole and matched scores with Danielle Kang the rest of the way, closing with a 3-under 69 for a one-shot victory on a chilly Sunday in the Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio. Ko won for the second straight season after enduring a three-year slump and picked up the 17th victory of her LPGA Tour career. Kang, who closed with a 68, was trying to win back-to-back for the second time in three years. The LPGA Tour now takes a one-week break before wrapping up its Florida swing at the LPGA Drive On Championship. ___More AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf and https://twitter.com/AP_SportsCopyright 2022 The Associated Press.

Lydia Ko has outlasted Danielle Kang in chilly conditions for a 69 and a one-shot victory in the Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio.

Jin Young Ko delivered her best performance against her toughest opponent.

The LPGA is poised for a blockbuster finish to the season.

Not even the best season of her young career is keeping Nelly Korda from trying to get better.

Right when it looked as though Nelly Korda had thrown away her chance to win, she recovered to win a four-way playoff.

Jin Young Ko birdied her first playoff hole with fellow South Korean player Hee Jeong Lim to win the BMW Ladies Championship.

Jin Young Ko won another tournament and tied a record held by Annika Soresntam.

That might be all it takes to win the Founders Cup, too. Saturday was her 13th consecutive round in the 60s, one off the LPGA record Sorenstam set during a four-tournament stretch in 2005, when she had 10 wins and was halfway to the calendar Grand Slam. Ko was at 13-under 200 as she tries to match Nelly Korda as the only three-time winners on the LPGA Tour this season. After a week off, the LPGA Tour plays its lone Asia event in the fall in South Korea. Sorenstam had three victories in her four-tournament run where she set the record with 14 straight rounds in the 60s.

Jin Young Ko is one round away from winning the Founders Cup and joining some exclusive company on the LPGA Tour.

Jin Young Ko had a three-stroke lead with four holes left Friday when second-round play in the LPGA Tour’s Cognizant Founders Cup was suspended because of darkness.

One week after Jin Young Ko lost a chance to win on the LPGA Tour, the South Korean star is right back at it.

LPGA Tour Golf Jin Young Ko, of South Korea, watches het tee shot on the 17th hole during the final round of the LPGA Arkansas Championship golf tournament, Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021, in Rogers, Ark. She sat out most of the LPGA Tour season last year, staying home during the pandemic, and returned to capture the CME Group Tour Championship. Now she sets her sights on a third victory in her last five starts on the LPGA Tour. I feel like this week is almost back to like where I was putting really good earlier in the season.”Nelly Korda, the No. “Jin Young is really, really good player, too, so I think it’ll be really fun out there tomorrow playing with her,” Park said.

The best two South Koreans in the world are set to battle it out at the ShopRite LPGA.

So Yeon Ryu and Jodi Ewart Shadoff share the lead after one round of the ShopRite LPGA in New Jersey.

Jin Young Ko won the rain-shortened Cambia Portland Classic on Sunday for her second victory in her last three LPGA Tour starts.

CORRECTION LPGA Tour Golf CORRECTS TO JIN YOUNG KO NOT JIN YUNG KO - Jin Young Ko, of South Korea, watches her tee shot on the second hole during the first round of the LPGA Cambia Portland Classic golf tournament in West Linn, Ore., Thursday, Sept. 16, 2021. (AP Photo/Steve Dipaola) (Steve DIpaola)WEST LINN, Ore. — (AP) — Jin Young Ko shot a 5-under 67 on Friday to take the second-round lead in the Cambia Portland Classic. “It was quite tough out there. It was quite windy,” Dryburgh said. It was really windy today.

Jin Young Ko shot a 5-under 67 on Friday to take the second-round lead in the Cambia Portland Classic.

Carlota Ciganda overcame an early double bogey in chilly morning conditions Thursday for a 4-under 68 and a share of the first-round lead in the Cambia Portland Classic.

The LPGA Tour is two-thirds through the season and the South Koreans are not as dominant as they usually are.

1 ranking for nearly two years until Nelly Korda supplanted her last week by winning the KPMG Women's PGA Championship. Ko had failed to finish in the top 10 in four of her previous five starts on the LPGA Tour. Castren holed her par putt, Ko missed and the lead remained at one. The tournament swung on the 15th hole when Castren missed a 3-foot par putt that snapped hard to the left, falling two shots behind. She got up-and-down from just short of the par-5 17th for birdie, and stayed in the game when Ko missed her birdie putt from 6 feet.

One week after losing the No. 1 world ranking, Jin Young Ko is a winner again.

Ko returned to overcast and breezy Old American early Saturday, playing the final 14 holes for a 1-under 70 in the suspended second round. After a rest break at her nearby home in Frisco, the 25-year-old South Korean star shot 66 in the third round. Defending champion Angela Stanford birdied three of the last four holes in a 68 to get to 9 under. The 43-year-old former TCU star from Fort Worth won at 7 under last year when the event was played in early December. “Early this morning it played really hard I thought with the wind coming back out.

Jin Young Ko chipped in for eagle on the par-4 15th and finished a bogey-free 32-hole Saturday in near darkness with a one-stroke lead in the Volunteers of America Classic.

Matilda Castren shot a 5-under 66 after a six-hour storm delay Friday to take the lead in the suspended second round of the Volunteers of America Classic.

1 in the women's world golf ranking over, Jin Young Ko was back on top Thursday in the Volunteers of America Classic. 1 ranking when Nelly Korda won the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship on Sunday for her second straight victory. “Shot wasn’t good, but putting was really good,” said Ko, who has a home in nearby Frisco. Lizette Salas, coming off a second-place finish in the Women’s PGA, birdied the final two holes for a 70. The Mexican player missed the cut by a stroke in the Women’s PGA after getting a two-shot penalty for slow play.

Nelly Korda is a major champion and the new face of American women in golf.