NAPLES, Fla. – Jin Young Ko is in position to finish off a sweep of the LPGA’s most important season-long awards.
Ko’s 6-under-par 66 Saturday all but mathematically secures the Vare Trophy for low scoring average.
At 10 under for the championship, Ko’s scoring average for the year moves to 69.038.
Hyo Joo Kim’s 69.400 scoring average is the closest to Ko, but the LPGA estimated at week’s start that Kim would have to finish 22 shots ahead of Ko this week to have a chance to pass her. Kim starts Sunday five shots behind Ko.
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Ko has a chance to make some scoring history with a strong finish. With a 65 Sunday, she will join Annika Sorenstam as the only LPGA players to average better than 69 strokes for an entire season.
Ko has already won the points-based Rolex Player of the Year Award and the Rolex Annika Major Award for the best cumulative performance in all five majors this season. She also has one hand on the LPGA money winning title with $2,714,281 in earnings, which is more than $700,000 ahead of Jeongeun Lee6.
But, with Sunday’s $1.5 million first-place check, Ko can still be passed.
Lee6 ($1,992,490), Brooke Henderson ($1,519,447), Lexi Thompson ($1,417,609), Nelly Korda ($1,395,909), Sei Young Kim ($1,253,099) and Danielle Kang ($1,241,806) are among those who still have a mathematical chance to pass Ko, but they all must win and hope Ko doesn’t finish well.