LOS ANGELES - Rolex Rankings No. 1 Jin Young Ko said it herself – the 2022 Chevron Championship wasn’t the showing she expected of herself. But once she completed the major championship, Ko knew what she needed to work on.
“I didn't play well in the Chevron so I need to fix something to do my swing, so I practice hard. It was getting better and better, but I need to more practice for my swing and to perfect,” said Ko, who finished T53 in Rancho Mirage where she won her first major championship title in 2019. “[My] driver distance wasn't far in the Chevron, so I practice more downswing to the ground, like push the ground and then get the powers from the ground.”
Her Chevron result was her worst since a T60 finish at the 2021 Amundi Evian Championship, her first start after winning the Volunteers of America Classic. After resting and resetting since playing at Mission Hills Country Club, Ko now returns to a comfortable environment at the DIO Implant LA Open. She’s finished in the top five since the tournament began in 2018, carding T2 (2018), T5 (2019) and T3 (2021) finishes throughout the past three editions. Ko said she enjoys coming back to Wilshire Country Club and will be focused on the how bumpy the Poa annua greens may get during her afternoon rounds. But she’s got her “lucky charms” outside the ropes, support she hopes helps her through the first of back-to-back weeks in the Los Angeles area.
“[My] lucky charm is my parents,” said Ko, who at the JTBC Classic. “Sometimes tough, but sometimes they help me a lot, so better think they're lucky charm.”
