World No. 1 Ko Jin-young seeking 3rd career LPGA major in California

▲ In this Associated Press file photo from March 6, 2022, Ko Jin-young of South Korea hoists the champion's trophy after winning the HSBC Women's World Championship at Sentosa Golf Club's Tanjong Course in Singapore. (Yonhap)

▲ In this Getty Images photo, Ko Jin-young of South Korea tosses grass to gauge the wind direction during the second round of the JTBC Classic at Aviara Golf Club in Carlsbad, California, on March 25, 2022. (Yonhap)

▲ In this Getty Images photo, Ko Jin-young of South Korea tees off on the second hole during the third round of the JTBC Classic at Aviara Golf Club in Carlsbad, California, on March 26, 2022. (Yonhap)

LPGA-major

World No. 1 Ko Jin-young seeking 3rd career LPGA major in California

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, March 30 (Yonhap) -- Ko Jin-young, world No. 1 in women's golf from South Korea, will be California dreaming this week, as she chases her third career LPGA major title.

Ko, the reigning LPGA Player of the Year and money leader, will be among the favorites to capture the Chevron Championship, which starts Thursday (local time) at the Dinah Shore Tournament Course of Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California.

Ko won this tournament in 2019, and this will be the final time the event will take place at Mission Hills. The famous California course has hosted the championship, which went through multiple name changes due to changing corporate sponsors, since the event's inaugural year in 1972. But Chevron, the new title sponsor, will move it to a new venue in Texas starting next year.

Traditionally the first LPGA major to take place each year, the Chevron Championship is also famous for having champions celebrate their victory by jumping into the pond by the 18th green, also known as Poppie's Pond.

Ko took her leap in April 2019, when she won the championship for her first career major. She also won the Evian Championship in France later that year en route to capturing the LPGA Player of the Year award for the first time.

Though Ko didn't win a major in 2021, she still had a terrific season, winning five tournaments -- four of them between September and November -- and leading the tour in money for her third consecutive season.

In 2022, Ko has picked up right where she left off. She won her first start of the season at the HSBC Women's World Championship in Singapore on March 6 and finished tied for fourth at the JTBC Classic in California last week.

While winning the tournament in Singapore, Ko set new LPGA records with her 15th consecutive round in the 60s and 30th consecutive round with an under-par score.

The first streak came to an end at 16 last week, but the under-par streak has reached 34 rounds.

In her last nine tournaments dating back to September 2021, Ko has collected five victories and has finished inside the top six in all of them.

Ko leads the tour this season in scoring average with 68.125 strokes per round and in greens in regulation with 80.6 percent.

According to the LPGA, Ko will be one of 22 South Korean players in the field this week. The list includes three other former champions: Park In-bee (2013), Ryu So-yeon (2017) and Lee Mi-rim (2020).

No South Korean player won an LPGA major in 2021, the first time that had happened since 2010.

World No. 2 Nelly Korda will miss the tournament while undergoing treatment for a blood clot.

(END)

(C) Yonhap News Agency. All Rights Reserved