Jin Young Ko - © Getty Images for LPGA

Jin Young Ko, who has won four victories this year including the ANA Inspiration and the Evian Championship, earned the Player of the Year title with a T-9 ranking in the BMW Ladies Championship at the LPGA International Busan in Korea, thus eliminating Jeongeun Lee6, who won the US Women's Open this year.

"The season is not over and I tend to set weekly goals for myself, so I haven't thought about my goals for next season"said Jin Young Ko. “But I know I want to be more grateful next year, and I want to be a better player obviously, but I also want to be able to spread gratitude. For example, I would like to participate in more charity events, fundraisers, etc. "

The three other champions to have won the title of Player of the Year following their Rookie of the Year are Nancy Lopez in 1979, Annika Sorenstam in 1995 and Lydia Ko in 2015. Lopez and Sorenstam are both members of the LPGA and the World Golf Hall of Fame.

And that's probably not the end of honors for Ko in 2019. She leads the Vare Trophy race for the lowest average score, is number one on the official LPGA money list, leads in the points race CME Globe and is number one in the Rolex Rankings.

Jin Young Ko's average of 68,933 points flirts with the record mark of 68,6970 obtained by Sorenstam in 2004. The average of Jin Young Ko would be the third best record of all time, Sorenstam posting the three lowest average scores with 68,6974 and 69,0167, which corresponds to his personal best.

"The records are about to be broken, and if they aren't this season they could be broken next season, and having that record to break can be a really big motivator. "said Jin Young Ko.

Jin Young Ko also won the Rolex ANNIKA Major Award for the best overall performance in the major. In fact, Ko's general consistency is reminiscent of that of Sorenstam, who won 72 LPGA tournaments with 10 majors.

In 20 LPGA events this year, Ko has won four, nine in the top three, a dozen top 10s, 17 top 20s and has been in the top 30 in all of his starts.

This is a remarkable level of play, built on a flamboyant Rookie year in which Jin Young Ko won the 2018 ISPS Handa Women's Australian Open, becoming only the second player to win her first ever title. as a member of the LPGA. In two seasons on the tour, Ko has competed in 44 of 45 tournaments with 12 top 3s and 25 top 10s.

Ask any player for the key to winning and they'll tell you that one key thing is to give yourself as many chances to win as possible. Ko does it brilliantly. She is reminiscent of Sorenstam in that she rarely surpasses herself, making few mistakes - technically or mentally.

In fact, earlier this year, Jin Young Ko made 114 consecutive holes without a bogey, breaking a record held by Tiger Woods. And when your name is in the same sentence as Sorenstam and Woods, it means something.

Lost at times in the shadow of Jin Young Ko's greatness as a player, her kindness as a person deserves a prize in itself. The fact that the charity pledge was part of her initial comments when told she had secured the Player of the Year title indicates this.

“When I started playing golf at the age of ten, we weren't very well off”said Ko. “So it was a struggle. When my coach told my mom that I really should go this route, my parents both had to work really hard so that I could learn golf and become a professional golfer. "

This struggle motivated Jin Young Ko to perform, and the help his family received from others made him appreciate his obligations to help those in difficulty. “When I started going to tournaments and competing, I was separated from my family, and whenever we had financial or emotional difficulties, there were people around us who would help us,” She says. “For my mom too, whenever she thought they couldn't afford my lessons, someone would help them and they could afford to pay for them. "

When Ko became a professional at 20, his goal was to repay the debts that his family had incurred to support his career. "Come to think of it, I think God inflicted this period on us to make me stronger," she says.

The title of Rolex Player of the Year in her native Korea is the perfect culmination of a complete loop in Ko's personal and professional life.

"A lot of people saw my footage book and saw that I had the Korean flag on it," she says. “I just want people to know that I'm Korean and my caddy gave me this flag. I'm just so proud to be Korean, and I would be reborn Korean if I had the choice. "

Jin Young Ko is more than 2018 Rookie of the Year and more than 2019 Player of the Year. She embodies the Drive On spirit of the LPGA and embodies the passion for the world golf tour. There is a goodness in his heart that cannot be measured by the numbers that define the greatness of his game.

Jin Young Ko is the All-Round Player of the Year.

To learn more about Jin Young Ko: click here