D’Angelo: Lydia Ko knows what it’s like to be on top of the world and she’s headed back there

BOCA RATON, Fla. — Lydia Ko looked down at her ball, honed in on the pin, and repeated the process two more times. She then stepped back, lifted the face of her club and pulled out a tee to clean the grooves.

The biggest shot of the Gainbridge LPGA was coming and she was standing in a greenside bunker on the 18th hole at Boca Rio. But having successfully gotten up and down twice before from a bunker, she was confident with what was coming.

“Because of that, I think that made that shot a lot easier,” Ko said.

The ball landed softly on the green and rolled to within about two feet of the cup. After Danielle Kang’s long putt rolled just left of the cup, the outcome was inevitable. Ko made her tap-in for a final-round 69 which put her at 14-under 274 for the tournament, one shot better than Kang, who shot 68 Sunday.

Ko’s resume includes 17 LPGA titles, including two majors, and two Olympic medals, a silver in 2016 and bronze last summer in Tokyo. Not bad for someone who is three months shy of her 25th birthday.

Lydia Ko and Danielle Kang hug on the 18th green after Ko defeated Kang by one stroke to win the 2022 Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio Golf Club on January 30, 2022 in Boca Raton, Florida. (Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images)

But her story is one of a child prodigy whose rise was meteoric, fall was almost as fast and now is using all of those experiences to regain that lofty status.

Ko won her first LPGA event as an amateur at 15 years and four months, surpassing the record set by Lexi Thompson, who was the previous youngest champion after winning at 16 years and seven months. The winner’s share of $300,000 was rewarded to the runner-up who was three strokes back.

Then, she did it again the next year, defending her title once again as an amateur. This time the winning share of $300,000 went to the runner-up who was five shots back.

Finally, later that year, she turned pro and started having those winnings’ checks made out in her name. Checks that now have surpassed $12.6 million.

Then came the rise to No. 1 in the world rankings, which she attained at 17 years and nine months, the youngest professional golfer – woman or man – to be ranked No. 1.

“I heard people say, ‘you make it look easy,’ ” Ko said. “I’m like, ‘trust me it’s not easy.’

“I think when someone is playing so well … they make it look very easy. You know what? They’re putting their 100% energy and still playing amazing golf. I think it almost doesn’t get as much credit as it should.”

“Hopefully, I’m going to see you all soon!”

After winning the @GainbridgeLPGA, Lydia signs off! 👋 pic.twitter.com/Od3GVt73pF

— LPGA (@LPGA) January 31, 2022

The dip came quick. After being No. 1 for 158 weeks, including the third longest consecutive streak of 85 weeks, she started a descent that saw her fall to No. 55 after the 2020 LPGA Drive On Championship. She said she struggled with trying to be who she once was, instead of finding out what worked for her at that time.

“I feel very fortunate about the things that happened earlier in my career,” Ko said. “When I wasn’t playing as well I think I wanted to be the person that I was and … put myself back to when I was No. 1.”

Then came advice from someone who walked her shoes. Stacy Lewis, one of three American golfers who reached No. 1 in world, told Ko she could not retrace those steps.

“Try to be the best player, best person you can be now,” Lewis told her.

“I think hearing that advice from somebody like her, that really helped me to have the confidence and to just believe in the process of sometimes you’re going to take two steps back, but you just keep working and working at just trying to be the best,” Ko said. “I’m just trying to be the best version I can be today.”

The return to the top is a work on progress. Ko reached No. 3 in the world after a top 10 finish last weekend at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions in Orlando and will remain there when the rankings come out Monday.

“When you keep knocking on the door, you feel like at one point it’s going to open,” she said.

On this day, that door opened with a clutch putt of about 20 feet that she started a couple of feet to the right and curled into the hole for a birdie. That allowed Ko to regain the lead after relinquishing a two-shot advantage entering Sunday on the first three holes.

“That putt on 15 was kind of the momentum shifter,” Ko said.

And shifting momentum is something she knows all about in a career that, at her age, is just getting started for some.