At a glance

Lydia Ko is back. But how does the 24-year-old Kiwi’s 2021 season stack up statistically among her peers, and in comparison to her golden years? analyses the numbers.

Ko switched from a PXG Blackjack to a ‘‘Thunderbolt’’ putter last year, and finished with a putting average below 29 for the first time since 2018 with a PXG Protoype Thunderbolt C in her bag.

‘‘It’s called the Thunderbolt, so I’m hoping it just thunder bolts into the hole,’’ Ko said when she made the switch. department. However, she has gained some distance off the tee since teaming up with swing coach Sean Foley last year. Ko averaged a career-high 259.2 yards (237m) with driver in hand this year, almost 15 yards further than in 2019, almost 10 yards further than in 2015, when she won six tournaments, and slightly longer than Jin Young Ko (258.40), the Rolex player of the year. That said, the Kiwi’s improved distance is only good enough for 64th on tour, roughly the same

Scoring average: Average driving distance:

Driving accuracy:

(129th)

Greens in regulation: Putting average:

(2nd) 28.79 per cent

Putts per greens in regulation:

1.72 (1st)

Sand saves: Rounds under par: Birdies: Rounds in the 60s: Sub-par holes: Prize money:

59.34 per cent (3rd) 54 (5th) ranking (60th) her 250.39 average mustered in 2015.

Dutchwoman Anne van Dam hits the longest ball on the LPGA Tour, averaging a whopping 290.88 yards through 50 rounds this year.

Filipino Bianca Pagdanganan (284.84) is van Dam’s nearest rival, while Korda (275.12) was seventh.

Driving accuracy

Here’s an area Ko will undoubtedly target for improvement next year.

After all, she hit just 665 of 1015 fairways this year. That’s 65.15 per cent, leaving her ranked 129th among 156 players.

That’s a far cry from 2014, when she found the cut grass on 79.19 per cent (19th) of her drives, and 2017 (78.14 per cent)

American Mo Martin (87.3 per cent) tops the list this year, although she only played 38 rounds over the season.

For a fairer comparison, Jin Young Ko (79.7 per cent) and Korda (76.2 per cent) were ranked 13th and 45th respectively.

More stats coming

The LPGA Tour has long lagged behind other pro tours when it comes to stats, but the good news is advanced stat tracking is coming via KPMGPerformance Insights. Soon, rather than basic stats such as fairways hit, the LPGA Tour will have data in line with the PGA Tour, including strokesgained statistics, which measure player performances relative to the rest of the field.

While the data is not yet accessible to the public, 240,000 shots were tracked between June and September on the LPGA Tour alone. The LPGA released some early findings in September, including regarding Ko’s short game. At the time, Ko ranked third in strokes gained around the green, and ninth in strokes gained putting. Ko was the only player on tour averaging half-a-stroke gained per round with her short game, and at least a full stroke gained putting. Her stroke average had improved by a full half-shot compared to last year, at the time.