The 2022 LPGA season will be known as Lydia Ko’s comeback year. And while the one-time prodigy rightly grabbed all the headlines as the season came to a close, there were plenty of other storylines that captured our attention throughout 2022.
The Jin Young Ko/Nelly Korda budding rivalry was abruptly stopped due to health reasons. The two combined for nine LPGA titles in 2021 and won a total of two in 2022.
In their stead, a wave of first-time winners who ranged from rookies to thirtysomethings created plenty of feel-good moments. In fact, two first-time winners included on this list took home major championship trophies.
Scotland’s Gemma Dryburgh became the LPGA’s 11th first-time winner of 2022 in Japan (winning a toilet!), which matches a tour record set in 1995. The players hailed from nine different countries.
In many ways, it was a milestone season, marked by record-setting purses, historic venues and plenty of memorable moments.
Here are the 10 best:
Lydia Ko poses for a photo with the Vare Trophy, the Rolex Player of the Year trophy and the CME Globe trophy after winning the 2022 CME Group Tour Championship at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Lydia Ko’s comeback season ended in a flurry as her victory at the CME Group Tour Championship locked up a host of year-end awards. Ko clinched her second Rolex LPGA Player of the Year Award and second Vare Trophy for the lowest scoring average (68.99). Only Annika Sorenstam had previously averaged below 69.
After a record $2 million payday at the CME Group Tour Championship, she also clinched the LPGA money title with $4,364,404. That’s $591 shy of Lorena Ochoa’s all-time record in a single season.
Shortly thereafter, she rose to No. 1 in the world again for the first time since 2017.
Nelly Korda poses with the trophy after winning the 2022 Pelican Women’s Championship at Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Florida. (Photo: Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
Nelly Korda rose to No. 1 once again in November after defending her title at the Pelican LPGA Championship. What made the victory extra special was the perspective gained after a blood clot scare that required surgery took her out of the game for months. It was a scary time for the entire Korda family.
“We’re just very fortunate she’s alive,” her father Petr said, moments after the trophy ceremony.
Nelly noted that the uncertainty of it all was the…
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