LPGA Tour Championship 2021 R4
November 18-21
Tiburón Golf Club, Naples, Florida
$5,000,000
Round 1, Round 2, Round 3

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Jin Young Ko started the day in a four-way tie for the lead and tied her career-best score with a bogey-free 63 to successfully defend her title at the CME Group Tour Championship. Her 23-under, 265 total is the new tournament scoring record.

LPGA Tour Championship 2021 R4

“I don't have pressure on the course. I just want to better play than the other players. So, I did it, and, yeah. Also, I'm happy to make like my best career score today, 63; 64 was my best score, record, but I crushed it and it's so happy.”

Her twelfth career victory on Sunday also secures her the Rolex Player of the Year award, making her the only South Korean player to earn it twice. Ko is the first player to record five wins in a season since Ariya Jutanugarn in 2016, joining Se Ri Pak and Inbee Park as South Koreans with five wins or more in a season.

LPGA Tour Championship 2021 R4

Ko hit 63 straight greens in regulation, last missing one in the first round, and made a single bogey over her last 63 holes.

Japan's Nasa Hataoka came second one shot behind after a final round 64 followed by American Mina Harigae (67) and Frenchwoman Céline Boutier (68) in third place at 18-under.

LPGA Tour Championship 2021 R4

World Number 1 Nelly Korda, who started the day with a share of the lead alongside Ko, Hataoka and Boutier, closed with a 69 to finish tied for fifth place at 17-under alongside fellow American Megan Khang (66) and Australian Minjee Lee (66).

Korda averaged 4.90 birdies-or-better per round this season, the best single-season rate for any player with 40 or more rounds played in the last 30 LPGA Tour seasons.

LPGA Tour Championship 2021 R4

New Zealand's Lydia Ko closed with a bogey-free 64 and finished tied for 9th, her tenth top-10 of the year. She earned the Vare Trophy for low stroke average.

“(The Vare Trophy) is really special because obviously it sums up the whole season," said Ko. "All the other (awards and records) do, too. But at the end of the day golf is about how consistently well you can play and what kind of low scores you can shoot. The Vare Trophy obviously exemplifies that. I think I've only been close one year and I just missed out on the trophy.

“I didn't even know that I was close this year until news came out and I realized a couple months ago. Last week (at the Pelican) wasn't really on my schedule. But it ended up being worth it because finishing tied second and to have won (the Vare) feels special. It just makes a good year even better.”

LPGA Tour Championship 2021 R4