CME Group Championship: Lydia Ko surges into contention in LPGA season finale

An improbable par on No. 18 helps Lydia Ko grab a share of 2nd place after 18 holes of the LPGA’s season-ending tournament.

Lydia Ko, after following an eagle on the 17th hole in Thursday’s first round of the CME Group Tour Championship with an incredible par save, finds herself in the thick of things at the LPGA’s season-ending tournament.

The former world No. 1 is winless in 2017. But after going 1-under through 12 holes at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Fla., Ko, who streaked to the finish line with birdies on Nos. 13 and 14 and that eagle-4 on 17, will enter Day 2 in a four-way tie for second, just one shot back of 18-hole co-leaders Sarah Jane Smith and Peiyun Chien.

While the birdies and eagle were certainly impressive, the improbable par at the last could be just what Ko needs to propel herself to a second Tour Championship W and 15th tour victory.

“I don't think I've made a par like that before,” Ko told reporters about the four she signed for on No. 18 after pulling her approach, hitting her third into a half-plugged lie in a bunker, and holing out from the sand.

“After making eagle on the 17th, you don’t really want to even that up with a double on the last,” Ko added. “Definitely a good back nine to put myself in a good position.”

Ko lost her top spot in June after making a slew of changes to her entourage and entered the tourney ranked eighth in the world. While the 20-year-old former teen phenom is uncharacteristically not among the favorites to take home Player of the Year, the money title, scoring prize, or her third CME Race to the Globe and the $1 million bonus that goes with it, her first win of the season would snap a 15-month stretch without a trophy.

It would also go a long way toward a strong start to the 2018 campaign.

“I just want to finish the season on a high note,” said Ko, who conceded she would be “pretty happy” with a top-10 finish to the year. “It is good to be able to play some solid golf these past few weeks and put myself in better positions going into the weekends and going into the final round.

“I think the more I do that, the confidence kind of builds up,” Ko noted. “If you start making birdies or putts and playing well … that momentum kind of carries on."