Jin Young Ko shoots 14th straight round (!) in 60s, wins Founders Cup

Jin Young Ko dominated the Founders Cup on Sunday in New Jersey, claiming a four-stroke win with a final-round score of 68. But of course, that wasn’t a surprise. None of it was. Not when your past three weeks have gone as well as Ko’s have.

To call the stretch Ko is on “a heater” would be a vast understatement. Rather, Ko is on an absolute scorcher. So hot is she that on Sunday, she tied an LPGA record for the most consecutive rounds in the 60s.

Yes, Ko has now shot 14 straight rounds in the 60s, a run of dominance unmatched by anyone not named Annika Sorenstam, who achieved the feat in 2005. Not since July has Ko recorded a round in the 70s in professional play, a stretch dating back to her five-over 76 in the third round of the Evian Championship on July 24. It’s been 60s ever since for the 26-year-old, and now, Sorenstam and Ko are tied in history.

Bunker Shots

It was that kind of week for Ko, who led from wire-to-wire at Mountain Ridge Country Club in West Caldwell, N.J. She dominated all the way through, recording six birdies to only a single bogey and cruising comfortably to a Sunday 66. Caroline Masson, who finished four strokes back, was the only player within seven strokes of Ko.

With the win and the $495,000 winner’s check, Ko crossed the $7 million threshold for career earnings, becoming only the 40th player in LPGA Tour history to reach that number. Ko joined World No. 1 Nelly Korda as the only women to record three professional wins in 2021, and this win was the 10th of her career, making her the fifth Korean player to reach 10 victories.

Still, all those statistics pale in comparison to the biggest one: 14. Fourteen consecutive rounds played with a final score under 70, culminating in an emphatic victory, her second since the streak began with three straight rounds in the 60s in her win at the Portland Classic in September. The victory was her second consecutive win at the Founders Cup, a streak dating back more than 900 days to the last playing of the event, in 2019.