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How skipping a major helped Jin Young Ko return to the top of the LPGA

Jin Young Ko hits an iron shot at the Pelican Women’s Championship last weekend. (Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)

The No. 1 position in the Rolex Rankings has been the forbidden fruit of the LPGA Tour. Once players get a taste of the lead, they often have a hard time holding onto it. Jin Young Ko is well aware of the challenge.

Shanshan Feng relinquished her spot at the top in April of 2018 and now plans to retire at the end of the year. Ariya Jutanugarn, Inbee Park and Sung Hyun Park traded the No. 1 ranking for the rest of 2018 and into early 2019. Ko moved into the lead briefly in the summer of 2019, swapping spots with Park, until she grabbed hold of it for good at the 2019 Evian Championship. Ko’s 100-week reign finally came to an end in June, when Nelly Korda won the 2021 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and secured No. 1.

Ko responded with a victory at the Volunteers of America Classic over the Fourth of July, but after posting three finishes outside of the top 40, the gap between Korda and Ko at No. 2 had widened. Ko last finished outside the top 40 three times in a season in 2018.

So, after the Tokyo Olympics in August, Ko was looking to make some changes. To help her find her consistently dominant form, her team called Si Woo Lee, Ko’s swing coach from 2017 to April 2020. Ko flew from Tokyo to her home in South Korea to meet with Lee and begin the process that’s lifted her to a late-season surge of three wins in her last six starts.

The first step in Ko and Lee’s reunion was to get back to the roots of Ko’s swing.

“[We] reviewed all the swing videos since 2017,” Lee said via text. “Checked all the details that we missed over the last months we were not together.”

Lee laughed as he tried to recall the number of videos she’s sent him over the years. They discussed the differences they noticed in her swing evolution and trained together three to four days a week over six to seven weeks to help Ko, then an eight-time LPGA winner, get back on track.

“I had a lot of problems with my swing, so I can’t pick just one thing,” Ko said at the Cognizant Founder’s Cup. “Well, just basic one. Just keep my spine or just don’t move from right to left.”

Ko’s return to basics was a key tenet of Lee’s instruction.

“It is simple,” Lee said. “I always focus on the basic. I just add some tips that Jin Young could have more balance by using large muscles. It would help her to have simple and stiff golf swings. The tips for a world No. 1 player’s swing are using large muscles from basic skills.”

The AIG Women’s Open, the final major of 2021, began less than two weeks after the Olympics. Instead of having Ko rush back to competition, they decided to continue drilling her form, especially given the month-long gap between the AIG Women’s Open and the rest of the year’s tournaments.

“When we decided to not to attend the AIG Women’s Open,” Lee said, “Jin Young was not perfectly ready for the tournament.”

The British event has a foothold in Ko’s memory. In 2015, a 20-year-old Ko held a three-shot lead at the Ricoh British Women’s Open (as it was named then) before Hall of Famer Inbee Park chased her down. Ko finished as runner-up, but her career only ascended from there.

“It was a really difficult decision not to play the British Open, because I really love to play in the British,” Ko said at the Cambia Portland Classic in September.

Instead, Ko and Lee continued to work on her swing mechanics and toward Lee’s goal for the 26-year-old.

“My new target for her is raising her performance toward winning competitive ranks,” Lee said. “Final goal was No. 1 again — sooner than my expectations though.”

It took Ko five starts to return to the No. 1 spot, reaching the top with a playoff victory at the BMW Ladies Championship last month and holding onto it for two weeks. The victory marked the 200th by a South Korean in LPGA history and the 11th in Ko’s career.

The 2019 Player of the Year’s game has soared since her return to the course in September. In addition to her three wins on tour, she posted 14 consecutive rounds in the 60s, matching the tour record set by Annika Sorenstam in 2005 and So Yeon Ryu in 2016 and 2017. Ko credits a subtle adjustment for the meteoric rise.

“I can say my backswings are better than before changing my coach,” Ko said ahead of the Pelican Women’s Championship last weekend. “Ball contact or, like, everything … [is] better than before the Olympics.”

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Ko's stats on tour before and after her training sessions with Lee.

This isn’t the first time Ko has made LPGA history after partnering with Lee. After a disappointing five-over opening round at the 2019 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, Ko called Lee so they could work together during her 24th birthday celebration in Chicago. Their adjustment was a small weight shift. The result was 114 holes of bogey-free golf from the AIG Women’s Open through the first round of the Cambia Portland Classic, an all-time mark on the LPGA and PGA Tour.

“He really knows my swing or putting,” Ko said. “So if I say anything, he knows my feeling or my mindset. So, yeah, that’s really comfy. He knows everything from me.”

Since Ko returned to the tour, she and Korda have played in the same field only at the Cognizant Founder’s Cup and the Pelican Women’s Championship. Korda, however, has been able to appreciate Ko’s play from afar.

“It’s honestly been really super exciting to watch,” the American golfer said. “You’re never going to be world No. 1 forever. You’re going to jump people, they’re going to jump you. It’s been super cool to see how dominant and well she’s been playing. Because if you’re out here and you’re playing week in and week out, you appreciate how good she is playing. So she’s been on a run, and it’s going to take some really, really good golf to catch her.”

Korda gained some separation with her victory at the Pelican Women’s Championship, but Ko remains in striking distance. Ko’s T-6 finish in Belleair, Fla. was her sixth consecutive top-10 result since September.

She credits much of that success to her swing coach. The camaraderie Lee and Ko have built over the years has motivated Lee to push her to even greater heights.

Ahead of the final two events of the season, Ko spent additional time with Lee. Even then, Ko noticed a back-to-basics adjustment she needed to make before she goes head-to-head with Korda in pursuit of defending her title at the CME Group Tour Championship this weekend.

“She is always Jin Young,” Lee said. “I first met her in 2017, early summer. She has never settled down or been satisfied with her present. She has a passion for winning. It makes me always dream of winning and teach her with passion as a coach.”

Kent Paisley is a contributing writer at Just Women’s Sports covering golf and the LPGA. He also contributes to Golf Digest. Follow him on Twitter @KentPaisley.

2024 NWSL Playoffs Kick Off Friday

Orlando attacker Marta battles Chicago midfielder Julia Grosso for the ball in an NWSL game.
Soccer legend Marta hopes to lead Orlando past Chicago in Friday's NWSL quarterfinal. (Daniel Bartel/Imagn Images)

After a record-setting season, the 2024 NWSL Playoffs have landed, with the expanded eight-team lineup kicking off the weekend's do-or-die quarterfinals with a clean slate.

No. 1 Orlando, whose Shield-winning year ended in a skid, begins the postseason action on Friday, hosting a No. 8 Chicago side that just barely made the postseason cut. The Pride will notably do so without defender Rafaelle, who landed on the season-ending injury list with a partial quad tendon tear on Tuesday.

Adding another hurdle to Chicago's gargantuan Orlando task is the fact that the Red Stars will be without some key firepower. Striker Ludmila, the club's third-most prolific goal scorer on the season, is serving an extended red card suspension that will keep her sidelined through the semifinals, should the Red Stars advance.

After finishing last season second-to-last on the NWSL table, No. 4 Kansas City earned quarterfinal hosting rights this year. The Current, who scored a league-record 57 goals this season, haven't lost since September 1st, when they fell to the No. 5 North Carolina Courage — the same team they'll face on Saturday.

The biggest question-mark for the Current, however, is the status of 2024 Golden Boot winner Temwa Chawinga, who was sidelined last weekend after a knock to the knee.

"She’s progressing well," KC coach Vlatko Andonovski said of Chawinga's status on Wednesday. "Hopefully, we have more answers closer to the game."

That said, Andonovski made it clear that expectations won't change regardless of Chawinga's availability. Pointed to KC’s 3-1 win over Chicago last Sunday, he noted that while "the success that this team has enjoyed this season is a team success, and it’s not just the 20 goals that Temwa scored."

Gotham's Rose Lavelle dribbles past Portland center back Becky Sauerbrunn in an NWSL game.
2023 champs Gotham will host Portland in the NWSL Playoffs' last quarterfinal on Sunday. (Rich Barnes/Imagn Images)

Sunday doubleheader will finalize NWSL semis

This Sunday afternoon is all about the NWSL, beginning when No. 7 Bay FC, the winningest expansion team in league history, head to DC to play a No. 2 Spirit squad still bouncing back from injuries.

While Washington has star forward Trinity Rodman and defender Casey Krueger back on the pitch, they'll be without midfielder Andi Sullivan, who suffered a season-ending ACL tear last month. Also missing will be forward Rosemonde Kouassi as she finishes serving her extended red card suspension.

To cap things off, defending champs No. 3 Gotham FC will host perennial contenders Portland. The Thorns snagged their lowest postseason seeding ever at No. 6 after a shaky season put their now eight-straight playoffs streak at risk.

Even so, Portland could be poised to surprise a Gotham side that boasts one of the best defenses in the league. The Thorns' final regular-season match displayed their best attacking performance in NWSL play since May, with prolific scorers Christine Sinclair, Sophia Smith, and Morgan Weaver all finding the back of the net.

Washington rookie Croix Bethune leaps into the air for a header in an NWSL match.
Despite missing the last third of the season, Spirit midfielder Croix Bethune is the likely Rookie of the Year. (Soobum Im/Getty Images)

NWSL MVP, Rookie of the Year awards come into focus

As the season ends, the NWSL's individual award frontrunners are emerging — and none more so than KC's Chawinga. The Kansas City striker is poised to run away with the league's MVP honors thanks to her speed, technical skill, and record-breaking 20 goals on the season.

Though Orlando’s Barbra Banda made her MVP case by keeping pace with Chawinga in the season's first half, she quieted after the Olympics while Chawinga upheld her unbelievable consistency, blasting eight more goals across nine post-break matches.

Instead, the Pride could likely see Coach of the Year honors after Seb Hines led the Shield-winners​ on a record-breaking 23-match unbeaten streak this season.

In the Rookie of the Year race, the NWSL’s 2024 class impressed, from Louisville ringer Emma Sears to KC defensive midfielder Claire Hutton to Washington’s absolutely stacked group of six debutants.

That said, Spirit midfielder Croix Bethune tops the competition with five goals and a record-tying 10 assists, despite playing in just 17 matches before a torn meniscus ended her season.

How to watch the 2024 NWSL Playoffs this weekend

Orlando and Chicago kick off at 8 PM ET on Friday, live on Prime, with KC battling NC on Saturday at 12 PM ET on CBS.

On Sunday, Washington hosts Bay FC at 12:30 PM ET before Portland visits Gotham at 3 PM ET, with live coverage on ABC.

“JuJu’s Gonna Have to Trust Her Teammates,” says Lisa Leslie on ‘Fast Friends’

South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley behind the 'Fast Friends' logo
Head coach Dawn Staley hopes to lead South Carolina to back-to-back championships this season. (Just Women's Sports)

Welcome back to Fast Friends with Kelley O'Hara and Lisa Leslie!

O'Hara and Leslie kick off today's episode discussing the NYC marathon, with O'Hara sharing that her secret way to cheer on runners is to lap them on her bike.

When it comes to running marathons, however, Leslie cited her three-mile max, saying "This body's not made for that type of distance, you know?"

Defense wins NWSL championships

Our hosts then preview the 2024 NWSL Playoffs, questioning whether or not Shield-winners Orlando can complete their "beat everybody season" before exploring 2024 expansion team Bay FC's dark horse status. They later wind down the NWSL chat by diving into the elite defensive qualities that former defender NWSL and USWNT O'Hara says could propel either the Pride or defending champs Gotham FC all the way to the title.

"I really do think, when it comes to playoffs, defense wins championships," O'Hara says on Fast Friends. "I think you can have a potent offense, but the reality is, if you don't let the other team score, you got a chance of winning."

Fast Friends tackles college basketball's season-openers

Afterwards, the duo pivot to the hardcourt where they dig into the beginning of the NCAA basketball season, starting with Leslie's alma mater: No. 3-ranked USC. Behind All-American sophomore phenom JuJu Watkins's 27 point performance, the Trojans narrowly beat No. 20 Ole Miss in their season opener in Paris — despite committing 26 turnovers.

The key to unlock USC's title-winning potential? Building trust and chemistry, Leslie says.

"JuJu's gonna have to trust her teammates more, her teammates are gonna have to trust her," explains the eight-time WNBA All Star. "You've gotta make other players around you better, and let them hit some shots, and it'll open it back up more for her."

Speaking of chemistry, that's something Leslie says defending NCAA champions No. 1 South Carolina have in spades thanks to head coach Dawn Staley.

"[Staley] makes people want to be better and brings the best out of others," Leslie says of former teammate. "The will that she brings is making each individual want to be at their best, and you feel like you let her down when you're not giving your all... That's the sign of a great leader."

About Fast Friends with Kelley O'Hara and Lisa Leslie

O'Hara and Leslie wrap things up with a visit to the WNBA, where former Connecticut Sun head coach Stephanie White is returning to her Indiana roots to lead the Fever. According to White, she joins the team as they enter their "championship or bust" era. The Fast Friends hosts also hit on how the coaching carousel and the WNBA's CBA negotiations could impact free agency moves this offseason.

Coming off the success of JWS's Olympic commentary show The Gold Standard, Fast Friends features two legendary athletes serving up insider insights and unique takes on the biggest stories in women's sports every week.

Subscribe to Just Women's Sports on YouTube to never miss an episode.

Georgia Softball Unveils New Facilities

The new Georgia softball locker room
Georgia softball's new training facility is now open. (Tony Walsh/UGAAA)

The University of Georgia announced the completion of a new $38.5 million softball training facility late last month.

With more than 20,000 square feet of athlete development space, the facility boasts a four-lane batting cage with a full practice turf infield, weight room, locker room, team lounge and nutrition space, video room, athletic training room, plus a mud room and an equipment room.

Calling it "unparalleled in collegiate softball," the school's Athletic Director Josh Brooks said, "this space will be crucial in nearly every phase of student-athlete development and well-being during their time at Georgia."

Head coach Tony Baldwin also weighed in, stating, "From the state-of-the-art player development aspects to the amazing recovery features to time management to simply feeling like home, the facility is all about our student-athletes."

"We're thankful for all the players that have come before to help build this program and we're so happy our current and future Bulldogs will reap the benefits of their work while also continuing the proud tradition that is Georgia Softball."

Georgia softball's new batting cage room has four lanes for hitting practice.
Georgia's new softball facility has four lanes of batting cages. (Tony Walsh/UGAAA)

Final phase of Georgia softball project starts now

With the training facility officially complete, the next step in Georgia's softball investment begins now. The project's final phase will see stadium renovations of existing space to create gameday support areas and new coaches' offices.

These steps and other touchups will be completed by the time the 2025 NCAA season takes the field in February.

The refreshed Jack Turner Stadium will also host the 2025 SEC softball championship, Georgia's first time hosting the tournament since 2006.

Last season, the Bulldogs finished seventh in the SEC with a 12-12 record. After hosting and winning one of the 2024 NCAA tournament's 16 regionals, Georgia's season ended in two straight losses to UCLA in the postseason's super regional round.

Coco Gauff Stuns Iga Świątek at 2024 WTA Finals

World No. 3 Coco Gauff celebrates her victory over No. 2 Iga Świątek at the 2024 WTA Finals
Tuesday's win is only Gauff's second against Świątek in her career. (Robert Prange/Getty Images)

For only the second time in 13 career tries, 20-year-old US tennis star Coco Gauff defeated former World No. 1 Iga Świątek in straight sets at the 2024 WTA Finals on Tuesday, guaranteeing Gauff a spot in Saturday's semifinals.

No. 3 Gauff clinched the 6-3, 6-4 result in one hour and 48 minutes on Riyadh’s Center Court to join Aryna Sabalenka as the first two players to book tickets to the semifinals.

"I knew going into the match, despite our head-to-head [history], I had a lot of confidence and I felt like I was playing great tennis," Gauff said after the match.

The first and only other time Gauff defeated Świątek was at the 2023 Cincinnati Open, when the pair battled to a 7-6(2), 3-6, 6-4 finish. Gauff went on to win that tournament, just weeks before earning her first Grand Slam championship by winning the 2023 US Open.

Gauff's Tuesday win also guarantees that Sabalenka will finish the calendar year as World No. 1, bolstered by her 2024 US Open win and her strong performances this week.

World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka tosses a serve at the 2024 WTA Finals.
Despite falling to Elena Rybakina on Wednesday, Aryna Sabalenka advanced to the WTA Finals semis. (Robert Prange/Getty Images)

Semifinals take shape

While Sabalenka and No. 7 Qinwen Zheng both advanced from the Purple Group on Wednesday, ending No. 4 Jasmine Paolini's and No. 5 Elena Rybakina's WTA Finals runs, Gauff and Świątek each have one more group match on the tournament's docket.

Gauff will aim to win the Orange Group outright by defeating No. 8 Barbora Krejčíková on Thursday. As for Krejčíková, she'll be competing for a shot at advancing over Świątek, who will look to defeat alternate Daria Kasatkina to claim the final semifinals spot.

No. 6 Jessica Pegula walks away on the 2024 WTA Finals court.
US star Jessica Pegula's ongoing knee injury forced her to withdraw from the WTA Finals. (Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Pegula withdraws with injury

Kasatkina is stepping in at the eleventh hour after Gauff's compatriot, No. 6 Jessica Pegula, withdrew from the competition with a left knee injury on Wednesday.

The 30-year-old Pegula, who was already eliminated from advancing after falling 6-3, 6-3 to Krejčíková on Tuesday, has nursed the injury since before the WTA Finals began.

"What started as a really small issue flared over the last two matches and I just can’t continue tomorrow," Pegula tweeted. "I’m sorry to the fans and tournament. I really had a great week of prep and had high hopes here but it just wasn’t meant to be."

How to watch Coco Gauff at Thursday's WTA Finals

Świątek and Kasatkina will kick off the final group-stage day at the 2024 WTA Finals at 7:30 AM ET, with Gauff taking on Krejčíková at 10 AM ET. Both matches will air live on the Tennis Channel.

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