The Numbers Behind Lydia Ko’s Resurgence

Lydia Ko's victory in the Lotte Championship was her 16th win before the age of 24. Photo: Christian Petersen, Getty Images

Lydia Ko always makes for an easy story. She’s a player you love to love because of her charm, smile, wit and boundless optimism. Even in the down times – and there was a stretch where things seemed pretty down – no serious follower of the game ever harbored ill will toward Ko. She’s almost impossible not to like.

So, when she roared back to the winner’s circle at the Lotte Championship in Hawaii with a dominating 28-under-par performance, it was easy to break out the pompoms and hoist up a hoorah for a young woman who set almost every “youngest-ever” record in the game. The “Lydia is Back” lightning bolt scorched social media for a couple of days. It also seemed like everyone had an opinion about what led to the comeback and what caused the slump in the first place.

With all that in mind, it’s important to take a couple of steps back and divorce the player from the performance. If, instead of the nicest...