Did you notice something different in Somi Lee? Maybe with her putting? Two weeks ago, she carried the putter in a completely different way. But by Thursday evening, she walked out with an 8-under 64 and an outright lead in the LPGA’s season finale. This change feels like a breakthrough. But for many, it was like deja vu. Because somewhere on that leaderboard, a Hall of Famer has built her career with that same putting. Yes, it’s Lydia Ko.

Lee did admit to being inspired by Lydia Ko. Ko shared Lee’s story on her Instagram and had a few words for the South Korean golfer.

“You are really charming, haha. Fighting for the remaining 3 days!” she typed. She is too contesting in the tournament, and is currently tied for 14th on the leaderboard. Interestingly, the two have previously competed at the Maybank Championship, where both ended up tying for fourth.

Lee had nothing but positive words for Ko. Following her performance in the first round of the CME Group Tour Championship, she addressed questions about copying Ko’s style. Lee said, “To be completely honest, I just followed Lydia Ko’s putter grip because she’s a good player, and I thought, why not follow a good player’s putter grip?” she said with a laugh. “It worked really well.” Once, Lee also called Ko her favorite hero. Not just for Lee, several have admired Ko. 

On further questions, Lee shares that the actual timeline of the entire ‘putting renaissance.’ Just two weeks ago, she watched Ko’s putting stroke, and then a week later, she tried to mimic it. “But I don’t think the grip was quite right,” she recalled. “This week we adjusted it, and I think it’s working really well. I usually use an arm lock, so I want to change to a normal lock so I can feel my hands a little bit more. I adjusted mainly that part and also a few angles in the loft,” she explained.

For Lee, all these changes are significant. Ever since she transitioned to the LPGA Tour, she has suffered from putting deficiencies. A look at her stats will give you the entire story. Her putting strokes were ranked at 36 out of all the LPGA players; meanwhile, she was ranked 20th in the tee-to-green play. Throughout 2025, she was 54th in putting and averaged 29.64 putts per round. This one flaw kept her from rising above the ranks.

The Tour’s average is approximately 28.5-39 putts per round. That means Lee’s 27-putt performance places her somewhere around 95 percentile for putting in a single round. Considering she is playing her first Tour Championship, such a performance is applauded. Probably that’s why she could not help but give a shoutout to Ko for her unknowing help.

All in all, it will be interesting to see the contestation and how Somi Lee uses Ko’s techniques to her advantage.

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Why and how is Lydia Ko putting in work?

The study-worthy putting from Lydia Ko didn’t emerge after an overnight tweak. It was a necessity forced out of a long and painful journey. There was a time when the Olympic Gold medalist herself struggled with her putts. Her 2017-2021 slump is often described as a putting decline. As per Ko, there was nothing wrong with her strokes, but she was not confident enough.

The winless drought stretched for 1,084 days, and the former World No. 1 slipped outside of the top 50. But eventually she pulled herself out of it.  Lydia Ko developed a “pennies and pounds” methodology. She kept spending large hours putting in from 3, 6, and 9 feet. She focused on short putts to promise herself that she won’t squander any scoring opportunity. Eventually, the result showed.

In 2024, she ranked third on tour at 1.93 SG: Putting per round (Currently, it is 1.16). What it means is that Ko saves approximately two strokes per round compared to an average LPGA putter. This gives her a tremendous advantage. That’s the version of Lydia Ko that Somi Lee saw two weeks ago. And that’s the version worth learning from.