Try as you might, it’s quite challenging to find a golfer quite like Lydia Ko. Sure, you can flaunt the fact (among many) that she became the youngest, of any gender, to reach World No. 1 at 17, but there’s also her near-ascetic work ethic. Or, dedication and belief system that can easily be explained in one of her 2018 statements, “confidence is such a big thing for me, building belief.”

And that is quite obvious to the pros playing alongside her. LPGA pro Lindy Duncan recently said she could write a book about Ko’s ethics. Plus, everything else that she’s learned from her fellow golfer.

Regardless, Duncan told Golfweek, “It all comes from working hard. She’s such a professional, you know, with her time management and her scheduling, just everything she does. She works so hard. I’ve just never seen anyone work as hard as her. She’s just a caring, loving, kind person, and when you’re around her, you just feel good.” That is undeniable, especially given Ko’s frequent defense of her fellow pros, as she did in Leona Maguire’s case.

Of course, that bit comes with the acceptance that Ko doesn’t have to replicate the success of her younger self all the time. Or, in Ko’s words, “the winner’s already chosen.” So, why not try to be comfortable in the now? Plus, it helps to know that she undergoes grueling training routines to maintain her health, packed with balance drills using a ball, cardio bursts, and deep stretching.

On the other hand, last season, Ko confessed that receiving “feedback from the people that are close to you is great.” It helps keep “motivation to keep working on the right things with my mental coach and keep doing what I’m doing and do other things just to keep improving.”

Before that, in a 2020 interview, Lydia Ko explained how her golf instructor, Sean Foley, helped her manage on-course stress. “I think it’s just as important to kind of clear those questions [issues] in your head like mentally and philosophically,” Ko said in 2020. She admitted that Foley helps her with that, and that is enough for her to “just kind of bury it and then just walk away and try and not think about it again.”

The result, of course, is the Commissioner Award she received last week, as a Hall of Famer. And the 5 top 10s this season, including a win. And plenty of appreciation from her fellow pros. In fact, back in 2015, former LPGA pro Jane Park said about Ko, “She’s one in a million.”

Nonetheless, Ko herself rarely shies away from appreciating her fellow pros. In fact, Duncan’s love for her is anything but one-sided.

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Lydia Ko on Lindy Duncan’s achievement in women’s golf

On Monday night at the CME Group Tour Championship, Lydia Ko strolled to the podium during the Rolex LPGA Awards to hand the Heather Farr Perseverance Award to her friend, Lindy Duncan.

On the podium, Duncan then admitted to everyone, including Ko, that she had written her acceptance speech twenty times.

The result? This statement: “The harder truth was that I hadn’t really been giving my all [to golf]. For years, I told myself I was playing out of love, but that wasn’t true. Real love doesn’t demand anything in return. And mine did.” T

he result, of course, $1,177,085 in earnings, the most from her in a single season. She reached her career-high Rolex Rankings of 44th. She was 175th last year around this time. Besides that, she made six top-10 finishes this year, better than last season.

That’s an outstanding achievement, and one definitely worthy of appreciation. When Duncan posted an update about her latest win, Ko commented, “Such a beautiful speech! You’re an inspiration to many of us.” During the speech ceremony, Duncan also said, “That humanness [the response after her playoff loss at the Chevron Championship] meant more than a trophy.” Hard to argue against that.