Lydia Ko doesn’t like to leave plates greasy before putting them in the dishwasher. Greasy plates are dirty, and she often nudges her husband, Jun Chung, to scrape them properly first. The point is, she hates half-assing anything, especially where she can excel. Golf falls squarely in that category. She hasn’t ever loved the grind and has flirted with the idea of retirement for a long time. But she does not want to leave midway, without a proper goodbye. Or, a thank-you.

Indeed, washing dishes is a weird way to start this, but stay with us.

The thought of walking away from golf first hit Lydia Ko at just 16. By then, she’d already devoted 11 years to the game. Only two days after cashing her first pro paycheck, she floated the idea, “I’ve played golf for 11 years. Twenty-five years, I think, is enough.” Her plan is to retire by 30. She turns 29 this Friday (April 24) at the Chevron Championship.

This urgency, if you can call it that, stems from Ko often being at odds with golf. She doesn’t crave playing under pressure, isn’t infatuated with adrenaline rush, which can make sticking here a tad difficult. In recent times, however, Ko has insisted on this idea more than ever before. Odds are strong that her pro golf run ends after the 2027 season.

Being inspiring and walking out at the peak of her game does have a nice romantic ring to it.

Until then, she’s got stuff to do, starting this week, thanks to Sorenstam.

Lydia Ko has work to do this week at the Chevron Championship

Across her 26-year-long professional career, Sorenstam claimed 90 global tournament victories, 72 on the LPGA, including 10 majors. She snagged Player of the Year eight times and is the sole LPGA pro to post a 59 in an LPGA tournament. But on May 13, 2008, Sorenstam stunned the world by revealing she would retire by the end of the season. She was only 37.

But that brings us to two essential quotes from Sorenstam. First,

In an exclusive with Golf Digest in 2021, she said, “I’m very proud of my achievements. It was a fun ride. I pushed myself extremely hard to achieve my goals and more. I’d say I achieved more than I thought I could.”

That is true, Sorenstam. But this successful career helped her build records, including her ascent to the top-earning woman in golf history, boasting career winnings of $22,583,693 on the books. Lydia Ko, the nearest person to Sorenstam on the LPGA’s All-Time Career Money List, with $21,316,768, can break that record this week at the Chevron Championship.

See, Sorenstam’s last win here was in 2005, back when it was still the Kraft Nabisco Championship. It was a major, sure, but with a modest $1.8M purse, the winner netted $270,000. Compare it to this season. The prize pot has increased to $9M, the champ hauling in $1.35M come Sunday. That’s an approximate increase of 400% in 21 years.

Sure, Ko is teeing off in a golden era of LPGA riches like never before, but why not cash in? A victory here pushes her past Sorenstam’s mark to become the Tour’s all-time top earner. Best of luck to her.

That brings us to her performance at the Chevron Championship.

Ko captured the 2016 edition (then the ANA Inspiration) for her second major, logging three top-10s here overall. This season, she has posted three top-10s, making the cut in every one of her six starts. She even teased a 59 this spring at the Ford Championship, settling as just the eighth LPGA player ever to post a 60. Victory’s not quite in her grasp yet, but as the Tour’s winningest active pro and its lone playing Hall of Famer right now, you can always expect her to bring her A-game.

And the mention of expectations brings us to the second Sorenstam quote.

In the same interview, Sorenstam said, laughing wryly, “When I think about it, it makes me tired. Winning 90 times around the world, I’m super proud. I was on a roll there for a while. Don’t ask me to do it again, let’s put it that way.”

That’s a sentiment that even Lydia Ko has shown.

Early this season, she stated, “I think I’ve always wanted that mindset of, maybe if I played more, I might have won more than be like, oh, my God, I should have left a year ago. Like, I hate the game so much.”

By 16, Ko had already snagged two LPGA wins as an amateur, a prodigy feat unlikely to be topped. She seemed to sense even then that pouring her teens and 20s into golf would seal the deal. That early finish line in sight, before the real race began, likely fueled her epic sacrifices for years on end.

But she has still dedicated years to the game, even now.

Having served on the board, Ko said of the Tour’s aspirations, “I think sometimes we get carried away about what we play for, but there might be nothing to play for if our organization is not fundamentally strong.”

But that seems to be a work in progress on the Tour, which is why Ko’s next checkbox happens to be finishing her Grand Slam. And that would come with a win at either the Women’s PGA Championship or the U.S. Women’s Open. Until then, Ko has a pretty good chance to complete her “Business Slam,” meaning topping the All-Time Career Money list. But she still wants to compete at the highest level, in her words, so there are plenty of opportunities.

Good luck to her.