to LIV Golf Tour for a very big payday. Smith’s consistency in finding fairways and relying on his ever-trusty putter translated to making him one of the best players in the world last year. 6. Lydia Ko Returned To The Top Of Women’s Golf As a teenager, Lydia Ko shocked the golf world winning multiple professional titles while still an amateur. When she turned professional the winning did not stop. Changing golf coaches and styles she struggled over the past couple of years, but golf pundits could see near the end of 2021 that Lydia was returning to her old consistent fairways and greens style of play. In 2022 and now 25 years old, she appears to be ready to once again dominate women’s golf. She won the $2 million first place check at the CME Group Championship. Her average score of 68.988 earned her the Vare Trophy for the second consecutive year. Ko also won LPGA Player of the Year honors and is just two points shy of winning induction into the LPGA Hall of Fame. She was the model of consistency all year, amassing three wins, plus 11 more top 10 finishes. Lydia Ko is once again a must-watch player on the LPGA Tour. 7. Bernhard Langer Closes In on Hale Irwin’s Record Hale Irwin holds the record for most Champions Tour wins with 45 victories. At the age of 64, Bernhard Langer won two Champions Tour events in 2022 to finish the year with 44 titles, one win shy of Irwin’s record 45 wins. The seemingly ageless Langer has been one of the top players on the Champions Tour for 14 years. Smart money says he catches and surpasses Irwin before the 2023 season is over.
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