Jin Young Ko continues her wave with Win at ANA Inspiration

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. – Have other players cancel their goal on titles and trophies. Jin Young Ko finds success by shifting her focus elsewhere.

"I want to be the happiest player on the golf course," said Ko

Ko, the newest star in the bright colors of South Korea's constellation, burst into tears from Sunday after closing with a two-under-par 70 to win the ANA Inspiration. It was her second L.P.G.A. title in less than a month and her first major championship.

Ko, who scored a 72-hole total of 10 under 278, closed three hits for her compatriot Mi Hyang Lee, who scored a final round 70. Lexi Thompson, a former champion, shot a 67 for the third, four strokes back.

For Ko, 23, luck was a 15-foot birdie-putt on the 72nd hole, after which she collapsed in the embrace of her caddy, David Brooker, who led three players to this championship.

"We are a very good team," said Ko

Ko finished her victory by jumping into Poppie's Pond with Brooker by her side.

Brooker said that he was approached last year by an intermediary sent to gauge his interest in caddying for Ko. Brooker had worked with golfers who had played a competition round with her, so he had seen Ko & # 39; s game up close and was impressed by her driving accuracy and self-control.

But he had an appointment to work for Paula Creamer, a twelve-fold winner worldwide, until the end of last season, her 14th as a professional. At the end of 2018, after Ko was named the best rookie of the LPGA, Brooker made the switch.

In her first six starts with Brooker on her bag, Ko has five top 3 finishes, including two wins. Her final scoring average is 66.83 strokes. It is a tossup about who the most popular player on the planet is: Ko or the men's world number 3, Rory McIlroy, who has seven top 9 finishes, including one win, in seven starts in 2019.

The 23 -year-old Ko couldn't have asked for a more capable Sherpa than Brooker to help her establish her name at the top of the ANA Inspiration rankings. He started the week after he had done 16 caddy performances at Mission Hills Country Club since 1997 and two festive jumps at Poppie's Pond, with Grace Park in 2004 and Lorena Ochoa in 2008.

Brooker knows the greens as his backyard, which is why Ko trusted him to read many of her putts.

"He helps me all the time on the green or the fairways," she said.

Brooker & # 39; s accompaniment can be more subtle. After Ko had played Friday afternoon and signed a 71, she said she wanted to spend on what little daylight continued to work on her swing. Brooker told her about it and explained that the gusts of wind would make every range counterproductive.

He suggested that she would devote time to her main focus during the off season: chipping and putting.

"We are a really good team," said Ko

Ko has had four LPGA titles – and 14 in total – since becoming a professional in 2013. Before hair L.P.G.A. to earn. membership, Ko played on the Korean L.P.G.A. tour. She played on her home country circuit in 2015 when she took a triple lead in the final round of her first big start, the Women & # 39; s British Open.

Ko, then 19, finished second with her compatriot Inbee Park

And although that second final confirmed her game was stacked well against the best, she said last year that she was hesitant was to jump headlong into the LPGA

Before a tournament in Seoul in October last year, Ko said she was engaged in substantial "soul search" before she decided to leave the house to compete on the tour based in America. Unlike many of her country women, Ko does not maintain a home in the United States.

"She doesn't want a base here," Brooker said.

Ko's homing instinct reminds him of Ochoa, who was the women's world No. 1 when she retired on retirement because she could no longer bear being separated from her family and far away from her. her native Mexico for long distances.

"I don't think they have any of those 20-year careers," Brooker said. "I saw her play here for five or six years and then retire to start a family. She is not motivated by money, she is not motivated by titles. She just wants to have fun."

Ko can find the hilarity in a disaster disaster. On Saturday, she started the day with four strokes ahead, ran after 10 holes to a five-stroke advantage and gave back most of it with a double bogey at number 14 and a bogey at number 15. After she shot a pitching wedge to hit her tee in the water on the par-14th, Ko rested her playfully on Brooker & # 39; s shoulder, sighed and said, "Oh, what did I do?"

Her third round wobble proved instructive for Ko, who remained calm when she smoked the scent of disasters on her back nine Sundays. After bogeys on the 13th and 15th holes had persuaded her to Lee to make a single blow, Ko turned up with a birdie on the par-3 16th to give himself breathing space.

"She is just as smart for her age," Brooker said. "She knows what she's doing there."