Lydia Ko ran away with the Fubon LPGA Taiwan Championship yesterday to regain the No. 1 spot in the world rankings.
The 18-year-old New Zealander holed a 30-yard pitch for eagle on the par-five 12th and finished with a seven-under 65 in sunny, breezy conditions at the Miramar Golf Country Club in New Taipei City’s Linkou District for a nine-stroke victory.
Ko took the top spot in the world from South Korea’s Inbee Park with her fifth LPGA Tour victory of the season and the 10th of her career. Park skipped her title defense in Taiwan to play in a Korea LPGA event, where she tied for second yesterday.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
“I think winning and playing well at an event is the top priority, and then if you get the extra bonus with it, it’s even better... The winning part is probably the most memorable. I haven’t really thought about being world No. 1 again,” Ko said.
Ko also took the top spot from Park with a second-place tie in the season-opening event in Florida. Park moved back in front with her major victory in the Women’s PGA Championship in June in New York.
“In Ocala, I was disappointed in the way I finished,” Ko said. “Coming tied second and being world No. 1, I think it’s a little different right now. I think I played really consistently well the last couple weeks, so I think it’s something we can all celebrate and I want to share this with my whole team.”
At 18 years, 6 months, 1 day, Ko is the youngest player to win 10 events on any major tour. Horton Smith set the PGA Tour mark of 21 years, 7 months in 1929, while Nancy Lopez set the previous LPGA Tour record in 1979 at 22 years, 2 months, 5 days.
“I actually met her in Cleveland for an outing a couple months ago,” Ko said about Lopez. “She’s such an amazing person and an amazing golfer. To have beaten her record, it’s an honor.”
Ko finished at 20-under 268 after opening with rounds of 69, 67 and 67 to take a four-stroke lead into the final day.
South Koreans Ryu So-yeon and Ji Eun-hee tied for second.
“She’s still a teenager, so it’s really hard to believe how she acts and how she plays,” Ryu said about Ko. “I feel really happy to be playing with someone really special on the tour. She’s not only a good player, but she’s a really good person. If she was not a good person, I might be jealous, but I totally respect [her].”
Ryu shot a 68 and Ji had a 70. England’s Charley Hull was fourth at 10-under after a 70.
Hsu Wei-ling was the top-ranked Taiwanese on one-over 289 after a 73, while Kaohsiung-born Candie Kung was a shot further back. Former world No. 1 Yani Tseng was on three-over 291 after a 70.
Ko birdied four of the first six holes, bogeyed the par-three seventh, then opened a seven-shot lead with the eagle chip on 12.
“I mishit it a little bit, but I was looking at it and thought it was flying enough, and then I saw it kind of landed a yard or two short of the green,” Ko said. “When I walked up, I felt like it was a little on the firmer side, so I kind of thought it would bounce up anyway, but I didn’t imagine it going in.”
She added birdies on the par-three 14th and par-five 18th, chipping to within a foot on the last.
Ko has three victories in her past five starts. She won in Canada and France — where she became the youngest major champion — in consecutive starts, tied for second two weeks ago in Malaysia and tied for fourth on Sunday last week in South Korea.
The tournament was the third in the five-event Asian Swing.
Additional reporting by staff writer
Taiwanese gymnast Tang Chia-hung on Sunday topped the men’s horizontal bar event at the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) World Cup in Osijek, Croatia, scoring 15.233 to take his third title this season. Tang delivered an outstanding performance in the final, earning a difficulty score of 6.500 and an execution score of 8.633 with a 0.1 stick bonus. His closest competitor was Milad Karimi of Kazakhstan, who finished second with 14.933 points. It was Tang’s third gold medal in the FIG World Cup series this year, following his horizontal bar wins in Azerbaijan on March 8, and in Turkey on March
This year’s Taiwan Athletics Open, which offers Taiwanese athletes an opportunity to compete against their international peers, would be held under a new name after its organizers had earlier announced the event’s cancelation. In a statement issued yesterday, the Chinese Taipei Athletics Association said the competition would still take place on June 6-7 at Banciao Stadium, but under the name “New Taipei City Athletics Open 2026.” The event was given a new name to emphasize its local identity and conform with the international practice of naming World Athletics Tour events after cities, the association said. It said it would soon
Taiwan’s Lee Hao-yu on Friday went 0-for-3 in his MLB debut for the Detroit Tigers against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, becoming the 19th Taiwan-born player to reach the big leagues. The Tigers ultimately lost 1-0 in 10 innings, ending their six-game winning streak. The 23-year-old started at third base and batted eighth for Detroit. He was promoted from Triple-A Toledo ahead of the four-game series against the Red Sox at the latter’s home stadium, replacing injured utility player Zach McKinstry. “Being right-handed, and given our schedule, I think six of the next 12 games are going to
Denmark’s double Olympic badminton champion Viktor Axelsen, long a rival of Taiwan’s former world No. 2 Chou Tien-chen, yesterday announced his retirement at age 32, saying back problems meant he could no longer “compete and train at the highest level.” Axelsen, who won gold at the Tokyo Games in 2021 and again in Paris in 2024, had back surgery in April last year and said he had not overcome his physical issues. “Accepting this situation has been incredibly difficult,” he said in a statement. “But I have now reached a point where my body won’t allow me to continue.” Axelsen retires as one
RSS