Lydia Ko began the final round of the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship in a tie for the lead.
Much like the rest of her young career, the 19-year-old New Zealander on Sunday turned her walk around Pinnacle Country Club into a coronation of sorts.
Sparked by a stretch of four birdies in her first five holes, Ko opened an early four-shot lead and was rarely challenged while closing with a three-under 68 for her third LPGA Tour victory of the year.
She finished with a tournament-record 17-under overall, and the three-stroke victory was her 13th since first winning an event as a 15-year-old amateur in 2012.
Ko has set a number of records since taking the LPGA Tour by storm, everything from being the first amateur to win two events to becoming the youngest two-time major winner at the ANA Inspiration earlier this year.
By those standards, Sunday’s victory — Ko’s 13th in 79 career events and the third time in three years she has won at least three times — seemed almost commonplace for the teenager who has spent the past 35 weeks atop the world ranking.
However, her game once again proved anything, but common as she left a talent-laden field in her wake.
“It’s gone by so much faster that I could have ever dreamed of or ever imagined,” Ko said. “I feel very lucky with what has happened. I’m going to enjoy it.”
Morgan Pressel, tied for the lead with Ko at 14-under entering Sunday, shot a 71 to tie for second with Kaohsiung native Candie Kung of the US, who carded a 69.
Playing in the final pairing with Pressel, Ko birdied four of her first five holes — only settling for a par once in the five-hole stretch when narrowly missing a short birdie putt on the par-three third.
After Pressel bogeyed the par-five second hole, Ko went from even to three shots clear of the field after only two holes.
And that was just the start of Ko’s final-round romp on a 6,330-yard course she has tamed in each of her four tournament appearances, finishing no worse than sixth. Ko has shot below 70 in 11 of her 12 rounds at Pinnacle, including matching the course record with her nine-under 62 on Saturday.
“I love coming here, and I look forward to coming back,” Ko said.
By the time Ko finished with a bogey on the 18th to finish on 17-under, she had long ended any suspense regarding the outcome.
Pressel stayed within two shots of Ko for much of the round, reaching 17-under following a birdie on No. 10. However, her round unraveled with a poor tee shot on the par-three 11th — leading to the first of four straight bogeys that took Pressel, who is still in search of her first victory since 2008, out of contention.
Taiwan’s Min Lee carded a three-round eight-under 205 to finish tied for 25th place.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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