Ko Jin-young yesterday held off the challenge of world No. 2 Park Sung-hyun and double major champion Chun In-gee to capture the LPGA’s KEB Hana Bank Championship title and earn herself a golden ticket to the lucrative US women’s tour.
Two shots clear overnight, Ko shot a four-under-par 68 to finish on a combined 19-under, two strokes ahead of Park and three clear of Chun, her two Korean playing partners in a dream final grouping for tournament organizers.
Ko plays on the domestic Korean Tour, but the quality of her play over four days at SKY72 Golf and Resort in Incheon suggests the 22-year-old will have no trouble adapting to life on the elite US LPGA Tour if she chooses to accept the place her victory brings.
Photo: AFP
“This victory means so much to me,” Ko told reporters. “I was playing against exceptional players that rank much higher than me on the global ranking. So I was able to watch and learn a lot today as well.
“I was quite flustered after I made those two bogeys on the front nine. Today I really realized once again that with golf you have to stick until the end to know,” she added.
Park, who could have supplanted Ryu So-yeon as world No. 1 had she won the US$2 million tournament, picked up four strokes through 11 holes to storm into the lead as Ko started poorly, dropping shots at the second and third.
However, Ko was flawless the rest of the way and a stretch of three consecutive birdies from the seventh put her back in the driving seat, and while she held her nerve over the closing nine it was Park who faltered, three-putt bogeys on 14 and 16 sealing her fate.
Becoming world No. 1 is still very much a possibility for the 24-year-old, who left Korea to join the US Tour at the end of last season and bagged her first major at the US Women’s Open in July.
Taiwan’s two competitors — Chien Pei-yun and Candie Kung — finished 40th and 46th with one-over and one-under respectively.
Additional reporting by staff writer
CIMB CLASSIC
Reuters
Pat Perez burnished his late bloomer credentials yesterday by cruising to a four-stroke win at the CIMB Classic in Malaysia and grabbing his second PGA Tour victory in a year.
American Perez teed off with a four-shot lead at TPC Kuala Lumpur and a three-under 69 was more than enough for the bulky 41-year-old to close out his third Tour win at the US$7 million event.
After claiming his first title at the 2009 Bob Hope Classic, Perez had to wait nearly eight years for his second breakthrough at the OHL Classic in Mexico in November last year.
However, winning has now become a habit for the Phoenix, Arizona, native since his recovery from shoulder surgery 18 months ago.
“Everything is just going unbelievable,” Perez said after signing off with a 24-under total of 264, four ahead of runner-up Keegan Bradley. “It’s been a lot of work and a lot of dedication and it’s just coming together.”
Perez’s putter has run hot all week and there was no evidence of nerves yesterday as he rolled in three consecutive birdies from the second hole to extend his lead on a day of energy-sapping heat.
He shrugged off a lone bogey on the par-four sixth with a fourth birdie on the eighth, then coasted to victory with 10 consecutive pars.
It helped that none of his rivals rose to the challenge, with nearest contender Xander Schauffele, the PGA Tour rookie of the year, bumbling through an even-par 72 to finish joint third with South Korea’s Kang Sung.
After pocketing a US$1.26 million check and winning so early in the season, Perez said he had no plans to change his goals, his lifestyle or his “bad diet.”
Taiwan’s Pan Cheng-tsung finished in 17th place with 11-under.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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