Lydia Ko on Saturday ended her three-year LPGA title drought in impressive style, firing a final-round 65 to win the Lotte Championship by seven strokes, while Taiwan’s Hsu Wei-ling tied for sixth place, ending the tournament with a 66.
Former world No. 1 Ko, a two-time major champion, did not put a foot wrong as she notched her 16th LPGA title, her first since the 2018 Mediheal Championship.
The New Zealander’s 28-under par total of 260 at the Kapolei Golf Club in Oahu, Hawaii, put her seven in front of South Korea’s Park In-bee and Kim Sei-young, Ireland’s Leona Maguire and American Nelly Korda.
Photo: AFP
Ko took a one-shot lead over Korda into the final round, but as the American struggled on the greens Ko marched relentlessly to victory.
She pushed her lead to two with a four-foot birdie at the third hole, then saved par from the front fringe at the fourth before taking firm control with four birdies in a row at the ninth, 10th, 11th and 12th.
She added birdies at 14 and 17 for good measure, admitting that there had been times during her long, highly scrutinized dry spell that she wondered if the victories would come again.
“There were times that I would think: ‘Hey, I don’t know if I’ll ever be back in the winner’s circle,’” said Ko, the former teen phenomenon who is still a week shy of her 24th birthday.
Near misses at the Gainbridge LPGA and the ANA Inspiration did not necessarily ease her concerns, Ko said, adding that “when you’re in that position and it doesn’t happen, you do doubt.”
Hsu had birdies on the third, sixth, seventh, ninth, 11th and 14th holes to leave her six-under par for the round with a group on 269 for the tournament, alongside Yuka Saso of the Philippines, who led after the first two rounds, as well as South Korea’s Jenny Shin and American Sarah Schmelzel.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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