At the tender age of 24, Lydia Ko has racked up 17 LPGA Tour wins and her latest came on a chilly Boca Raton Sunday when she outdueled Danielle Kang down the stretch at the Gainbridge.
This one was pretty much a Ko vs. Kang match over the final 36 holes. Ko held a two-shot lead over Kang to start the final 18 holes at Boca Rio. Kang, winner of last week’s Tournament of Champions, erased that deficit early with a pair of birdies over her first three holes and the two were tied at 11-under.
Both went to the back nine tied at 11-under. Neither player could break away and when they arrived at the 15th, that’s where the final tide turned in favor of Ko. Ko’s approach left her 20-feet for birdie while Kang was staring down a birdie putt from 10-feet. It looked advantage Kang but Ko flipped the script and rolled in her birdie putt to get to 13-under then watched Kang miss hers.
The two traded birdies at the easy par five 16th, which was playing only 444 yards.
There would be no more after that. Ko shot 69, Kang 68 — Ko finished 14-under par, Kang 13. Ko now has totaled 21 points with 27 required for the LPGA’s Hall Of Fame.
“I think it was a hard working day. You know, I only had one birdie and one bogey on my front nine, so turning at even and knowing that Danielle has been playing great and she’s probably going to play great, and so many of the girls that was playing in the group in front was also making a lot of birdies,” Ko said afterward. “So I think I tried to stay really patient out there and not get carried away on what everybody else was doing and just focus on my game, trying to make the lowest score I can. I think that helped me to just really dial it in and just kind of stay in the present, which I think is really important, especially when other players are playing well and I’m not making many birdies.
“But to finish off with a few birdies in the last few holes was nice, and I think holing that putt on 15 was kind of the momentum shifter for me that wasn’t the easiest putt. I kept turning more and more right because it looked like it was a swinging putt, and ended up being the perfect read,” Ko added, talking about the key putt that spurred her to the win.
Yuko Saso, who is now playing as a Japanese citizen, took solo third at 12-under par, Charley Hull and Celine Boutier were finished at 11-under.
Nelly Korda will fall out of the No. 1 ranking thank to her T20 finish. She needed a tie for 18th or better to keep Jin Young Ko from rising back into the top spot. Once again, cool weather proved Nelly’s nemesis. She soared to 76 in the cool temps on Saturday but bounced back with 70 on Sunday.
The LPGA Tour concludes its Florida Swing with the Drive-On this week in Ft. Myers.
