KirkwoodGolf

Monday, March 28, 2016


World No. 1 Lydia Ko rolls to victory

 at LPGA Kia Classic

Lydia Ko won the 2016 LPGA Kia Classic.
Lydia Ko won the 2016 LPGA Kia Classic. ( Getty Images )

Golfweek.com
Carlsbad, California. – It never gets old. The phenomenon that is Lydia Ko rolled on in Carlsbad, California, where she birdied the last three holes to hold off a hard-charging Inbee Park in casual-like fashion at the Kia Classic.
That’s 11 LPGA victories for the 18-year-old. Sixteen titles worldwide. And she goes about it all so modestly.
“Anything can happen,” she said before the final round, downplaying her chances. Then she brought up the course-record 64 Dori Carter shot here two years ago.
Nobody bought it. Ko took a three-shot lead into the final round of the Kia Classic, and because she doesn’t falter, doesn’t flinch, Ko held a mental edge over her closest pursuers because they knew it would take something special.
A rare misfire from Ko on the 10th hole added drama when she double hit her putt from off the green. She noticed that her ball was in a pitch mark and later wondered if she should have tried to fat a wedge instead. She called over a rules official immediately after it happened, and then rolled in a six-foot putt for bogey.
“If that missed,” said Ko, “I think it would have been definitely more complicating, and going into the next hole, I would have been really frustrated.”
Instead, Ko escaped without much drama and marched on.
World No. 2 Inbee Park made a back-nine push, pulling within one stroke of Ko for a brief time. Ko referred to it as “Inbee doing her Inbee things.” She wasn’t fazed.
The World No. 1 responded with birdies on the last three holes to close out a four-shot victory at 19-under 269. Both Ko and Park shot 67 in the final round.
Park’s slow start to 2016 meant that up until this week, she struggled with all parts of her game. Things started to click at Kia.
“What I really needed was really a good finish,” Park said of heading to next week’s ANA. And she got it.
Ai Miyazato’s third-place showing marked her first top 10 since 2013.
“Finally, I did it,” Miyazato said, smiling broadly.
The Japanese star has struggled with her putting in recent years, and this week made a small but substantial change. She increased the loft on her Odyssey 2-Ball putter by two degrees.
The impact was huge.
“The top 10 is not my goal,” said Miyazato. “I want to win the tournament. But this one is definitely a big step for me.”
A $225,000 first-place cheque gives Ko $5,503,957 in career earnings. She’s No. 1 on the current money race and 45th all-time, sandwiched in between Patty Sheehan and Grace Park.
She has been ranked No. 1 in the world a total of 41 weeks in her short career. Ko’s physical trainer has provided her motto: “Get better every day.”
It helps explain how a player so young and accomplished can stay so motivated.
“I mean, I can get better at everything,” said the teenager who is on top of the world.
We believe it.
 Catriona Matthew finished a disappointing T43 on 288, 19 shots behind Lydia Ko.
FINAL TOTALS 

1 Lydia Ko 68   67   67  67

  269   $255,000
2 Inbee Park 67   69 70 67  

  273   $154,127
3 Ai Miyazato 67 72 71 66

  276 $111,808
T4 Jenny Shin 69 65 71 72

277 $78,055
T4 Sung Hyun Park 71 66 68 72

277 $78,055
T6 Gerina Piller 72 70 69 67

278 $45,989
T6 Shanshan Feng 71 69 70 68

278 $45,989
T6 Hyo-Joo Kim 70 66 73 69

278 $45,989
T6 Jessica Korda 70 67 70 71

278 $45,989
T10   Brooke Henderson 73 70 70 66

279 $32,909
T10 Brittany Lang 67 68 70 74

279 $32,909
T12 Anna Nordqvist 72 68 71 69

280 $26,918
T12 M.J. Hur 68 71 69 72

280 $26,918
T12 Na Yeon Choi 70 69 69 72

280 $26,918
T12 Suzann Pettersen 70 72 66 72

280 $26,918
T16 Carlota Ciganda 70 71 70 70

281 $21,518
T16 Ha Na Jang 71 72 68 70

281 $21,518
T16 Candie Kung 75 69 65 72

281 $21,518
T16 Haru Nomura 70 69 69 73

281 $21,518
T20 Lizette Salas 72 74 70 66

282 $18,396
T20 Holly Clyburn 72 68 73 69

282 $18,396
T20 Gaby Lopez 71 69 72 70

282 $18,396
T20 Minjee Lee 69 72 70 71

282 $18,396
T24 Sei-Young Kim 72 74 70 67

283 $16,118
T24 Mo Martin 73 70 71 69

283 $16,118
T24 Danielle Kang 73 70 66 74

283 $16,118
T27 Laetitia Beck 72 73 71 68

284 $14,071
T27 Eun-Hee Ji 70 73 70 71

284 $14,071
T27 Cydney Clanton 75 68 68 73

284 $14,071
T27 Jodi Ewart Shadoff 67 71 71 75

284 $14,071
T31 Ryann O'Toole 72 72 71 70

285 $11,982
T31 Stacy Lewis 72 71 70 72

285 $11,982
T31 Rachel Rohanna 73 66 73 73

285 $11,982
T31 Ilhee Lee 70 71 71 73

285 $11,982
T35 Jane Park 68 76 71 71

286 $10,379
T35 Mirim Lee 69 73 72 72

286 $10,379
T35 Paula Creamer 72 72 66 76

286 $10,379
T38 Sarah Jane Smith 73 73 72 69

287 $8,793
T38 Sun Young Yoo 70 74 74 69

287 $8,793
T38 Jennifer Johnson 72 73 72 70

287 $8,793
T38 Tiffany Joh 73 72 71 71

287 $8,793
T38 Sandra Gal 71 70 71 75

287 $8,793
T43 Charley Hull 72 71 75 70

288 $6,467
T43 Kim Kaufman 74 72 71 71

288 $6,467
T43 Karrie Webb 73 70 73 72

288 $6,467
T43 I.K. Kim 75 69 72 72

288 $6,467
T43 Jacqui Concolino 75 70 71 72

288 $6,467
T43 Pornanong Phatlum 73 73 70 72

288 $6,467
T43 Caroline Masson 72 72 71 73

288 $6,467
T43 Pernilla Lindberg 73 72 70 73

288 $6,467
T43 Lee-Anne Pace 72 73 70 73

288 $6,467
T43 Lexi Thompson 77 68 70 73

288 $6,467
T43 Catriona Matthew   69 74 71 74

288 $6,467
T54 Karine Icher 71 74 72 72

289 $4,810
T54 Meena Lee 73 72 72 72

289 $4,810
T54 Brittany Lincicome 72 73 72 72

289 $4,810
T54 Morgan Pressel 73 69 73 74

289 $4,810
T54 Felicity Johnson 69 75 68 77

289 $4,810
T54 Juli Inkster 72 68 71 78

289 $4,810
T60 Austin Ernst 74 72 74 70

290 $4,008
T60 Ariya Jutanugarn 78 68 73 71

290 $4,008
T60 Sakura Yokomine 71 72 75 72

290 $4,008
T60 Christina Kim 73 70 75 72

290 $4,008
T60 Michelle Wie 70 76 71 73

290 $4,008
T60 Wei-Ling Hsu 71 70 72 77

290 $4,008
T66 Giulia Sergas 70 76 73 72

291 $3,671
T66 Se Ri Pak 76 70 71 74

291 $3,671
T68 Jaye Marie Green 71 75 74 72

292 $3,428
T68 Giulia Molinaro 75 69 75 73

292 $3,428
T68 Mariajo Uribe 75 68 75 74

292 $3,428
T68 Q Baek 70 72 71 79

292 $3,428
T72 Azahara Munoz 73 72 75 73

293 $3,228
T72 Kelly Shon 74 72 74 73

293 $3,228
T72 Benyapa Niphatsophon 78 68 74 73

293 $3,228
T72 Angela Stanford 74 72 70 77

293 $3,228
T76 Belen Mozo 71 74 71 78

294 $3,108
T76 Mi Hyang Lee 74 72 70 78

294 $3,108
T78 Dori Carter 73 72 78 73

296 $3,010
T78 Annie Park 69 75 76 76

296 $3,010
T78 Jing Yan 73 71 70 82

296 $3,010
81 Yani Tseng 74 72 78 75

299

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