Lydia’s last push falls short
Giving her home crowd a few last reasons to cheer is the best Lydia Ko can hope for on the final day of the inaugural LPGA event on Kiwi soil.
Like the rest of the New Zealand Women’s Open field, Ko will return to the Windross Farm course near Auckland on Monday to complete her final round after major weather disruptions on Sunday forced the tournament into a fifth and additional day.
Despite some early signs of a minor miracle, the tournament host’s hopes of lifting the silverware are as good as done.
Ko will be eight shots off the lead with eight holes to play, having got to nine-under par and one-under for her round through 10 holes on a squally Sunday where play was stopped for almost two-and-a-half hours on two occasions before eventually being abandoned at 5.30pm.
Canadian star Brooke Henderson led the event at 17-under par and had a four shot buffer on third round leader Belen Mozo of Spain and American major winner Brittany Lincicome, all three only able to get through six holes.
Tied for ninth another four shots back, Ko best hope was almost certainly for a runner-up effort, and even that would require a number of factors to fall in her favour.
The world No 8, the best ranking of any player at the historic tournament, set off at just after 9am on Sunday with the rain already falling, the westerly wind already blowing and the deficit to Mozo numbering seven shots.
It meant she needed a special effort to even put herself in contention for a fourth NZ Open title but the Kiwi faithful who had braved the adverse conditions at least wanted to still believe and their golden girl certainly gave them some early reason to do just that.
Ko drilled an eight-foot putt for birdie at the par four first and when she sunk an even handier putt at the par five second to pick up back-toback shots and get to 10-under, four back off leader Mozo, the gallery roared with delight.
The first weather delay followed, from 10.05am to 12.30pm, and when play resumed Ko showed another positive sign by sinking a lengthy putt to save par at the par three third.
That, however, was round about where any indication of a late run ended.
Ko made four consecutive pars at holes four through seven, notably scrambling from a tricky position and making another good putt to prevent a dropped shot at the fifth, before a bogey five at the eighth effectively killed off her championship chances.
Another par at nine, before the second suspension of play, and one more at 10 all but confirmed that with Henderson already taking the lead from Mozo and stretching further ahead.
Eight shots back but with eight more chances to please the punters, after all the support she had received it wouldn’t be a surprise if that was Ko’s mindset on Monday.