Top-ranked Ko shoots 64, earns 5-shot win in Canada

Top-ranked Jin Young Ko wasn’t going to walk up to the 18th green at the CP Women’s Open without defending champion Brooke Henderson. The runaway winner Sunday, Ko called for her groupmate to join her, and the two walked arm-in-arm to an ovation at Magna Golf Club in Aurora, Ontario.

Ko, of South Korea, and Nicole Broch Larsen, of Denmark, started the final round as co-leaders, with Henderson two shots back in third place. But Ko fired an 8-under 64 to pull away from the field.

Henderson, who became the first Canadian to win the national championship in 45 years last season, was the most popular golfer at the LPGA Tour event. Given the large crowds following her, Ko felt they should share the tournament’s final spotlight.

“I thought when I was walking to the 18th green that the crowd was for Brooke, not me,” Ko said. “We’re here in Canada and she has a lot of fans.

“So, Brooke, this crowd is for you. But she said, ‘No, it’s for you,’ so we went together.”

Ko finished the tournament at 26-under 262, five shots better than Broch Larsen and seven better than Henderson and American Lizette Salas, who also shot a course-record 8-under 64.

Henderson appreciated Ko’s gesture after a long day of playing together. “We’re both out there to do our job, but we respect each other a lot,” Henderson said. “If I couldn’t win, I’m happy she did.

“You can’t ask for a better person or a better golfer to win this championship.”

It was Ko’s fourth win of 2019. She became the first LPGA player to play a bogey-free, four-round tournament since Inbee Park did it at the 2015 HSBC Women’s World Champions.

“She’s world No. 1 for a reason,” Henderson said. “She’s had an unreal season. “There is so much talent out here. To get one win is hard, to get four is really cool.”

The final round of the CP Women’s Open was broken up into trios, with groups teeing off at the first and 10th tees to ensure it didn’t run up against the finale of the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup.

Although all three players in the final group had two birdies on the front nine, it was a saved par that Ko made on the ninth hole that tilted the balance in her favor.

Her approach shot went wide right, over the spectator-filled cart path and into a thickly wooded area. Despite almost losing the ball in the brush, Ko chipped it to within 4 feet of the pin, avoiding bogey. It seemed to energize her, as she made six more birdies on the back nine to clinch the title.

EUROPE: Erik van Rooyen birdied the final hole to win his first tour title at the Scandinavian Invitation in Gothenburg, Sweden.

The South African carded a 6-under 64 to finish 19 under and a shot ahead of England’s Matt Fitzpatrick (64).

“I was so nervous on 18,” Van Rooyen said. “I’ve been putting so well all day and to hole that one to win, (and) it’s my first one, it’s pretty cool.”

Home favorite Henrik Stenson, who held a share of the lead after making a hole-in-one on the sixth, finished in a tie for third with Dean Burmester of South Africa after both men shot 66.

VAUGHN RIDLEY / GETTY IMAGES Jin Young Ko, of Korea, finished the CP Women’s Open with a 26-under 262 in Aurora, Canada. She became the first LPGA player to play a bogey-free, fourround tournament since Inbee Park did it in 2015.