Ko wins with stunning eagle
LYDIA Ko hit a three-wood to a metre for eagle to finish off Minjee Lee on the first hole of a playoff Sunday in the chilly LPGA MEDIHEAL Championship.
It was the New Zealander’s 15th LPGA Tour title and first since July 2016, a 43-event stretch marked by changes in instructors, caddies and equipment and a large weight loss.
“It’s a huge relief because people are like, ‘Hey, because of this you’re not winning, because of that you’re not winning. Actually, I tried to stay away from all the media and everything that was being said about me and tried to just focus on what was going on in front.”
Five days after turning 21, the New Zealander won for the third time at Lake Merced after taking the Swinging Skirts LPGA at the tree-lined layout in 2014 and 2015.
“It’s crazy because I was threeover for the day at one stage and I said, ‘Hey, you’ve just got to focus and you never know what’s going to happen,”’ Ko said.
More than 20 metres behind Lee in the fairway on the par-5 18th in the playoff, Ko hit a threewood that cleared the tree limbs on the right, landed in front of the green and rolled inches by on the right side. She took her time with the short winning putt.
“You don’t get that many opportunities like that,” Ko said. “Even though it’s short, it makes it a little bit nerve-wracking because it’s a length that you know you should make.”
Lee, the 21-year-old Australian who won the 2012 US Girls’ Junior at Lake Merced, hit her second shot into the rough near the right greenside bunker and made a 10foot birdie putt.
“I don’t know if anybody could beat that,” Lee said about Ko’s second shot.
“It was perfect. It was straight over the tree and it just rolled straight next to the pin,’’ said Lee, a two-time winner of the Victorian Open at 13th Beach, including once as an amateur.
Ko closed with a 1-under 71 to match Lee at 12-under 276. Lee had her second straight 68.
Jessica Korda, a stroke ahead of Ko and Lee with nine holes left, finished with a 74 to drop into a tie for third at eight-under with Angel Yin (67), Shanshan Feng (68) and Charley Hull (70).