Major win returns Ko to No. 1 spot
South Korean holds off challengers to win Evian Championship
EVIAN-LES-BAINS, FRANCE— Jin Young Ko clinched her second major title of the season, firing a 4-under 67 in the final-round rain on Sunday to win the Evian Championship by two shots with a 15-under total of 269.
Winner of the season’s first major, the ANA Inspiration in April, Ko closed out the victory after playing partner and longtime leader Hyo Joo Kim lost control with a triple bogey at the par-3 14th.
Ko took the two-shot lead she was given, and added a birdie at the par-4 No. 17, to hold off strong finishes by American rookie Jennifer Kupcho (66) and Shanshan Feng (68).
The 24-year-old South Korean played the par-5 18th with a two-shot cushion and no drama. Kim (73) made a birdie to join a three-way tie for second with Kupcho and Feng. The winner’s cheque of $615,000 lifted Ko atop the LPGA money list with almost $2 million this season.
The second major for Ko, the 2018 LPGA rookie of the year, also means she goes back to No. 1 in the world rankings above her other playing partner, Sung Hyun Park.
Ko’s victory ended a streak of 10 different players winning the previous 10 women’s majors. The next starts Thursday, when the Women’s British Open begins at Woburn, England.
It’s the first time since 1960 that two women’s majors have been played in back-to-back weeks.
Park (75) was let down by her putting in falling to a tie for sixth at 10 under.
Brooke Henderson (70) of Smiths Falls, Ont., tied for 17th at 4 under and Hamilton’s Alena Sharp (68) tied for 55th at 4 over.
A final round, played in steady rain, ended in fading light at 7:35 p.m. local time. The start was delayed by two hours to prepare the Evian Resort Golf Club course after overnight downpours.
In her second major as a professional, the 22-year-old Kupcho impressed by shooting a bogey-free, lowest round of the day in persistent rain and cooling winds.
“It’s crazy. It’s exciting to see that I can compete,” said the Colorado native, untroubled by the dreary weather. “I just say, ‘Well everyone’s playing in it, so we’re going to be out here.’”
Kupcho was the first woman to win at Augusta National, in the inaugural Women’s Amateur in April, and played apparently nerveless golf until her final 4-foot putt. She made it to secure a cheque for $289,000.
“Standing over this putt on 18, I was kind of freaking out,” Kupcho said. “I had to take a couple of deep breaths as I was lining it up.”
The title swung on Kim’s tee shot at the 14th, which found a green-side bunker. Her first attempt rolled back from the grass into a deep footprint she left in the sand. Kim then threeputted.
Park started the day in second place, three shots ahead of Ko, but opened with two bogeys and struggled to find rhythm.
She ended with another bogey 6 at the 18th, playing her approach into flower beds beside the green, and hacking out across the putting surface into more deep grass.