In-bee pips Lydia to title in Singapore

Nerveless Park In-bee sealed a wire-to-wire victory at the HSBC Women’s Champions in a clear statement of her intent to win back the number one ranking from Lydia Ko.

On a day of iced towels and umbrellas, the South Korean stayed cool in the Singapore heat for twounder 70 and a two-stroke win over Lydia as she finished the week bogey-free.

In-bee’s scores of 66, 69, 68 and 70 and aggregate of 15-under 273 were too much for Lydia, 17, golf’s youngest ever number one who was unable to make up her two-shot overnight deficit.

The New Zealander, playing with her left thumb strapped, missed short par putts on eight, 12 and 13 but finished with a curling, 12-foot birdie on 18 in front of a packed gallery.

World number three Stacy Lewis put her ball into a tree on 12 and then found water at the last before finishing on 72, four shots back in third at the par-72 Sentosa Golf Club.

Starting the day two strokes adrift, Lydia birdied four and five to draw level with In-bee, whom she demoted to world number two when she seized the top ranking last month.

But Lydia’s bogey at eight signalled a mid-round stumble with three dropped shots, before she recovered with a birdie on 15 and another at the last after escaping from two bunkers.

Lewis had a helter-skelter final day when she scrambled brilliantly on eight and then saw her second shot on the par-five 12th nestle in the branches of a palm tree.

The American somehow escaped with par and birdied 13 as she threatened to beat Lydia into second spot – before dunking her approach into the greenside lake on the parfive 18th.

In-bee’s serene progress was unperturbed and she needed only birdies on seven and 11 before being doused with champagne as she toasted her 13th LPGA Tour win and first of the year. — AFP