Ko fifth after failing to fire in final round
AUCKLAND: Lydia Ko failed to fire in the final round of the Scottish Open, leaving Japan’s Ayaka Furue the chance to storm to a maiden LPGA Tour victory.
Ko began the day in a tie for first with Frenchwoman Celine Boutier but struggled to find ways to get under par as she posted just three birdies, alongside two bogeys, as part of a 1under 71.
In contrast, Furue nailed a bogeyfree, 10birdie round of 62 to eventually win by three shots over Boutier.
A seventime winner on the Japan LPGA , once as an amateur, Furue became the second rookie to win on the LPGA Tour this year, and she did it in style at
Dundonald
Links.
‘‘I was four shots back. I thought it would be difficult to catch the top, good players. But
I’m very happy I played good golf and I was able to come out as a winner,’’ Furue said.
‘‘I had the right mindset. I thought I had to go low, and I played very well.’’
Consecutive rounds of 71 over the weekend doomed Ko to a tie for fifth on the leaderboard after a hot start to the tournament.
‘‘I feel like I wasn’t able to get things going over this weekend. Overall I played really solid. Even the last couple days, I hit a couple of notsogood shots, but other than that . . . I feel like there were a lot of good things, and like I said, sometimes when you get in a good rhythm of things, you’re able to keep it going,’’ Ko said
‘‘But I just was never on that train on this weekend. Hopefully, this is a good momentum for next week.’’
Ko now plays in the Women’s
British Open, a tournament in which she has traditionally struggled to make a mark. However, the fact it is taking place at a new venue in 2022 has given her hope for a better result.
‘‘Yeah, I haven’t had the greatest I think track record at The Open. So I’m excited for Muirfield. Obviously it’s the first time that the women’s championship is there, so it’s a pretty historic venue and historic championship.’’
Fifth place at Dundonald this weekend earned Ko a purse of $99,101 to take her 2022 earnings to just under $2.5 million. — The New Zealand Herald/AP