Ko leads by five in LPGA’s finale

Lydia Ko shot a 6-under 66 on Friday in the LPGA’s Tour Championship in Naples, Fla., giving her a five-shot lead over runner-up Hyo Joo Kim through 36 holes.

Ko, who improved to 13under, recorded four birdies in a six-hole stretch midway through her round. She rolled in a testy 4-footer to save par on the par-4 13th to maintain what was then a four-shot lead, and hasn’t dropped a shot since her opening hole on Thursday.

“I just wanted to focus on my game,” said Ko, who began the day with a one-shot lead. “It was a pretty tight leaderboard. I shot a low one yesterday and that round, it can be anybody throughout the week.”

Except right now, it’s not anybody else going as low as Ko has.

Her flawless round capped a big day for the LPGA, which unveiled its 2023 schedule with a record-setting $101.4 million in purses.

Ko’s 66 was the best score of the day; four other players shot 67s. Through two rounds at Tiburon, there have been four scores of 66 or lower; Ko has two of them after an opening 65 on Thursday.

Kim (69) made back-toback birdies on 16 and 17 to get to 8-under. World No. 1 Nelly Korda (69) is in a pack tied for third at 7-under, along with Japan’s Nasa Hataoka (67), Sweden’s Anna Nordqvist (69) and Scotland’s Gemma Dryburgh (70). European tour: Matt Fitzpatrick and Tyrrell Hatton each shot 5-under 67s to improve to 12-under 132 for a three-shot lead over Adri Arnaus and Alex Noren in the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.

Rory McIlroy, who leads the Race to Dubai standings, went birdiebirdie-eagle on his final three holes for a 4-under 68 that left him seven shots back of the co-leaders.

“It was nice to finish with a flourish there and put myself a little closer to the guys going into the weekend,” said McIlroy, who is bidding to be the European tour’s leading player for the fourth time in his career.

Fitzpatrick would clinch a first Race to Dubai title with a third win, provided McIlroy or Ryan Fox don’t finish the event in second. A second-place finish would also be good enough for Fitzpatrick if McIlroy finishes lower than seventh.

McIlroy’s brilliant approach shot set up his eagle on the par-5 18th. He described his first 33 holes as “very mediocre golf” but said “something sort of clicked.”

He’s not sure what. “I’m not sure, but whatever it is I need to bottle it for the weekend,” McIlroy said. “You never know, that finish here on Friday could be key to something that happens over the next 36 holes.”

PGA Tour: Harry Higgs, who lost his full PGA Tour card toward the end of last season, shot 7-under 63 to tie Cole Hammer and Andrew Putnam for the lead at 12-under 130 in the RSM Classic in St. Simons Island, Ga.

Hammer, who had a 66, is playing on a sponsor exemption and has no full status on any tour.

Putnam, whose only PGA Tour title was in 2018, had a 65.