You can start engraving Jin Young Ko’s name on the LPGA’s player-of-the-year hardware.
The 24-year-old South Korean won her fourth LPGA title of the season, this time bulldozing the field at the CP Women’s Open near Toronto with a 26-under 262 total. Ko shot 65-64 on the weekend and used a 6-under 30 on her final nine to beat Nicole Broch Larsen (closing 69) by five strokes.
“I had a great week,” Ko said. “The course was amazing and the crowds were incredible. I can’t wait to play here next year.”
Perhaps most impressive about her powerful performance was the environment surrounding her. Record crowds swarmed Magna Golf Club in Aurora, Ont., to witness Canadian superstar Brooke Henderson, who started the final round two strokes back and in the last threesome with Ko and Broch Larsen.
All three players shot 34 on their opening nine holes to keep the race close, but Ko soon took over with birdies on Nos. 10 and 11 to build a three-stroke lead. While Broch Larsen and Henderson couldn’t get much going down the stretch, Ko made four more birdies and tied the course record.
She remains No. 1 in the world and first in the Race to the CME Globe. It’s been one of the best seasons a player has put together in recent memory; Ariya Jutanugarn, who won five times in 2016, is the only player in the past four years to win more tournaments in a season.
How has she gotten it done? Avoiding mistakes has been a major part of the formula. Ko’s last bogey came during the third round of the AIG Women’s British Open, an incredible streak of 106 holes without a dropped shot. She’s the first player to win a 72-hole event without a bogey since Inbee Park in 2015.
Meanwhile, Henderson came up short of successfully defending her title in front of the rabid crowd. She dazzled in a third-round 65 where she went 9-under par in her final 11 holes, but Ko took the drama out of the final few holes.
Henderson, who began the week ranked eighth in the world, shot 69 Sunday and ultimately tied for third at 19 under with Lizette Salas (closing 64).
“I feel like I made a lot of birdies and hopefully made it pretty exciting for them,” Henderson said. “I couldn't really ask for anything more. It would've been very difficult to catch Jin Young today.”
RESULTS | RACE TO THE CME GLOBE
Staff and Wire Reports