RANCHO MIRAGE – The steadiest hand this week also had an amazing flair for the dramatic. And it’s no accident Lydia Ko is beginning to win all the big tournaments on the LPGA Tour.
Ko’s brilliant approach over water and short birdie putt on the 18th hole Sunday ultimately earned the 18-year-old her second consecutive major championship on a day in which she rarely led – but always lurked – in the ANA Inspiration Championship at Mission Hills Country Club.
Ranked No. 1 in the world, Ko finished with a final-round, 3-under-par 69 and four-day total of 12-under 276. That earned the New Zealander, who was born in South Korea, a one-shot victory over Charley Hull and In Gee Chun on the Dinah Shore Tournament Course.
After the victory, Ko took the traditional leap into Poppie’s Pond with her mother, sister, caddie and caddie’s fiancé, remembering to plug her nose just before she hit water. Her caddie was a little more demonstrative, completing a full-out belly flop.
“For every player, just coming here and looking at Poppie’s Pond – it’s something you would just like to do in your career,” Ko said.
And that career is taking off fast. Sunday’s win in the LPGA’s first major of the season followed her win in the last major last season, a six-stroke victory in the Evian Championship in France. She now has 12 LPGA victories, including last week at the Kia Classic in Carlsbad.
Yet for much of the day, it didn’t seem Ko would have a chance.
Instead, Ariya Jutanugarn took control on the back nine and held a two-shot lead as late as the 15th hole before three crippling, tournament-ending bogeys. The Thai golfer took the lead with a mid-round charge of birdies on four of five holes.
But Ko hung around, largely due to her own clutch putts, including a 40-footer for birdie on No. 8, and par saves on the par-5 11th, the par-4, 424-yard 13th (from 12 feet), the par-4, 418-yard 16th and an 8-footer on the par-3 17th.
“At the end of the day, they were all important,” Ko said. “If I miss the putt on No. 11, then I’m behind; if I miss my putt on 13, I might’ve been a little more behind.”
But she saved her best shot for last. Ko drove the fairway on the par-5 18th, and chose to lay up based on caddie Jason Hamilton’s advice. So she hit an 8-iron to 88 yards and stuck a sand wedge over the water and to within a foot. Moments later, she sank the birdie to break what briefly became a four-way tie for the lead, and then waited for Jutanugarn to finish.
“It would be up there,” Ko said, when asked to compare the wedge to other big shots she’s had in her career. “Every shot is special in its own way, because every tournament is so different. Just playing the 72nd hole – and birdieing the last hole – it’s always a good feeling.”
Ko said she did not know Jutanugarn was struggling. Playing behind Ko in the final group, Jutanugarn drove into the water on No. 18 and with no chance for birdie, it gave Ko the win.
“I really got nervous,” Jutanugarn said, “especially my first time leading.”
Hull perhaps had the hottest finish with a back-nine 32 and round of 69. She let loose on the 18th, hitting to the back of the green in two shots before getting up and down for birdie.
“I feel like I can – I know I can play well under pressure now when I have to get it going,” she said.
Third-round leader Lexi Thompson, the 21-year-old former ANA champion from two years ago who eagled the 18th Saturday, struggled from the outset with three bogeys and a front-nine 39.
Incredibly, though, she again eagled No. 18 on Sunday to finish at 9 under.
