Lydia Ko calmly tapped in a two foot par putt on the first playoff hole to defeat Stacy Lewis and take home her third Canadian Pacific Women’s Open title in the last four years.
“It feels amazing,” Ko said. “It’s great to come back to Vancouver and play well in front of such big crowds. I had an amazing week. I didn’t know that in 2012, I might be coming back here in a couple years, and then winning here again. So many great memories here and hopefully we’ll be able to come back here.”
The victory is the eighth of Ko’s young career and the three wins in Canada ties her with Meg Mallon and Pat Bradley for the most in tournament history.
“It would have been great if I was coming down the 18th with like a four-shot lead like I did in 2012,” Ko said with a smile. “But it is what it is. Stacy played amazing today; to shoot 67 under those conditions.”
Lewis forced the playoff with a 5-under final round to tie Ko, who shot an even par 72 on Sunday, and send the duo back to the 18th for extra holes.
On the playoff hole, Lewis found trouble off the tee and with her approach and was forced to scramble for a missed par attempt, while Ko calmly hit the fairway and green and then two-putted for her third victory of 2015.
“I said, hey, you’ve just got to concentrate on your game, just one shot a time, and that’s what I tried to do,” Ko explained. “I said, I don’t want to get too aggressive to that pin but maybe it was a little bit too safe and maybe wasn’t the best shot going in. I made a really good first putt on my normal 72nd hole, and made a good putt on the first playoff hole. If the put was any longer for my second one, I would have been really nervous.”
“Well, if you would have told me at the beginning of the day, I was going to be in a playoff, I would have been pretty happy,” Lewis admitted. “Just with the way my game has been over the last month or so, I felt I was close to putting together a good round, and that’s what I did today. Still left a few out there. But would have liked a better lie in the rough in the playoff, but other than that, it was pretty good.”
While Ko has taken home the trophy three times, 2015 will mark the first time that Ko is able to take home a winner’s check in Canada as her victories in 2012 and 2013 came when she was still an amateur.
“You know, really the check is the last thing I’m thinking about,” Ko said. “It’s great to be back in the winner’s circle, and to play good golf in front of great crowds was really one of the highlights of this week. I kind of feel like somewhat Canadian. But the CP Canadian Women’s Open is such a great event, with the top players playing here, so, you know, every year, I have fun.“
BIRDIES FOR HEART RAISES $275,000 AT CP WOMEN'S OPEN
One of the unique parts of the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open is the Birdies for Heart initiative. On Sunday, 14 birdies were made on the par-4 17th raising $70,000 for the pediatric cardiology research program at BC Children’s Hospital brining the total raised at the tournament to $275,000.
The $275,000 raised on 17 was part of a $1.2 million donation made by CP to BC Children’s Hospital Foundation (BCCHF) in support of pediatric cardiac research.
After a successful 2014, CP has once again committed to donating $5,000 for every birdie made on the 17th hole at Vancouver Golf Club during CP Women’s Open LPGA tournament play and $2,500 for each birdie made during the pro-am on Wednesday. In 2014, Birdies for Heart raised more than $320,000 for charity during tournament week.
HENDERSON WINS LOW CANADIAN
Brooke Henderson shot a final round 5-under 67 to claim low Canadian honors at the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open.
“It was a really fun day out there today,” Henderson said. “I was only 1-under through nine but I was hitting the ball really well and giving myself a lot of opportunities. So to go 4-under the back nine and finish birdie, birdie, 17, 18, is definitely a cool feeling, and good momentum builder for this week.”
The T23 finish wraps up a busy week for Henderson which started with her first LPGA victory at the Cambia Portland Classic and included her taking up LPGA membership for the 2015 season.
“After a win and coming back to Canada, I have received a lot of attention that made my schedule extremely busy,” Henderson admitted. “But it’s a great problem to have, as I’ve been saying to a lot of people. I learned a lot about myself and how I can handle it, and I think it will be good for the next time.”
Henderson will have a quick turnaround as she will head to Alabama for the Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic.
“I’m really excited to be a tour pro because now I have somewhere to play and I know I’m playing next week, which is really exciting,” Henderson said with a smile. “I’ve had a little bit of a crowd; almost everywhere I’ve gone, I’ve had some people that were supporting me. I think the more and more I play on Tour and the more better finishes I have -- I have people saying, “Let’s go follow Brooke Henderson’s group.” That’s really amazing and hopefully it continues to grow and get bigger.”
HONORING LOUISE
Players at the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open this week wore pins to honor the memory of Founder Louise Suggs who passed earlier this month. 2015 champion, and 2014 Louise Suggs Rookie of the Year, Lydia Ko took time to honor Suggs after her victory.
“We’ve had this Louise Suggs pin on our hats or on our shirts this week,” Ko said. “I really want to kind of pay a tribute to Louise for what she’s done for the women’s game. I think her luck stayed with me this week, so thank you, Louise.”
EAGLES FOR A CAUSE
Six total eagles were made on Saturday at the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open and players raised $6,000 toward the Wounded Warrior Project as part of the season-long Wounded Warrior Project® Weekends.
The six eagles today brings the total for the year to 195 and $195,000 raised.
Wounded Warrior Project® Weekends is a season-long charity program that will be tied into the Race to the CME Globe. Each Saturday and Sunday at LPGA tournaments, CME Group will donate $1,000 to Wounded Warrior Project® for each eagle that is recorded. This amount will increase to $5,000 for each eagle during the weekend of the CME Group Tour Championship and a formal check will be presented to the Wounded Warrior Project® during the trophy Ceremony at the CME Group Tour Championship. To get involved and learn more, visit woundedwarriorproject.org.
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