Ko Makes History
With tears of joy as her final putt found the bottom of the cup, Jin Young Ko made history.
Sunday at the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open, Ko became just the second person to ever win on the LPGA Tour in her debut as a member, and the first since 1951.
The 22-year-old is no stranger to the winner’s circle, having won on the LPGA Tour a year ago as a non-member. This week she seemed to be on autopilot at time, winning wire-to-wire.
Ko said she wasn’t nervous today thanks to a comforting text message from a friend who spurred her on during Sunday’s finale.
“I finished yesterday with a 4-stroke lead, but my friend said to me, ‘if you (have) a 10-stroke lead, you’ll have the same feeling, so don’t be nervous and just relax. Tomorrow is tomorrow.’”
Ko fired a 3-under-par 69 on Sunday and won by three over fellow South Korean Hyejin Choi. She began her day with two-straight birdies and didn’t look back at any point, despite two bogeys on her front nine. She said it finally set in that she was going to win the tournament on the 17th hole.
Ko was one of nine South Koreans to win on the LPGA Tour a year ago, and is the second in a row to win in Adelaide after Ha Na Jang in 2017.
She also became the first Rolex First-Time Winner since Sung Hyun Park (2017 U.S. Women’s Open). Park and Danielle Kang (KPMG Women’s PGA Championship) were the lone first-time winners last year who were members of the LPGA Tour.
Ko is also the first wire-to-wire winner (no ties) since Lexi Thompson at the 2017 Kingsmill Championship.
“I think maybe we’ll party tonight,” Ko said with a smile.
Rookies Making Presence Felt
Other than Ko coming out on top, other first-year LPGA Tour members made an immediate impact, many in their first tournament of the year.
Hannah Green kept the momentum going after finishing tied for 11th at the Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic with a tie for third, her best-ever result on the LPGA Tour.
“Momentum was really the key thing yesterday and it was a little bit different today. It’s hard to keep momentum and for it to be in a positive way. I was happy with the holes that I made birdie. I was proud of myself with how I handled myself when I missed a few short putts that were makeable. All around, it’s been a good week,” said Green.
Emma Talley, who was in the final group for Saturday’s third round, bounced back nicely after a third-round 76 with a 3-under-par 69 on Sunday. She said she was battling some shoulder pain that flared up at an inopportune time in the third round, but was happy to have battled to record a tie for 7th.
“I was on some drugs today, but I feel a lot better and I just stayed patient. I knew I’d been playing well, my game felt good going into today, so yesterday was just kind of a bad day,” said Talley. “So, I just tried to bounce back and it went well.”
Georgia Hall, who finished tied for third at last year’s RICOH Women’s British Open and tied for 10th at The Evian Championship, notched her best finish as an LPGA Tour member (she earned status via Q-School) after tying for 13th in Australia.
Hall fired a 5-under-par 67 Sunday.
“It was really good,” Hall said of her debut as an official LPGA Tour member. “I played better every day. I played really good golf today, well pretty faultless. My putts weren’t quite going in, some of them, but I’m really pleased with the way I played this week.”
Solid Result for Jutanugarn
Although it was a bit of an up-and-down season for former World No.1 Ariya Jutanugarn in 2017 – as she battled injury – the native of Thailand still notched two wins. And Sunday at the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open she recorded her first top-10 finish of the year.
Jutanugarn shot a final-round 69 and finished at 6-under for the week, good enough for a tie for eighth.
“I’m feeling better,” she said. “I’m getting better after my first tournament.”
The 22-year-old had a consistent week in Adelaide firing rounds of 69-72-72-69, even though she admitted the Kooyonga Golf Club is one of the toughest played on the LPGA Tour each year.
“I need to be really patient on this course… so I just wanted to go out and have fun and I did. I had so much fun this week,” she said.
Jutanugarn finished tied for 54th at the season-opener in the Bahamas, after she captured the season-finale in November at the CME Group Tour Championship. Despite the fact that she now has seven LPGA Tour victories, she said she isn’t going to be focused on winning or her spot in the Rolex Rankings.
“I’m really not going to think about the outcome anymore,” she said. “I’m just going to go out and have fun and make sure I do something that I can be proud of myself every day.”
Na Notches Ace
Adelaide resident Stephanie Na had a little local luck on her side Sunday, as she notched the second hole-in-one of the week at the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open.
Na used a six iron on the par-3 3rd to make an ace from 167 yards.
“I hit it good but pulled it ever so slightly, so when it hit the green I thought ‘thank God’. I did not think it was on line and went to pick up the tee. Then everyone was going wild and the next time I looked up it had gone in,” said Na. “It pitched (six or seven yards) and I got a good roll. It’s my second hole-in-one; the first was in a practice round in Michigan. I didn’t see that one go in either.”
She finished at 3-under par for the week and tied for 19th. It was her best-ever result at the Women’s Australian Open.
The hometown crowds also had plenty to cheer about at their national open, as three Australians finished in the top five, including Hannah Green (3rd), Katherine Kirk (4th), and Minjee Lee (T5).
Final Round Highlights from Australia
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