VICTORY AT LAST

World No.3 Lydia Ko finally won the coveted HSBC Women's World Championship after 10 attempts.

- 

It took the New Zealand golf star 11 attempts, but better late than never. Lydia Ko finally did what she had been trying to do in her last 10 appearances at the HSBC Women's World Championship when she won the championship by four shots at Sentosa Golf Club on Sunday 1 March.

Ko signed off with a final round three-under-par 69 to clinch her 23rd LPGA title with a winning total of 13-under-par 275. Thailand's Jeeno Thitikul and Japan's Ayaka Furue shared second place after posting rounds of 70 and 68 respectively while England's Charley Hull, who started the round one shot behind Ko, posted a 74 to finish in a share of fourth place with Mexico's Gaby Lopez and South Korea's Im Jin-hee.

The Kiwi, who led by one after the penultimate round, went to sleep dreaming of victory. The LPGA Hall of Famer then returned to the starting tee with a game plan, making five straight pars before extending her lead with three consecutive birdies from the par-four sixth.

“I just wanted to play steady. I started off really consistently. I hit a lot of greens, and I think that was going to be the big key. I knew that Jeeno and Charley hit it much further than me.

“The distance wasn’t going to be to my advantage, but as long as I played steady golf and just give myself good looks for birdies, I felt like some of them were going to drop,” said Ko.

The Olympic champion and three-time major winner, dropped a shot on 11 but recovered with birdies on 13 and 15. A bogey on 17 did little to threaten her title bid, as she still held a four-shot cushion. A closing par on 18 sealed the victory, making her dream a reality.