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Lydia Ko launched a sensational final round to make her presence felt at the ANA Inspiration Golf Championship.
Seemingly out of contention in the big championship he won in 2016 after starting the day tied for 36th, the Kiwi shot a fiery 6-under-66 at the Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage in California.
It was the low round of the day and saw her break into the top 10, showing that she can still be a major force.
Ko finished in sixth place with $ 160,000 on Monday (NZT) when South Korean Mirim won a three-way tiebreaker with Canada’s Brooke Henderson and American’s Nelly Korda for the title.
Sky sport
The South Korean star produces a miraculous shot to enter the play-off, then quietly scores a birdie for the title.
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Ko mixed seven birdies with a lone bogey, finishing with back-to-back birdies when he shot the last nine in 32.
Former world number one Ko will look back and regret her second round 74, which effectively cost her a chance to win her third major.
But there are clear signs of revival in the career of the 23-year-old who has had a difficult couple of years. His world ranking of 41 will receive a significant boost from this result.
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South Korea’s Mirim Lee lifts LPGA ANA Inspiration Trophy after play-off win
Lee contributed three times on Monday (NZT), the last for eagle on the final hole that led to the three-way play-off that she won on the first extra hole with a birdie.
It was another wild finale in the LPGA major that went from the first weekend of April to the heat of September, and no one was more surprised than 29-year-old Lee.
He was never in the lead at any point until he calmly made a 1.5m birdie putt on the 18th to beat Korda and Henderson, who each held the lead in the final nine.
Lee shot from long range for par at 16, dropped a shot on the next hole and appeared to be out of it until his chip from behind the 18th green hit the pin and landed for the eagle and a 67 under 5.
Korda, the 22-year-old American seeking her first major, had a two-shot lead with four holes to play and couldn’t hold on. With a one-shot lead going to par 5 18, Korda missed the fairway, had to lay a layup and missed the green to the right, having to fight for a par and a 69 just to equal Lee at 15 under 273
Henderson lost the lead with a double bogey on the 13th that almost cost him. But she birdied at 16 and was saved by the wall, a blue-covered structure behind 18 that prevented her second shot on 18 from crossing the green and into the water behind the island green.
She went up and down for birdie and a 69 to join the playoffs.
On the first extra hole, Korda missed again on the fairway and had to lay down, and his wedge was 8 meters shorter for a birdie putt that never got a chance. Henderson’s second shot fell short, and he used the putter for his eagle attempt that rolled about 6 feet past the cup on the fast, sunny greens of Mission Hills. His birdie putt missed on the left side.
Lee hit the 5 wood just above the back of the putt surface, jumped 1.5m and became the winner.
Even with world number one Jin Young Ko and US Women’s Open champion Jeongeun Lee6 staying home due to travel concerns with the coronavirus, Lee managed 10 years in a row with a South Korea winning a major.
It was his fourth victory on the LPGA Tour, and his first since the Kia Classic three years ago.
His victory prevented further discussion of the blue wall behind the 18th green, which the tournament erected in place of a hospitality chalet that was not needed this year because there were no spectators.
It was talked about all week, and the chalet in a normal year has blocked shots hit too hard. But he almost decided the tournament. Henderson was a shot behind with his ball sitting in the rough at 18 in regulation time. She hit the 5 wood across the green and under the blue flag, allowing a landing.
She dropped to 2 feet for the birdie to join the three-way playoff.
Henderson needed a break after having to spend the last hour trying to catch up with Korda. The Canadian took her only lead on the 12th hole when Korda bogeyed, and it didn’t last long.
Henderson got into the right rough at 13 and the 6 iron in the wrong place _ again fine, with a bunker protecting the right forward pin. She dropped that into the bunker and didn’t get on and off, causing a double bogey.
Korda responded with a 1.5m birdie tee shot at par 3 14, and suddenly his lead was two. But he couldn’t hold out. Henderson’s 2-meter birdie putt curved on the left side of the cup at No. 16 with perfect speed. Korda held the lead on 17 with a 2-meter par putt, and that marked the grand finale of 18.
Regardless, Lee was an afterthought until his impressive finale.
She already contributed birdie from the green at No. 6. Lee gave himself a chance by shooting from less than the 16th green to a rear pin. And after a bogey on the 17th, she walked away from the 18th and contributed the eagle, ducking her head with a soft smile of disbelief.
Lexi Thompson, who was looking for a second title at Mission Hills, was never a serious factor after the ghosts that slowed her momentum. She closed with two birdies in her last three holes for a 69 to finish two shots out of the playoff.
United States women’s amateur champion Rose Zhang birdied 18 for 72 to tie for 11th place. She finished at 8 under 280, setting the record for the lowest scoring for an amateur.
