Lydia Ko won her 18th career title her first in South Korea, the country of her birth after firing a 7-under 65 final round at the BMW Ladies Championship.
New Zealand’s Ko carded eight birdies with just one bogey to capture the $300,000 winner’s cheque after finishing on 21-under 267.
The 25-year-old’s seven-under par final round gave her a four-shot victory over American Andrea Lee at Oak Valley Country Club.
“This is probably the best I’ve played, the most consistently I’ve played,” Ko said.
“I played the back nine really well in all four of my rounds, and I think that was the big key for me,” she added.
Ko now has finished in the top five in nine of her past 12 starts. Born in Seoul, South Korea’s capital, she clearly was overjoyed to win in her native country.
“I feel so proud to be born in Korea,” she said. “Because of that I really wanted to win here. It’s not only just a place that I’m born, but a lot of my family is still here. This week my relatives are here, my direct family is here and I wanted to win it for them as well. To be able to do that this year in front of a lot of them, it means a lot.”
Ko’s win, the 18th of her LPGA career and second of the 2022 season, tied her with Meg Mallon and Hollis Stacey for the 30th winningest LPGA players in history. The victory also sees her jump from fourth to first place in the Rolex Player of the Year race, one point clear of Minjee Lee (150-149) with just three events remaining in the 2022 schedule. Ko has won POY once previously, in 2015.
Even though it’s harder than ever to win on the LPGA Tour, Ko has figured out how to do it. This is her first multiple-win season since 2016. As a 17-year-old, she was the youngest player to ever reach World No. 1 back in 2015.
Photo 1 Caption: Lydia Ko won her 18th career title her first in South Korea, the country of her birth after firing a 7-under 65 final round at the BMW Ladies Championship. Photo: LPGA (Twitter)
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