Golf-Classy Ko retains World Championship title after vintage round at Sentosa

(Reuters). South Korea’s Ko Jinyoung won the HSBC Women’s Championship title. Ko shot a round of three under par 69 during the rain-interrupted last round, beating world number two Nelly Korda in Singapore by two shots.

Ko, still afflicted by a wrist injury which hampered her 2022 season in the past, burst into tears upon her triumphant return to Sentosa. She finished at 17 under par 271 and a prize of $1.8million.

Ko played flawlessly on the first nine, and even though she made a mistake on the 11th hole, she managed to sink a 30 foot putt for birdie and then a par putt of two feet on the last hole. This was Ko’s first win since last year.

“It’s a great honour to defend this title and I had a great week, and a long week as well, with all the rain,” Ko said she will receive $270,000 to help her win.

“Before this week I practised really hard. I knew I was defending so I wanted to get one more trophy. It paid off and I’m really happy.”

Ko was able to hold onto her lead in the final six holes and not have to make a five-birdie run like she did last year. Instead, Ko joined Park In-bee, who became the second-ever winner of the tournament.

Ko started the day with a birdie, then added another hole on the second. He made a fantastic approach shot and hit a par putt on the fourth.

American Korda moved within two shots of Ko after making three consecutive birdies at the third hole. But, she was unable to make the cut due to a pair of bogeys on the sixth or 13th.

After a birdie putt of four feet on the last hole, she took second on 15-under. Ayaka Furue, 67 from Japan, and Danielle Kang (68), and Allisen Corpsuz (69) finished joint-third.

“Always playing with Nelly, it’s very hard to compete. She’s a great player and I was thinking, ‘She’s better than me and so I’d better learn some things from her’,” Ko. “It was a tough week but I made it!”

Lydia Ko from New Zealand was top-ranked and shot 74.

(Reporting from Bengaluru by Hritika Swaroop; Editing done by Tom Hogue