Round 4 - Ko Jin-young second player to win in LPGA debut

February 18, 2018

South Korea's Ko Jin-young led all the way to win the Australian Women's Open by three shots at Adelaide's Kooyonga golf course on Sunday.

Ko, 22, rolled in a short par putt at the last hole to clinch a wire-to-wire victory at 14-under to beat compatriot Choi Hye-jin on 11-under with Australia's Hannah Green on 10-under in third place.

Ko's victory allows her to take up full LPGA Tour membership for 2018.

The Korean was ranked 20th in the world before the tournament and will likely be close to the top 10 in this week's new rankings.

"My goal is to be rookie of the year," Ko said.

Ko began the tournament with a blistering seven-under 65 and was never headed nor seriously threatened.

Choi was the closest, jumping out of the pack to move within two shots at the turn in the final round, and still two shots back when they came down the stretch.

Ko hit a beautiful seven-iron shot to the 17th green, where the pond on the right represented potentially her only way of losing the Open.

Then she rolled the putt down the hill and into the cup from five metres.

She fired a closing three-under par 69, starting out with two birdies that stretched her initial lead of four shots to six.

She made some mistakes along the way, but none too serious, and hit 15 of the 18 greens in regulation.

In four rounds Ko only missed 11 greens, the best result in the field.

New Zealand's former world No.1 Lydia Ko struggled home to finish joint 19th at three-under after a closing par round of 72 after a second-round two-over 74 put her out of contention on Friday.

Her opening day effort had raised hopes she could contend after making major off-season changes to her support staff.

Ko replaced coach Gary Gilchrist with former PGA Tour professional Ted Oh, while Johnny Scott replaced Peter Godfrey as her caddie.

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Round 3 - Ko Jin-young takes 4-shot lead into final day

February 17, 2018

South Korean frontrunner Ko Jin-young will take a four-stroke lead into Sunday's final round of the Women's Australian Open after again dominating the field at Kooyonga.

Ko fired a one-under 71 in Saturday's third round to close in on the $1.3 million event and secure her status on the LPGA Tour.

Ko takes a four-shot buffer over Australia's Hannah Green in the final round as she chases a wire-to-wire victory in Adelaide.

The 22-year-old from Seoul birdied three of her first five holes to lead by six strokes at one stage before bogeys at the sixth and eighth holes.

At the 11th she made a great par-save and at the 12th, she snap-hooked her drive into the trees, leaving her in a difficult spot, blocked out by trees.

But she punched out to near the green, chipped to close range and holed the putt.

The other contenders fell away, with compatriot Jiyai Shin dropping back two shots on the day, and American Emma Talley, who gave back four, playing in the final group.

Ko holed a four-metre birdie at the 17th and might have made another at the last but missed the putt from short range.

"I think focus on my game and think about my chipping keys and putting keys, and enjoy," Ko said.

"This course is narrow so I (am) thinking about only the greens and then two putts. Birdies will be OK, but yes, that's it."

One of the day's highlights was a hole-in-one by Sweden's Jenny Haglund at the 14th in her third-round 73.

"That's so exciting. I've never had anything like this at all," Haglund said of her fourth career ace.

"I hit a seven iron, it was 144 metres. I just aimed right at the pin and it was just how I wanted to hit it.

"I've made a couple of holes-in-one before, but this is obviously the biggest and most important for me, it's fantastic."

New Zealand's former world No.1 Lydia Ko lies eight shots off the lead after firing a one-under 71 to be three-under.

Round 2 - Ko Jin-young extends lead to three shots

February 16, 2018

South Korea's Ko Jin-young extended her lead to three shots in the Australian Women's Open at Kooyonga on Friday as former world No.1 Lydia Ko drifted down the leaderboard.

Ko Jin-young, 22, carded a three-under par 69 in morning conditions to go with her first-round 65 to be at 10-under 134 as the afternoon players battled in the sea breeze.

The closest at seven-under was American LPGA Tour rookie Emma Talley, who had a second-round 69, also taking advantage of the benign morning conditions.

Two major winners, Shin Ji-yai, who momentarily held the lead when she birdied Friday's first three holes, and Yoo Sun-young were joint-third at six-under.

World No.20 Ko, who has logged 14 birdies in her opening two rounds, was by far the best player over the first two days.

She had started poorly, dropping shots at her first two holes, the 10th and 11th on the course, and losing the lead to compatriot Shin.

But she lit up the front nine, birdieing the first three holes from the par-five first, each time hitting it close, and regained control of the tournament.

"Yes, I like this course style," said Ko, who has won 10 tournaments in Korea and 14 overall.

"Korean courses (are) more long hit and narrow and then (I) have to get longer distance and then straight shots, but here is wider, so stress is less."

A few of the big names remain in the pack. The past two Australian Open winners, Japan's Haru Nomura and Korean Jang Ha-na, were both at three-under, along with the Thai sisters, Ariya and Moriya Jutanugarn, while world No.9 Cristie Kerr was at one-under.

World No.3 Ryu So-yeon faded with a 75 to be even-par overall.

New Zealand's former world No.1 Lydia Ko made a run, getting to six-under but then strung four consecutive bogeys together on the back nine to fall off the leaderboard, finishing at two-under overall.

Among those to have the weekend off are Canadian Brooke Henderson, Cheyenne Woods and Mel Reid, as well as Sweden's Caroline Hedwall, who followed a 68 with a disastrous 82.

Round 1 - Ko Jin-young takes Australian lead with 65

February 15, 2018

South Korea's Ko Jin-young fired a nine-birdie opening round of 65 to lead the women's Australian Open by two shots at Kooyonga in Adelaide on Thursday.

Ko, 22, the world number 20 and a winner of 10 tournaments on the Korean tour, reached the turn at three-under and rolled in six more birdies on the back nine to gather in a cluster of players who had held the lead at four-under.

Ko joined the lead with a birdie at the 16th, birdied again to lead outright at the 17th before repeating the performance at the 18th to lead by two strokes at seven under.

She had nine birdies for the day, two bogeys and shredded the more difficult back nine in 31 shots, with five birdies in the last six holes.

Among those on four-under was former world number one Lydia Ko, who has been under fire for making another series of changes to her team in the off-season, but played brilliantly for a bogey-free round.

Ko Jin-young leads 2013 Open champion and compatriot Jiyai Shin, who followed up her win in Canberra last week with a five-under par 67.

Two other major winners -- American Mo Martin and Korean Yoo Sun-young -- as well as 17-year-old Japanese amateur Suzuka Yamaguchi, a recent Australian Amateur champion, are in the group at four-under par.

Ko, the 20-year-old New Zealander, has again switched to another coach and caddie and has had 11 caddies since turning pro five years ago.

"I'm trying to make the decisions where I think it's the best for me in my career," Ko told reporters after her opening round.

"Sometimes, I think 'hey, maybe I shouldn't have done that'. But I feel like I made the right decisions.

"All I can do ... is do what I think is best for me and, sometimes, not everybody is going to agree."

Ko last year lost her world number one ranking amid her first winless LPGA season since 2012.

Ko is now working under Ted Oh and added: "Hopefully, this one does go a long way."

She birdied four of her initial 10 holes to be among a group of 10 golfers on four under 68.

Scores

Preview

Cristie Kerr at home in wine country

World No. 9 Cristie Kerr is making her 2018 season debut at this week’s ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open. It’s her second career start at the event; she finished T51 in 2012 at the Royal Melbourne Golf Club.

As an aspiring sommelier with her own wine label (Kerr Cellars), Kerr is right at home in Adelaide and has been spending her afternoons away from the golf course studying the different wines in the world-famous Barossa Valley.

“I bought a couple of cases of wine and trying to figure out how to ship it back now,” Kerr said. “I love experiencing different wineries in the States and it was great to get the private tour there [Penfolds winery] and to be able to purchase some wines that we can’t get in the States. It’s all research for me, I’m studying to be a sommelier, but I’m also here for the golf.”

Kerr will get her first round underway in Australia at 1:07 p.m. on Thursday alongside Team USA Solheim Cup teammate Austin Ernst and Wei-Ling Hsu, who was the runner-up at the season-opening Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic.

So Yeon Ryu the 'Honorary Aussie'

World No. 3 So Yeon Ryu is playing the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open for the first time since 2015 this week, but she blends in well with the Aussie crowd as she frequently indulges in the Australian staple “vegemite”.

“I’m good friends with Sarah Jane Smith and then she always carry the Vegemite,” Ryu said, “then every morning when I meet her in the dining, I ask, “Can I borrow your Vegemite?” She said, “If you eat Vegemite, you’re definitely an honorary Aussie.” So, she called me an honorary Aussie.”

Ryu is making just her fourth career start at the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open this week, but has fond memories of the tournament since she was runner-up in 2012. Ryu says the Kooyonga Golf Club poses a unique challenge with tricky and undulating greens.

“You have to have great course strategy,” Ryu said. “You definitely need a good caddie’s advice as well, so I would say if somebody is in good condition with their long game, they will definitely have a chance to win the Tournament and hopefully that’s going to be me.”

Zoee Dolling named award recipient for LPGA's XL Catlin Volunteer Service Award

A new program launched in 2018 to recognize exemplary volunteers at each LPGA tournament. Currently in her third year as a volunteer at the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open, Zoee Dolling was nominated by tournament representatives and will be presented with a service award plaque during tournament week, Feb. 15-18.