After a disappointing 2023, Lydia Ko got her new season started in style with victory at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions on the LPGA Tour.
The New Zealander had looked assured throughout the tournament at her home course, Lake Nona Golf and Country Club, and topped the leaderboard by Friday evening along with Ayaka Furue.
Heading into the final round, her position was even more secure with a two-shot lead over Alexa Pano, and she never really looked like relinquishing it on the final day.
Ko began steadily, with five successive pars to ease her way into proceedings, and her first birdie of the day came on the sixth, which enabled her to open up a four-shot lead over Pano, who could only bogey the same hole. After both players birdied the ninth, Ko moved five ahead of Pano with another birdie on the 10th.
By that point, there was another challenger for the trophy as Canadian Brooke Henderson began strengthening her position. After beginning the final round six off the lead, four birdies in five holes between the seventh and 11th reduced the gap to four, helped by Ko’s first bogey of the day with seven to play.
Soon, it was Pano’s turn to rally again. After bogeying the 13th, she reeled off three birdies in four, which included draining a long-range putt on the 16th to keep the pressure on. That run got her to within three of the leader heading into the last, but by that point, her chance of overhauling the former World No.1 was slim.
Better than good 👌@alexapanogolf drained this birdie putt! pic.twitter.com/OBWlzNPXT9January 21, 2024
Even though Ko bogeyed the par-4 18th, Pano could only make par, leaving Ko to return to the winner’s circle with a two-shot win with Henderson finishing third, four behind Ko.
Beginning 2024 with her 20th LPGA Tour title 💪Lydia Ko is the #HGVLPGA champion! pic.twitter.com/WAe1TSOOEVJanuary 21, 2024
The victory was Ko’s 20th on the LPGA Tour and leaves her needing just one more point to secure entry into the LPGA Hall of Fame.
She reflected on that after the victory, telling the Golf Channel: “I thought two was really close and now one is really, really close. I'm literally right in front of the door.
“No, I think my mindset was, ‘Hey, I'm going to do all the things I can do and try and do a good job of that. If it happens, it happens. If not, just not meant to be mine to be in the Hall of Fame.
"And to give myself a better chance of it now after winning this week is definitely really cool, but hopefully nothing changes internally, where I'm not going to get too crazy about what may happen.”
Ko began 2023 in similar fashion, with victory at the Aramco Saudi Ladies International, and, given the disappointing form that followed, she was cautious not to get carried away with her latest win when looking ahead to the rest of the year. She continued: “I won last year my first event and kind of went sideways very quickly, so to not get too cocky.”
Nevertheless, with momentum restored, Ko will be confident heading into next week, when she competes at the Drive On Championship at Bradenton.
