COQUITLAM, British Columbia — Lydia Ko won the Canadian Women’s Open on Sunday to become the youngest winner in LPGA Tour history and only the fifth amateur champion.
The 15-year-old South Korean-born New Zealander closed with a 5-under 67 for a three-stroke victory. She broke the age record of 16 set by Lexi Thompson last September in the Navistar LPGA Classic in Alabama, and she is the first amateur winner since JoAnne Carner in the 1969 Burdine’s Invitational.
“To break another record, or being in the history, it’s amazing, and it’s always awesome to be able to play with the pros,” Ko said.
In January, Ko won the New South Wales Open in Australia at 14 to become the youngest player to win a professional tour event, a mark broken by 14-year-old Brooke Henderson in June in a 36-hole Canadian Women’s Tour event in Quebec. Ko also won the U.S. Women’s Amateur two weeks ago in Cleveland.
“I didn’t cry after this one, but (after) that one I did cry,” Ko said, referencing the U.S. Women’s Amateur. “Yeah, to me, U.S. Amateur is a big event, and obviously this is a huge event as well. But still, as an amateur winning one of the biggest amateur events, I feel like it was a better win — even though this one was awesome.”
Ko finished at 13-under 275 at The Vancouver Golf Club, pulling away with birdies on five of the first six holes on the back nine. She opened with consecutive 68s and shot a 72 on Saturday to take a one-stroke lead into the final round.
Inbee Park shot a 69 to finish second.
Park chipped in for birdie on the final hole, and Ko closed with a bogey to make it closer.
“The pressure she was handling is really amazing,” Park said. “I’m really happy for her. It’s great for her career — and I think I was just lucky to get the winner’s check today.”
U.S. Women’s Open champion Na Yeon Choi, Chella Choi and Jiyai Shin tied for third at 8 under. Na Yeon Choi had a 73, and Chella Choi and Shin shot 71.
The glove Ko wore in the final round will be displayed in the World Golf Hall of Fame.
“To have something that’s mine to be up there, it’s amazing, and it doesn’t come down or anything,” she said. “So it will always remain there, and it’ll be a good memory. It’s been an awesome week.”
Ko plans to remain an amateur and go to college in the United States, possibly at Stanford.
Watney wins
The Barclays
FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — Nick Watney salvaged a dismal season Sunday at The Barclays with a victory that could not have come at a better time.
Watney turned a two-shot deficit against Sergio Garcia into a three-shot lead in a decisive four-hole stretch around the turn at Bethpage Black, and no one got closer than two shots. Watney made a 10-foot birdie putt on the last hole for a 2-under 69 to capture the opening playoff event for the FedEx Cup.
He wound up winning by three shots over Brandt Snedeker, who birdied the last hole for a 70. Garcia made bogey on the 18th for a 75.
The win means Watney goes to No. 1 in the FedEx Cup standings and is assured a shot at the $10 million prize at the Tour Championship next month. Perhaps more importantly, it could be a big step toward an event that doesn’t pay anything at all — the Ryder Cup.
Winning against one of the strongest fields of the year at least puts him in the conversation to be one of four captain’s picks for the Sept. 28-30 matches at Medinah. Davis Love III will announce his choices after next week’s playoff event outside Boston.
Steve Stricker and Jim Furyk are likely to be two of those picks, and the other two are suddenly wide open.
Snedeker, already under consideration, battled to the end on a warm day on Long Island. He made a 15-foot par putt on the 17th hole and closed with a birdie to be alone in second place. Complicating matters for Love is that Dustin Johnson shot 68 and tied for third, along with Garcia.
Watney, who won for the fifth time in his career, finished at 10-under 278.
Tiger Woods, six shots behind at the start of the day, never made a move. He alternated between bogeys and birdies until the sixth hole, and his round imploded on the back nine with a three-putt double bogey on the 12th, a poor wedge that led to bogey on the par-5 13th, and a tee shot on the par-3 14th that sailed over the green and one-hopped against the gallery. He closed with a 76 and tied for 38th.
Blake claims
BOEING CLASSIC
SNOQUALMIE, Wash. — Jay Don Blake won the Boeing Classic for his third career Champions Tour title, beating Mark O’Meara with a birdie on the second hole of a playoff.
Playing the par-5 18th hole for the third time in less than an hour, Blake tapped in for birdie after O’Meara’s 15-foot birdie attempt missed on the low side of the hole. Blake and O’Meara also birdied the hole in regulation for matching 4-under 68s that left them tied at 10-under 206.
Blake won twice last year on the 50-and-over tour.
Willie Wood, coming off his first tour victory last week in New York in the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open, had a 70 finish a stroke back. Tom Jenkins, the second-round leader who was trying to become the tour’s oldest winner at 64, shot a 78 to tie for 21st at 3 under.
Lawrie takes JOHNNIE
WALKER CHAMPIONSHIP
GLENEAGLES, Scotland — Scotland’s Paul Lawrie marked the official confirmation of his return to the European Ryder Cup team after 13 years with a four-shot victory in the Johnnie Walker Championship.
The 43-year-old Lawrie shot a 4-under 68 to finish with a 16-under 272 total on the rain-softened Gleneagles course that will host the 2014 Ryder Cup. Lawrie also won the Qatar Masters in February and has eight career European Tour titles, including the 1999 British Open.
