When Lydia Ko woke up on Sunday morning she thought she had already won the HSBC Women's World Championships in Singapore.
“I dreamed of winning last night,” Ko said.
“But then I woke up and I didn't seem to be real yet, I was like Dan.”
KO retained the one-shot advantage in Charlie Hal entering the final round, with many other stars not too late. However, KO was locked up as she was inducted into the Hall of Fame, winning the tournament with four shots from Ayaka Fure and Gino Chiticle.
“I just wanted to focus on my game and it was a pretty tight leaderboard,” Ko said.
“There have been a lot of changes over the past few days, so it was really important to focus on me. I started really steady and you know, I wasn't really that troubled. I think that's going to be the key to today.”
The New Zealanders started with five straight pars and rattled three consecutive birdies on the sixth, seventh and eighth holes to separate themselves from the puck. Her putter was a big reason why she ultimately won. KO couldn't miss the green.
The bogeys on the 11th continued, but she bouncing off with birdies on the 13th and 15th holes, the latter from about 60 feet away.
By then, the tournament was almost over when KO took a coast run towards the finish, winning the “Asian Major” for the first time.
“It's really cool to add an Asian major to my major collection,” Ko said.
“Overall, it was a fun week, but I think I focused a lot on myself, and that was the big key to winning this week.”
Jack Mirco is a golf staff writer who plays SB Nation. Follow him with x @jack_milko.
