Lydia Ko picked up where she left off: she won. After an Olympic gold medal and a victory at the AIG Women’s British Open in St. Andrews, Ko added another first-place finish at the Kroger Queen City Championship, leading the field by five shots. Incredibly, she had just one bogey all week at TPC River’s Bend.
In his post-round interview with Golf Channel’s Amy Rogers, Ko called this period of golf surreal and put any talk of retirement on hold with a new focus.
“I think my goal has always been to achieve the grand slam of my career,” said Ko, who currently holds three different major titles. “I thought it would be so easy.
“I feel like I’ve already been part of this fairy tale, so why not?”
The new LPGA Hall of Famer now has 22 career LPGA titles. She won three official LPGA events this season, in addition to the gold medal. Ko finished with a 9-under 63 to edge former No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul. Ko finished the tournament at 23 under par.
It is the first time since 2016, when she won the JTBC Classic and Chevron Championship titles, that the 27-year-old New Zealander has won back-to-back LPGA titles.
She joins Nelly Korda as the only other player with at least three victories this season. Korda, who finished fifth in Cincinnati, has won six times in the first half of the season and leads the Rolex Players of the Year list by 100 points. (Ko received no POY points for her gold medal in Paris, although she did earn that valuable LPGA Hall of Fame point.)
Ko enters the fall season the same way she ended the summer, on a hot streak. She has extended her top-10 finishes to her last five consecutive starts, including the Olympics.
World number one Korda will spend three weeks at home before heading to South Korea for the LPGA Asian Tour at the BMW Ladies Championship.
“I don’t think I had my best game, but I played some good golf here and there,” said Korda, who finished with a 68. “I definitely didn’t take advantage of the par-5s. I had a lot of irons in my hands and made pars. It’s a little disappointing.”
“Overall I’m happy with how I played last week and my energy level.”
South Korea’s Haeran Ryu birdied five consecutive holes on the last nine holes en route to a final score of 67. She finished alone in third.
Ko will now travel immediately to South Korea to compete in the KLPGA.
This article was originally published on Golfweek: Lydia Ko Wins Kroger Queen City Championship Again, Ends Retirement Rumors
