LPGA Tour: Jin Young Ko returns to world No 1 after play-off victory at BMW Ladies Championship
Ko will move to world No 1 for a third time after defeating Hee Jeong Lim at the first extra play-off hole in Busan, Korea; Lydia Ko one of four players finishing tied-third
Last Updated: 24/10/21 9:14am
Jin Young Ko claimed her fourth LPGA Tour victory of the season and moved back top of the women's golf world rankings with a dramatic play-off win at the BMW Ladies Championship
Final scores
The Korean overturned a four-shot deficit on the final day at LPGA International Busan, carding a bogey-free 64 to join overnight leader Hee Jeong Lim on 22 under and take the contest to extra holes.
Both players returned to the par-four 18th, where Ko struck a magnificent approach to inside three feet and set up a winning birdie to secure her second successive LPGA Tour title.
Ko's victory his her fourth in just seven starts and takes her tally to 11 on the LPGA Tour, with the latest win also projecting her to leapfrog Nelly Korda - not in the field - into the world No 1 spot.
The two-time major winner quickly reduced Lim's 54-hole lead by making three consecutive birdies from the second, before responding to her playing partner's birdie at the par-three sixth by making successive gains from the seventh to move into a share of the lead.
Here comes Jin Young Ko! 👀
— LPGA (@LPGA) October 24, 2021
Three straight birdies for Ko and she's now one shot back of the leader! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/jOOemO2Byi
Both players took advantage of the par-five ninth, with Ko then following a front-nine 30 by rolling in from 12 feet at the 12th but falling back behind when Lim picked up shots at the 14th and 15th.
Ko pulled level with a clutch birdie at the 17th and matched Lim's par at the last, forcing a play-off, where a close-range birdie was enough to register the 200th victory by a Korean on the LPGA Tour.
Lydia Ko also carded a final-round 64 to finish tied-third alongside Na Rin An, Da Yeon Lee and A Lim Kim, with In Gee Chun a further shot back on 16 under and in a share of seventh with Hae Ran Ryu.
