Ladies European Tour: Lydia Ko claims one-shot victory at Aramco Saudi Ladies International
Aditi Ashok extends advantage at the top of the 2023 Race to Costa del Sol rankings by finishing second and a shot behind Lydia Ko; Lexi Thompson one of three players sharing third spot in Saudi Arabia
Sunday 19 February 2023 16:18, UK
World No 1 Lydia Ko fired a final-round 68 to secure a one-shot victory and second Aramco Saudi Ladies International title.
The New Zealander began Sunday a shot off the lead at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club, having carded rounds of 64, 69 and 66 over the first three days, with Ko cancelling out an opening-hole birdie with a dropped shot at the par-four next.
Ko birdied the sixth and 10th before taking advantage of the par-five 13th, with a 12-foot birdie at the 17th moving her to 21-under and giving her the solo lead for the first time of the final day.
A closing par at the par-five 18th completed Ko's victory, with Magical Kenya Ladies Open winner Aditi Ashok a shot back in second after also carding a four-under 68 on the final day.
"I'm two for two on this golf course," Ko said. "Clearly something is going for me! I don't think I was setting myself up for a lot of birdie opportunities on the front nine, but I knew that every hole could be a birdie opportunity, so it was that mindset and I wanted to be aggressive.
Overnight leader Lilia Vu required a final-hole birdie to force a play-off but ended up bogeying the closing par-five and posting a final-round 71, with Lexi Thompson and Manon De Roey also finishing two strokes back in tied-third.
Thompson birdied six of her opening 10 holes on her way to a six-under 66, while De Roey charged up the leaderboard on the final day with a round-of-the-day 63.
"Today, I was very solid throughout my whole game actually," De Roey said. "I think I only had one bad shot. Very happy to finish with a birdie and to have a good start to the LET season to build some confidence for the rest of the year."
Denmark's Emily Kristine Pedersen finished in outright sixth place on 17-under-par with England's Georgia Hall one shot behind in seventh.
LPGA Tour Golf
Japan's Nasa Hataoka was in eighth place on 15-under while Korea's Hae Ran Ryu and Switzerland's Albane Valenzuela rounded out the top 10.
What's next?
The Ladies European Tour season heads to South Africa for back-to-back events, with the Joburg Ladies Open taking place at Modderfontein Golf Club from March 1-4 ahead of the Invester South African Women's Open at Steenberg Golf Club the following week.
