x

Jin Young Ko dominates CP Women’s Open with unimaginable bogey-free streak

August 26, 2019

There were plenty of impressive things about Jin Young Ko’s win at the CP Women’s Open. Her 26-under total. Her closing course-record 8-under 64. Her five-shot margin of victory. Her six back-nine birdies (and four in her last five holes) to seal the deal.

But by far the most impressive piece of her week in Ontario was that Ko, who’s ranked No. 1 in the world, didn’t make a single bogey. She became the first LPGA player to win bogey-free since Inbee Park accomplished the feat in 2015. The feat came just weeks after J.T. Poston went bogey-free at the Wyndham Championship.

But it gets better. Ko actually carried a 34-hole bogey-free streak coming into the event, bringing her total to nearly six full rounds, 106 holes, without a single blemish on her card. Her last bogey came at the Women’s British Open, where she had to put a square on her card on the second hole of the third round. On Sunday, her closest call came at No. 9, when Ko’s approach shot ended up in the woods. No matter — Ko hacked that one out to four feet and poured in the putt for another ho-hum par.

“When she made that up and down, I guess that was kind of it,” runner-up Nicole Broch Larsen told the AP. Broch Larsen posted 21-under, while defending champion Brooke Henderson and Lizette Salas finished in a share of 3rd at 19 under.

On the week, Ko hit 45 of 56 fairways and 65 of 72 greens in regulation. The win marked her fourth of the season and cemented her spot atop the world rankings.

Ko and Henderson, the overwhelming local fan favorite, walked up to the 18th green together, showered by cheers. “I thought when I was walking to the 18th green that the crowd was for Brooke, not me,” Ko told the AP. “We’re here in Canada and she has a lot of fans.

“So I said, ‘Brooke, this crowd is for you.’ But she said ‘no, it’s for you,’ so we went together.”

x