Lydia Ko did something she’d never done before Sunday.
The reigning Olympic Gold medalist and AIG Women’s Open champion has accomplished as much as anyone in women’s golf over the last decade-plus. Ko already cemented her place in the Hall-of-Fame last year at 27. But like Tiger Woods at Riviera, sometimes it’s the simple regular season events, like the HSBC Women’s World Championship, that elude the game’s biggest stars.
That’s no longer the case for Ko.
Starting the day with a one-stroke lead over Charley Hull in what was billed as an epic final-round clash, Ko made three consecutive birdies on the front nine to pull away from the field. She finished with a 69 at Singapore’s Sentosa Golf Club, carding a 13 under total score to win her 23rd LPGA title by four strokes over Jeeno Thitikul and Ayaka Furue.
“You know, I dreamt last night that I won but then I woke up, and I was like, ‘Dang, it’s not real yet.’ But I just wanted to focus on my game,” Ko said. “Obviously this one is called Asia’s Major, to kind of add Asia major to my major collection is really cool.”
Ko finally got across the line in her 11th try in the event.
“I think I’ve been in the final group [here] a couple times,” she said. “I remember one of the worst ones was we hit our drive on the 18th, and we were on the 18th hole, and they blew the horn because of thunderstorms, and none of us in the group were going to win. That was a very odd experience, knowing that you have a hole and you’re the final group out there, and the winner is already set pretty much. I think it was Inbee that won that year.
“But yeah, because I had that experience, it didn’t feel very new but there were a lot of people and I rode all the support they were giving me. I had some really poor rounds out here, too. So I knew that I know the golf course really well, and I think that played into my favor; that I’ve been there and done that. So it didn’t feel like a completely new experience.”
By the time Ko finished off her run of three straight birdies, she was already four clear of Thitikul. However, Ko dropped a shot at 12, letting Thitikul inch closer.
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The spread was down to three when Ko faced a 40-footer for birdie on the par-3 15th. The putt was so long that Ko started walking after it when the ball was halfway to the hole as if to try to mark it quickly and get out of the way.
But as the ball started to slow down and break, it just caught the low edge and spun into the cup for an unlikely birdie-2 to push the lead back out to four. Ko turned back to caddie Paul Cormack, laughing as the pair went for a high-five.
“My big goal was just to two-putt. I honestly didn’t think it was going in until it lipped in,” Ko said. “Those things, when those kind of things happen, you think, oh, maybe it is — maybe it is going to be my time to win the event.”
Ko said she didn’t want to get ahead of herself knowing the following hole was a reachable par-5, but she knew the long make was a boon because the two-putt wasn’t automatic.
“But to hole that one, it’s almost like a 1 1/2-shot swing for me,” she said.
It’s Ko’s first victory since the end of her three-victory tear late last summer that included the Olympics, Open and the Kroger Queen City Championship.
She had four victories total in 2024, which led her to come to terms with not having much to prove with a big follow-up in 2025. Ko has stated previously she intends to retire by 30 but hasn’t held firm to that timeline in recent months.
“I just kind of came to peace with it that if I have a good year, you know, that’s great,” she said. “But I’m not trying to prove anything to anybody else, and who is to say that, you know, I had a great year, and I can have an even better one.
“Obviously we have a long season ahead. But this is my first time winning in the spring, Asia Swing. So it’s definitely nice to win a new event for me.”
