Lydia Ko wins Queen City Championship, third LPGA title of the year

MAINEVILLE, Ohio — Lydia Ko continued her stellar summer streak by turning a two-stroke deficit into defeat by closing with a 9-under 63 to win the Kroger Queen City Championship, her third LPGA Tour title of the season.

Ko won for the third time in her last four appearances, earning her an Olympic gold medal and giving the 27-year-old New Zealander enough points for the LPGA Hall of Fame.

It also includes another major tournament: the Women’s British Open, this time in St Andrews.

“It was pretty surreal,” Ko said after her five-stroke win over Jeeno Thitikul at the TPC River’s Bend, who closed the match with a 70 and simply couldn’t keep up the pace.

Thitikul had a two-stroke lead after eight holes of the final round. Three holes later, the Thai was chasing the most popular player in women’s golf.

Thitikul bogeyed the par-4 ninth hole. Ko made a 10-foot birdie putt on the 10th hole to tie for first, then took a two-stroke lead with a 12-foot eagle putt on the par-5 11th.

Ko finally took control with two two-stroke wins: she made a birdie and Thitikul made a bogey on holes 13 and 15.

Thitikul birdied the par-5 final hole to finish in sole second place, one stroke ahead of Haeran Ryu (67).

“It’s just crazy — it’s super crazy. Her putter was on fire today,” Thitikul said of playing next to Ko. “I respect her as my older sister, as a legend and also as my role model. It was such an amazing experience to see her in my eyes on the same tee box, on the same greens, like VIP seats.”

Women’s No. 1 golfer Nelly Korda, who still holds a comfortable lead in the Race to CME Globe with six wins this year, shot 68 to finish tied for fifth place, nine strokes behind.

Ko, who finished at 23-under 265, now has 22 career LPGA victories. It was the fifth time she has had at least three victories in the same season on the LPGA, her best year with five victories coming when she was 18 and ranked No. 1 in the world.

Ko also won the season opener in Florida in January, but there were times during the summer when she wondered if she would ever get the final victory she needed for the LPGA Hall of Fame.

She did this with Olympic gold in Paris, won her third major in St. Andrews and after a three-week break she picked up where she left off as if nothing had changed.

“I had the most incredible three weeks in Europe. And now, after another three weeks off here, I’m not entirely sure what it’s going to be like,” Ko said.

She was two shots behind Thitikul at the start of the final round and expected Thitikul to stay strong. The Thai did just that, but she fell back with bogeys on the ninth, thirteenth and fifteenth holes and Ko was on her way to another victory.

Ko played the lowest round of the week at TPC River’s Bend, which was used this year while Kenwood Country Club undergoes a number of course improvements.

“It’s very special to have a lap like that as a crowning achievement,” she said.

Ko heads to South Korea next week to play in the Hana Financial Group Championship. It’s a chance for her to make it 30 career titles worldwide, including wins on the Korea LPGA, the Ladies European Tour and the ALPG Tour in Australia.

Savannah Grewal of Mississauga, Ont., finished at 9-under overall after shooting a 71 on the day. Meanwhile, Hamilton’s Alena Sharp closed at 5-under overall after shooting a 72 on Sunday.