Ko Jin-young ties for sixth at Honda LPGA

Ko Jin-young waits to putt on the first green during the final round of the ShopRite LPGA Classic in Galloway, N.J on on June 12, 2022. [AP/YONHAP]

Ko Jin-young finished the Honda LPGA tied for sixth place with 16-under-par, 272, at Siam Country Club in Chonburi, Thailand on Sunday.

The 27-year-old Korean golfer managed a bogey-free 64 with one eagle and six birdies on the last day of the tournament, ending tied for in sixth alongside Lydia Ko of New Zealand, Nelly Korda of the United States and Leona Maguire of Ireland.

Ko Jin-young started the tournament on Thursday after recovering from a wrist injury that had hindered her performance last year. She was in joint 27th place with 8-under-par, 208 until the third round, but displayed more improvements on the final round as she only putted 28 times, unlike the 33 putts she needed in the previous round.

The winner of the Honda LPGA was Lilia Vu of the United States, who recorded 22-under-par, 266.

The tournament’s winner last year, Nanna Madsen of Denmark underperformed this year as she finished in joint 38th place with 8-under-par, 280.

Kim Hyo-joo was the next highest Korean finisher with 15-under-par, 273, in joint 10th place alongside Jodi Shadoff and Georgia Hall of England, Ashleigh Buhai of South Africa and Anna Nordqvist of Sweden.

In an unusually quiet spell for Korean gold, no Korean LPGA golfer has won a tournament since Chun In-gee won the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship last June.

The next LPGA event is the HSBC Women’s World Championship teeing off in Singapore on Thursday.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]