Ko Jin-young defends title at HSBC Women's World Championship

Ko Jin-young plays a shot at the HSBC Women's World Championship at the Sentosa Golf course, in Singapore on Sunday. [AP/YONHAP]

Ko Jin-young won the HSBC Women’s World Championship at Sentosa Golf Club in Singapore on Sunday, defending her title in the event.

The 27-year-old Korean golfer managed 68 with four birdies and one bogey in the final round, winning the tournament with 17-under-par, 271.

Sunday’s win in the competition marks Ko’s 14th LPGA Tour victory. Her last LPGA title was also the HSBC Women’s World Championship in 2022.

Ko is the first golfer ever to defend her title at the event. Even Park In-bee, who was the only player to win the competition twice in 2015 and 2017, did not manage back-to-back wins.

Park did not take part in this year’s since she is pregnant.

Ko’s title is meaningful not only because it is her first LPGA title in a year, but also because it proves that she is back on form after a difficult end to the 2022 season. She picked up a wrist injury last year and was not able to perform at her best level.

Ko also dropped out of the world No. 1 spot last November after shuttling in and out of the top spot for more than a year. She has since dropped down the ranking and arrived in Singapore at world No. 5.

With the win, Ko pockets $270,000 in prize money.

Ko displayed a decent performance at the Honda LPGA in Thailand last week, but failed to win the event as she finished sixth.

The top four golfers who rank on the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings: No. 1 Lydia Ko of New Zealand, No. 2 Nelly Korda of the United States, No 3. Lee Min-jee of Australia, No 4. Atthaya Thitikul of Thailand were expected to be Ko’s biggest competitors in Singapore, although only Korda came close to being a threat.

Lydia Ko underperformed as she finished in 31st place with 5-under-par, 283, while Korda finished in second with 15-under-par, 273.

Lee came in 52nd place with 3-over-par, 291. Thitikul finished in 10th place with 10-under-par, 278.

The only other Korean golfer who ended in the top 10 was Kim Hyo-joo, who came in eighth place with 11-under-par, 277.

Ko’s win on Sunday also marked the first LPGA title won by a Korean golfer since Chun In-gee won the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship last June. Chun finished in 24th with 6-under-par, 282 on Sunday.

With good momentum in hand, Ko is set to play the LPGA Drive On Championship at Superstition Mountain in Arizona on March 23.

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