It was a magical weekend for Lydia Ko of Albany, New Zealand. The 23-year-old posted a four-round score of -28 on Saturday to win the 2021 Lotte Championship at the Kapolei Golf Club in Hawaii, and in the process had the third-best four-round score at a LPGA tournament ever.
Ko posted scores of five-under-par 67, nine-under-par 63, and back-to-back rounds of seven-under-par 65. No one came close to Ko this week, as there was a four-way tie of golfers who finished in second place, seven strokes back at -21. There you could find South Korea’s Inbee Park and Sei Young Kim, as well as Nelly Korda of the United States and Ireland’s Leona Maguire.
Kim interestingly, has the four-round score LPGA record of -31. She posted that result in winning the 2018 Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Three years ago at Thornberry, Kim won by a larger score than Ko won by on Saturday. She beat her closest competitor, Carlota Ciganda of Spain, by nine strokes.
The second-best score ever on the LPGA Tour also took place at the Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic. Sanshan Feng of China posted a score of -29 and beat Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand by a stroke in 2019.
This is Ko’s 16th LPGA Tournament victory, but her first title in three years. The win should not come as a huge surprise, however. That is because she had an outstanding fourth-round score of -10 in finishing in second place to Patty Tavatanakit of Thailand at the 2021 ANA Inspiration in Rancho Mirage earlier this month.
This was the second time in Ko’s career she posted a score of at least -20 in winning on the LPGA Tour. At the 2015 Fubon LPGA Taiwan Championship, Ko had a score of -20 as she beat So-Yeon Ryu and Eun-hee Ji of South Korea by nine strokes.
