The title of Marathon Classic champion seemed to belong to Lydia Ko, going into Sunday’s final round at Highland Meadows Golf Club in Sylvania.
Ko had a four-shot lead over Danielle Kang to start the round, that lead would stretch to five-shots with six holes to go. However, the back third of the course proved challenging for Ko, bogeying holes 14 and 16 while Kang birdied 13 and 14.
Ko’s lead diminished to one-shot going into the final hole of the tournament.
Both Ko and Kang were within striking distance of the green following their drives. Ko missed wide, ending up on a cart path. Kang’s shot found a bunker just short of the green.
Ko’s third shot bounced through and then off of the green, putting her in the rough. Kang’s shot managed to make it out of the bunker but ultimately ended up just shy of the green.
All Ko needed to do to claim her first victory in over two years was make it out of the rough and sink a putt for par. However, today was not Ko’s day.
She ended up fumbling her chip out of the rough finding the bunker Kang did earlier. On her fifth shot, Ko found the green but ended up missing her putt for bogey, which led to her tapping in for double-bogey.
Ko said about her performance on the 18th, “at the end of the day obviously it wasn’t the finish that I wanted … but I think there are so many positives from this week, and I feel overall more confident in my game.”
Kang recovered nicely to get up-and-down for par and clinch her second LPGA Tour victory in two weeks.
Last week, Kang took home the top spot at the LPGA Drive On Championship hosted at Inverness Club in Toledo.
This is the first time in nearly three years that a golfer has gone back-to-back on the LPGA Tour. The last player to win two consecutive events was Shanshan Feng in 2017.
Following her win at the Marathon Classic, Kang commented on her mood during the 18th hole and watching Ko struggle. “It was a bit rough watching how it ended for Lydia as well, to be honest,” she said. “It happens. It’s golf. That right side is really, really tough.”
Next stop for Kang will be Scotland to play in next week’s Ladies Scottish Open.
She said Toledo now ranks “pretty high up there,” on her list of favorite cities.
Full results and highlights from this year’s Marathon LPGA Classic Presented by Dana can be found on LPGA.com.
