Leona Maguire signed off with her best round of the week as world number one Jin Young Ko completed a two-shot victory at the HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore.
Maguire carded five birdies and just one dropped shot in a four-under par 68 after hitting her stripes on the weekend at the Tanjong course at Sentosa. The Cavan star’s nine-under tally meant a tied-13th finish, leaving the 27-year old eight back of eventual winner Jin Young Ko.
Asked if the cooler temperatures during Sunday’s final round helped her play, Maguire said: “No, I think I just played a little better today.
“The greens are probably a little bit more receptive. Still feel like I wasn’t quite at my best this week. It was good, but there was a lot of maybes that left a lot of putts out there. And a lot of birdies could have gone either way.
“But overall, it’s nice to finish with the best round of the week and on the last day.”
Maguire found 14 of 18 greens in regulation and needed 29 putts after an enjoyable week in Singapore.
“I’ve really enjoyed the course,” she said. “I think it’s a really good golf course, and I think it’s a really good test, some of the pins we got out there.
“And, yeah, we’re going down to the marina a bit tonight, kind of see the lights. So that will probably be a highlight of the week at the end.”
Jin Young Ko claimed her 13th LPGA victory at the tournament after a closing round 66 saw her top the board at 17-under-par. In her first event of the season, Ko’s final round of 66 saw her set the LPGA Tour’s all-time record for most consecutive rounds in the 60s – 15 straight!
“First of all, I’m just proud myself to record 60s in 15 rounds straight,” said the South Korean star.
“So I’m so happy. I feel amazing right now. And it’s tough playing with two Korean players. They are amazing players. So we are still close friends. So it’s always hard to be playing with the last group, last round with the Korean players. So I just keep more focused on my body and my swing. And, yeah, just happy.”
In Gee Chun, who started the day off in the lead, finished in tied second after a round of 69 put her at 15-under-par alongside Australia’s’ Minjee Lee who carded a spectacular round of 63 which saw a total of 11 birdies.
Next up for Maguire and the LPGA Tour is next week’s Honda LPGA Thailand at Siam Country Club.
Standout stats of the champion:
- Jin Young Ko has won 6 times out of her last 10 starts
- Has won a total of 13 LPGA titles.
- Today’s round of 66 set the LPGA Tour’s all-time record for most consecutive rounds in the 60s (15) and most consecutive sub-par rounds (30)
- Has been No. 1 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings since Jan. 21, 2022, and for 116 overall weeks
- This is the second time in her LPGA Tour career that Jin Young Ko has won in her season debut, joining the 2018 ISPS Women’s Australian Open, which was also her debut tournament as an LPGA Tour Member
- Her 114 consecutive bogey-free holes in 2019 bested Tiger Woods’ record of 110 and is the longest known streak in LPGA and PGA Tour history
- Has a dog named Dae Bak, which means Awesome in Korean
- Full scoring HERE
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