Lydia Ko picks up second LPGA win of season

July 21, 2014
Lydia Ko

Lydia Ko, of New Zealand, kisses her trophy after winning the Marathon Classic LPGA golf tournament at Highland Meadows Golf Club in Sylvania, Ohio, Sunday, July 20, 2014. (AP Photo/Rick Osentoski)

(Yonhap) — South Korean-born New Zealander Lydia Ko picked up her second LPGA Tour victory of 2014 on Sunday in Ohio.

Ko, 17, took the Marathon Classic at Highland Meadows Golf Club in Sylvania, Ohio, with a four-round total of 15-under 269, beating Ryu So-yeon of South Korea by one stroke.

Ko, the world No. 2, shot a bogey-free round of 6-under 65 on Sunday for the victory.

The teenage sensation also won the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic in San Francisco in April for her first victory as a professional. She earlier won the 2012 and the 2013 Canadian Women’s Open as an amateur.

Ko took home $210,000 in the winner’s check and has made $1.06 million so far this year. She is now the youngest LPGA player ever to surpass the $1 million mark in a season at 17 years, two months and 26 days. Lexi Thompson of the United States held the previous record at 18 years, seven months and five days in 2013.

Ko was tied with Ryu for the lead at 14-under through 17 holes, before Ko moved ahead with a birdie on the par-5 18th.

Ryu, playing in a group behind Ko, made back-to-back birdies on the 16th and the 17th. She missed a six-foot birdie putt on the 18th to force a playoff.