Ko holds off Kang to win at Boca Rio on LPGA

BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) — A terrific up-and-down for a scrambling par from a short-side bunker on the 72nd hole lifted Lydia Ko to a one-shot victory over Danielle Kang on Sunday at the Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio.

Kang, trying to become only the second player since 1966 to open a season with back-to-back LPGA Tour victories, shot a 4-under 68, one shot better than Ko, but fell one short.

Ko finished at 14-under 274, earning her 17th LPGA victory. Yuka Saso (67), the U.S. Women’s Open champion, was third, two shots behind. Charley Hull (68) and Celine Boutier (69) tied for fourth.

Kang had a 20-foot downhill putt for birdie to force a playoff on the final hole, and even got a read from fellow competitor Celine Boutier, but Kang’s slick putt started left and never drifted back. Ko then tapped in for the win.

Ko won for only the third time since 2016. The 24-year-old from New Zealand started winning LPGA events at the age of 15, and early on, made winning appear easy. (“Trust me,” she said Sunday, “it was never easy.”) At times she said she tried to play perfect golf, and make perfect swings, but has come to the realization that perfect golf doesn’t exist on video games.

“Sometimes, like today,” Ko said, “I’m going to hit some not-so-pretty ones.”

The difference-maker Sunday came at the 15th hole. Ko and Kang were tied at 12 under, and Kang hit the better approach into the par 4. That’s when Ko, who put a new putter in the bag this week, stroked a downhill, 25-foot right-to-left curler that tumbled in on its last roll. Kang had 12 feet and missed. Ko led at 13 under. Both players traded birdies at the par-5 16th, then closed with pars.

The past few years Ko, the former world No. 1, has had to reconstruct her confidence