Lexi Thompson outlasts Lydia Ko to win LPGA KEG Hana Bank in Korea
Lexi Thompson got an element of payback from Lydia Ko on Sunday.
A month after Ko caught and then sprinted past Thompson in the final round of The Evian Championship for her first major title, Thompson returned the favor. With Ko sporting the 54-hole lead at the LPGA KEG Hana Bank Championship in South Korea, Thompson caught Ko, who faded down the stretch, to pick up her second win of the year.
Thompson’s 3-under 69 at Sky 72 Golf Club was enough to overcome a one-shot deficit to Ko and Sung Hyun Park to begin the day. The American’s 15-under 273 total earned her a one shot win over Park and a recently resurgent Yani Tseng. Ko, Solheim Cup hero Gerina Piller and Amy Yang, who ended the tournament with a record nine consecutive birdies, all finished tied for fourth two behind Thompson.
This wasn’t a major, but it was a big deal against an elite international field. In the wake of the patriotic post-Solehim spirit, the win may have even meant more. The Americans beat the Europeans by the slimmest of margins, with a record comeback no less, in their biennial match in September. However, the Americans face a bigger rival for week-to-week trophies in the South Koreans, who have dominated the sport for more than a decade. Thompson just won the only LPGA event played on their soil this year, becoming the first American-born player to win the event, which started in 2002.
A major? No. A major breakthrough? Certainly.
“I would say this is more of a major feel coming over here, with how big the crowds are and how the golf courses are set up, the grandstands,” Thompson said. “Just the whole feel of it, this is like a major championship over here, for our Asia Swing.”
The fans came out to see their home-grown talent, including Ko, who was born in South Korea and attends college there. They didn’t get the ending they hoped. However, the home crowd, Thompson said, showed nothing but support.
“It was incredible,” she said. “It’s great to see the big crowds and to hear them cheering on everybody in between shots or in between holes.”
For the long-hitting 20-year-old, the gap in her game has been with a wedge or a putter in her hands. But it appears the work she’s been putting into that critical aspect of her maturing game is starting to pay dividends.
“My game is definitely coming together like it was there, just overall consistency, but that’s what I’ve been working on, just trying to get it all to come together for me,” she said.
If Lexi Thompson can play with a complete game, she may not be long from playing spoiler in the budding rivalry for No. 1 in the world between Ko and Inbee Park.
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
