Lydia Ko Claims 1st LPGA Win in 3 Years at Lotte Championship

Golfer Lydia Ko ended her three-year victory drought on the LPGA Tour on April 17. Ko hit seven birdies in the final round and finished with a 28-under 260 to win the Lotte Championship in Kapolei, Hawaii.

Her 16th career victory came in dominant fashion, as she ended far ahead of co-runner-ups Park In-bee and Kim Sei-young of Korea, Leona Maguire of Ireland and Nelly Korda of the U.S.

Ko, a former child prodigy who became the youngest person ever to win an LPGA title at the age of 15 and ascended to the world No. 1 spot two years later, collected 14 titles by the end of 2016. But she had struggled since then, managing to win only one more title, in 2018.

"When it doesn't happen you do doubt. If I said I didn't doubt myself at all it would be a lie. I wondered if I'd ever be back in the winners' circle, but obviously I'm grateful for all that's happened in my career so far," Ko said in an interview after her comeback win.