Kiwi Lydia Ko has notched her first victory of 2022, winning the Gainbridge LPGA tournament at Florida's Boca Rio on Monday (NZ time).
Holding a two shot lead over her next closest competitor, Danielle Kang of USA, 24-year-old Ko produced a three-under final round, shooting 14-under for the tournament to take victory.
The Kiwi had held the lead after every round of the tournament, with victory just reward for her consistency across the four days.
The win is Ko's 17th event win on the LPGA tour, and her first since the Lotte Championship in April 2021.
Beginning the day with a two-shot lead over Kang, Ko started brightly with a birdie on her opening hole, only to drop a shot with a bogey on the second.
And as Kang made birdie on the third, the two were even at 11-under after their first three holes.
Getting through the rest of the front nine without dropping another shot, Ko made birdie on the 11th to momentarily take the lead, only for Kang to match her minutes afterwards.
A birdie on the 12th gave Kang the lead, only to hand a share back to Ko with a bogey on the 13th.
It wasn't until the par four 15th that Ko regained the lead, as she sunk a fantastic long range putt for birdie, reading the slope of the green to perfection as Kang was forced to settle for par.
Ko sunk another birdie on the 16th to move to 14-under, keeping her one shot advantage, before another par on the 17th left the Kiwi needing to only match Kang on the last hole of the tournament.
And despite a nervy start, finding two separate bunkers on her first two shots of the 18th, Ko was able to save par and seal victory as Kang's attempt at a birdie to force a playoff agonisingly missed.
The win was equally special for Ko, with Kang being one of the Kiwi's closest friends on the LPGA tour.
"She's obviously one of the players that I've known for the longest time out here," Ko says of Kang.
"She's kind of taken me under her wing, and even though we may not text each other every day or don't live in the same cities, I feel like she's always got my back.
"There hasn't been many times where we play in the final group, she's been playing such amazing golf going into today.
"I just tried to focus on me, and tried to play the best golf I can. At points it was a bit of a grind, but I'm glad I could get it done."
The win also leaves Ko just 22 points short of qualifying for the LPGA's hall of fame - but the Kiwi says she's not worrying about any accolades at this point in her career.
"Obviously I have to play well [and] win to collect those points along the way," she adds.
"All those awards and accolades and being in the hall of fame is great, and not many people are there. If I can have my name alongside the many amazing legends that are in the hall of fame, it would be a huge honour.
"But there's things in my game that I want to improve in my game, get better at to give myself a run for it."
