Lydia Ko wins the Canadian open in a sudden-death playoff

After a playoff with Stacy Lewis, Lydia Ko wins the Canadian open for the third time in four years.

The Ladies Professional Golf Association returned to Canada August 17 to 23, hosted by the prestigious Vancouver Golf Club in Coquitlam. The tournament is officially called the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open, but is viewed as our national championship. This year 97 of the LPGA’s top 100 players participated from 29 countries, including 14 Canadians. Up for grabs was $2.2 million in prize money, with $337,500 going to the winner.

The story lines for the 2015 championship made for great interest. Would Lydia Ko win a third Canadian Championship? (In 2012 New Zealander Ko at age 15 stunned the golfing world when she became the youngest golfer in tour history to win an LPGA tournament.) Would 17-year-old Canadian sensation Brooke Henderson win a second consecutive tournament, following her win at the Cambia Portland Classic the previous week? Would Korean golfer So Yeon Ryu defend her 2014 championship? Would Inbee Park, the no. 1 golfer in the world following her win at the women’s British Open, win her first Canadian championship?

The title sponsor for the tournament was the historic Canadian Pacific Railroad Company. There were 15 partner sponsors, including Molson Canadian, Taylormade, Ford, Shaw and the City of Coquitlam. Golf Canada was responsible for the daily organization of the tournament, while the LPGA set tees and flags on the 6,681 yard course. B.C. Children’s Hospital Foundation is the official tournament charity, notably the Pediatric Cardiology Research Program, which received $1.2 million dollars.

It is impossible to win the Canadian Championship in the first two days—but it is certainly possible to lose the tournament. Several big names went home early, including Julie Inkster, Michelle Wie, Paula Creamer and Karrie Webb. The cutline was plus-1/145, with 70 players and ties making the weekend rounds. The 36-hole leader was Candie Kung from Taiwan, who plays out of Allen, Texas. Kung carded a minus-11/133 to lead the field by two strokes. At the same time she tied a VGC competitive course record of 64.  

Most people came to see Henderson, who hails from Smiths Falls, Ontario. (Two more Canadians made the cut: Alena Sharp of Hamilton, Ontario, and Maude-Aimee LeBlanc of Sherbrooke, Quebec.) Vancouverites embraced this new Canadian star as the crowd favorite. Her newfound popularity didn’t seemed to bother this young woman; rather, she seemed to play off the crowd’s energy.

Canadians were excited because the best amateur in the world in 2013 was now beating the best professionals in the world. Henderson’s reaction to her popularity was typical of a teenager: “Being famous is pretty cool.” 

Henderson’s second round, however, proved to be a grind, and she finished right on the cut line and too far back to win, at minus-4 with a total of 284 strokes. Her older sister Brittany, also entered in the tournament, did not make the final two rounds. 
Day three of the tournament means that players move up or down the leaderboard. Moving down the leaderboard were players such as Karine Icher of France and Xi Yu Lin of China.  Moving up were American Alison Lee, Azahara Munoz of Spain and So Yeon Ryu of South Korea. The third round ended with Kung and Ko as co-leaders at minus-12.

For the first nine holes of the final round, Icher and Kung continued to drop strokes and it appeared that Ko was going to run away with the championship. On the back nine, Ko began to miss fairways and greens, turning her round into a struggle just for par. Making a run were Lexi Thompson (U.S.A.), Alison Lee (U.S.A.) and last year’s winner So Yeon Ryu. On the 17th hole, Stacy Lewis (U.S.A.) birdied to go to 12-under and tied with Ko. Lewis had come all the way back from five strokes down. When both players finished tied after 72 holes, they went to a sudden death playoff on the 18th hole. 

Ko won the extra hole with yet another par. It was a remarkable performance, and she won her third Canadian Championship at only 18 years of age.