LYDIA KO (14) WINS AUSTRALIA WOMEN'S AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

FROM THE STUFF.CO.NZ WEBSITE
Lydia Ko embellished her status as the world's leading female amateur golfer when she secured the Australian women's championship by defeating local hope Breanna Elliott in Melbourne today.
The 14-year-old, pictured, from North Harbour, New Zealand  started strongly in the 36-hole final at the Woodlands Golf Club and eventually subdued Elliott 4 and 3 to become one of the youngest ever winners of a tournament first staged in 1894.
Ko, who won the stroke play component of the championships in 2011 before being eliminated in the quarter-finals of match play, became the first New Zealander to win the title since Jan Higgins triumphed in 1989. She is also the first non-Australian to claim the crown since Great Britain's Julie Hall was victorious in 1995.
Local knowledge was of no benefit to the Victorian as Ko, whose only anxious moment came in the quarter-finals against Tilly Poulsen, took control of the final from the moment she won the opening hole.
Three birdies and a par then enabled her to build an impregnable five-hole advantage before Elliott finally had cause for celebration when she won the ninth with her only birdie of the opening round. Ko duly restored her advantage on the 10th, dropped the 11th but finished strongly to claim two of the final three holes to lead by six at the break.
The diminutive right hander's advantage ballooned to seven up after 21 but Elliott delayed the inevitable by winning consecutive holes to trim the margin to four before Ko halved the next three holes to close out victory on the 33rd
Ko had been runner-up to Elliott after two rounds of stroke play and then proved too strong for Jacinta Brideson and Cathleen Santoso in the early rounds of match play.
Her campaign was only in jeopardy when Poulsen was four up with six to play in the round of the last eight but Ko rallied magnificently to win at the second extra hole after birdieing six of the final eight holes.
Ko carried that momentum into a semi-final with Minjee Lee, routing the Australian international 6 and 4 to set her up for Sunday's commanding performance.
The 14-year-old's next goal is to improve on her second placing at the 2011 NSW Open when this year's tournament starts at the Oatlands Golf Club in Sydney on Friday. Ko's profile rose exponentially after she narrowly missed becoming the NSW Open's youngest-ever winner at age 13 when a bogey on the last enabled Caroline Hedwall to win by a stroke.