LYDIA KO (17) BECOMES YOUNGEST WINNER OF 

AUSSIE OPEN

FROM AUSTRALIAN LPG WEBSITE
World No 1 Lydia Ko held off a strong challenge to be crowned the 2015 ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open champion at Royal Melbourne Golf Club today.
Ko, born in South Korea but raised in New Zealand, fired rounds of 70, 70, 72 and 71 to finish atop of the leaderboard at 9-under-par and capture her sixth LPGA title in her stunning career to date.
The 17-year-old started the day in a tie for the lead with Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn. However, it was South Korean Amy Yang who was the main challenger throughout the final round and the pair were tied for the lead with nine to play.
Ko was well aware of Yang’s charge.
 “Yeah, whenever I saw the leaderboard, she had made another birdie and another one so I was like, ‘ok, you need to get your stuff together and you need to make birdies’. She’s such a consistent player and she’s been putting so well on these fast greens so I knew she was tough to get rid of,” said Lydia.
A key moment occurred on the 12th where Ko made a crucial putt, “I made a good putt on that hole yesterday and I made another good putt there today. I thought it was short but I put all my prayers into that putt and told it to go and it dropped and that was awesome.”
Yang’s challenge stalled with bogeys on the 15th and 17th holes which saw her drop out of a share of the lead. Yang eventually finished outright second at seven-under-par.
Ko is the youngest Australian Women's Open champion and she was thrilled, “It’s great. I struggled in the last round at the last couple Australian Opens but this year, I played pretty solid. I think that’s a really important thing and just to win on such an amazing golf course here at (Royal Melbourne), I think that’s another bonus.”
Outright third was Jutanugarn on four-under-par, while sharing fourth place was American Jenny Shin and South Koreans Ilhee Lee and Chella Choi. 
Australian Minjee Lee, the leading amateur, and England’s Charley Hull (73 for 291) were among five players at one-under-par and tied for seventh.
Defending champion Karrie Webb finished tied for 16th at one-over-par
Melissa Reid had a 75 for 295 and T21 finish.
Catriona Matthew finished T26 on 296 with a closing 76.
Kylie Walker finished T44 on 301, also finishing with a 76.

FINAL TOTALS

 FINAL TOTALS
   par 292 (4x73)
283 Lydia Ko (New Zealand) 70 70 72 71
285 Amy Yang (South Korea) 73 70 70 72
288 Ariya Jutanugarn (Thailand) 69 71 72 76
290 Chella Choi (South Korea) 72 75 71 72, Ilhee Lee (South Korea) 68 82 69 71, Jenny Shin (USA) 76 71 74 69
291 - Julieta Granada (PAR)  73 72 70 76, Charley Hull (ENG)  71 71 76 73, Paz Echeverria (CHL)  71 76 71 73, Ha-Na Jang (SKOR)  71 69 76 75, Minjee Lee (AUS)  76 71 72 72
292 - Jessica Korda (USA)  72 71 75 74, Kyu-Jung Baek (SKOR)  77 72 71 72, Mika Miyazato (JPN)  73 74 74 71, Gwladys Nocera (FRA)  71 73 74 74
293 - Marianne Skarpnord (NOR)  75 72 73 73, Katherine Kirk (AUS)  72 73 70 78, Beatriz Recari (ESP)  75 71 72 75, Karrie Webb (AUS)  73 78 71 71
294 - Pernilla Lindberg (SWE)  76 74 71 73
295 - Sydnee Michaels (USA)  73 76 73 73, So Yeon Ryu (SKOR)  77 74 71 73, Shanshan Feng (CHN)  74 74 74 73, Beth Allen (USA)  78 71 70 76, Tiffany Joh (USA)  72 75 76 72, Melissa Reid (ENG)  71 74 75 75
296 - Mo Martin (USA)  77 73 72 74, Laetitia Beck (ISR)  78 71 73 74, Catriona Matthew (SCO)  74 74 72 76
297 - Marion Ricordeau (FRA)  72 73 76 76, Marina Alex (USA)  72 77 73 75, Mina Harigae (USA)  75 71 73 78
298 - Ssu-Chai Cheng (TPE)  76 73 77 72, Amy Anderson (USA)  77 72 77 72, Holly Clyburn (ENG)  73 75 75 75, Katie Burnett (USA)  74 75 78 71
299 - Mi Hyang Lee (SKOR)  75 70 76 78, Alena Sharp (CAN)  70 78 75 76, Sarah Kemp (AUS)  77 73 77 72, Mariajo Uribe (COL)  72 76 79 72
300 - Kelly Tan (MYS)  74 73 75 78, Rachel Hetherington (AUS)  73 78 71 78, Min Seo Kwak (SKOR)  70 81 75 74
301 - Karine Icher (FRA)  75 73 79 74, Kylie Walker (SCO)  75 73 77 76, Nikki Garrett (AUS)  79 72 74 76, Lisa Mccloskey (USA)  75 76 76 74, Anne-Lise Caudal (FRA)  75 75 76 75, Chloe Leurquin (BEL)  75 75 77 74, Ayako Uehara (JPN)  72 75 78 76, Alison Walshe (USA)  74 75 77 75, Ai Miyazato (JPN)  73 75 77 76, Cheyenne Woods (USA)  74 75 80 72
302 - Christina Kim (USA)  74 71 81 76, Sophie Walker (ENG)  73 76 78 75, Maria Mcbride (SWE)  74 77 74 77, Min Lee (TPE)  72 78 81 71
303 - Kristy Mcpherson (USA)  75 76 77 75, Maria Hernandez (ESP)  75 74 80 74, Ju Young Park (SKOR)  73 78 79 73
304 - Wei Ling Hsu (TWN)  78 73 80 73, Na Yeon Choi (SKOR)  74 74 73 83
305 - Kendall Dye (USA)  78 71 80 76
306 - Christine Wolf (AUT)  75 72 78 81
307 - Rebecca Artis (AUS)  72 77 80 78
308 - Karlin Beck (USA)  74 77 77 80, Ann-Kathrin Lindner (GER)  78 73 79 78, Garrett Phillips (USA)  74 77 79 78, Amy Boulden (WAL)  77 74 77 80
309 - Kris Tamulis (USA)  75 76 82 76, Brooke Pancake (USA)  71 78 83 77
310 - Mallory Blackwelder (USA)  75 75 78 82
312 - Christel Boeljon (NED)  76 73 82 81