Lyda Ko wins  NZ Women's Open - then

 gives away all the prizemoney!

LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR NEWS RELEASE

From Bethan Cutler, LET Media Manager

Christchurch, New Zealand - World No. 1 female professional  Lydia Ko today won her third ISPS Handa New Zealand Women's Open in impressive style at Clearwater Golf Club in Christchurch.

Ko held the overnight lead by one shot from French rookie Justine Dreher but those who thought that the day would be a procession for the 18-year-old defending champion hadn’t counted on several challenges coming, the first by talented American Amelia Lewis who had finished second to Ko here in 2013, when she became the Ladies European Tour’s youngest winner in history as a 15-year-old.

Lewis started the round at three-under-par, five shots behind Ko, and was playing more than an hour ahead of the overnight leader. By the time Lewis had played the 11th hole she was six-under for her round, 10-under-par for the tournament and found herself one shot ahead of Ko, who had made a steady but unspectacular start to her round.

However, as many before her had done this week, Lewis’s round came to grief over the tough finishing three holes and she would end the day at three-under-par, to finish in a tie for sixth place.

The next challenger was the talented young Dane Emily Kristine Pedersen, who began the day two shots behind Ko and started brilliantly with an eagle at the par-5 second hole. She bogeyed the short par-3 fourth, but another birdie at the 10th put her in a tie for the lead. 

Pedersen also falterdc down the stretch, making bogeys at 14 and 17 to end in sixth position on six-under-par.

While all this was going on Ko was playing steady golf. She birdied the par-5 second hole before making a disappointing bogey on the par-5 sixth to be even for the day. Ko could not have helped but notice the challengers coming at her but she remained calm and made the killer punches at 10 and 11 where she made back-to-back birdies to edge in front once again.

The Kiwi star made a fantastic up and down from the sand on the tricky par-4 12th, and cruised through the tricky stretch of holes from 13 to 17, having the luxury of a two-shot lead heading up 18 over South Korean amateur Hye Jin Choi, Englishwoman Felicity Johnson and Nanna Koerstz Madsen who were all in the clubhouse at eight-under-par.

Ko made no mistakes and hit a superb drive up the 18th, followed by a superb iron shot to eight feet. She failed to make the birdie putt but a tap in par sealed a two stroke victory.

There was also a strong showing from the LET Rookies with Frenchwoman Justine Dreher in fifth spot, Noemi Jimenez Martin of Spain tied eighth and Aberdeen-born Gemma Dryburgh tied in 10th place with Olivia Cowan, daughter of a Germany-based English club professional.

As was the case in 2015, Ko had the chance to share her victory with the huge galleries who had come out to watch her play. While the talking point of the day should have been Ko’s third ISPS Handa New Zealand Women’s Open title, there was a small distraction which occurred at 1.13pm local time.

Just 11 minutes before Ko and playing partner Justine Dreher of France were due to tee off for their final round, a magnitude 5.8 earthquake struck just 10 kilometres from the course and had both locals and international visitors in a panic for the 30 seconds or so it lasted. 

Over the next five hours there would be a total of 52 further after-shocks, the initial quake was the ninth largest earthquake in Christchurch’s history.
 The earthquake came a week before the fifth anniversary of a 6.3 magnitude quake that killed 185 people in Christchurch and area.

The wider golfing community is very aware that Lydia Ko is not only a brilliant golfer but a very special young woman and today she showed us yet another example of her generosity. 

After thanking the title sponsors ISPS Handa, her family, her team and other event stakeholders, Ko shed a few tears as she thanked NZ Golf, describing how much they had done for her career and that she would not have achieved what she has done without them behind her. 

She then announced that she would be donating her entire tournament prize money to help New Zealand in some way.

 “I have discussed this with my family and my team and this is something that we all want to do. We will seriously think about the best way that we can use this money to help New Zealand.”

Ko dedicated the win to her good friend and mentor former New Zealand Golf President Patsy Hankin who passed away suddenly last year.

The Ladies European Tour now heads to the Grange Golf Club in Adelaide for the ISPS Handa Women's Australian Open, the second tournament of 2016. 

SCOTSWATCH (By Colin Farquharson)
Pamela Pretswell, well placed through the first two rounds with scores of 68 and 70, withdrew from the tournament before the final round. 
The Hamilton player had the misfortune to  hurt her back during the pre-round warm-up and was in no condition to play 18 holes. What a tragedy!
Aberdeen-born Gemma Dryburgh had her best finish since she turned pro, shooting 73-70-69 for T10 on 212.
Gemma's dad John said: " Absolutely terrific.  In the circumstances it maybe was her best pro finish although she played well at the Q School.

"It really was a superb performance by Gemma after giving away a double bogey on her first hole on Friday with the natural nerves of her debut."

Falkirk-based American Beth Allen shot 71-74-69 for 214 and T24 position.
Heather MacRae, now attached to Archerfield, had ever-improving scores of 75-71-70 for T37 on 216. Pity there was not a fourth round.
Kelsey MacDonald finished T50 on 219 with three 73s. Now that's consistency! 

THE COMPLETE SCOREBOARD 

	Pos	To	Start	P L A Y E R	Nat	Hole	Score	R1	R2	R3	R4	Total
	1		1	Lydia Ko		F	-10	69	67	70		206
	2		16	Felicity Johnson		F	-8	70	71	67		208
	2		6	Hye Jin Choi (a)		F	-8	71	68	69		208
	2		3	Nanna Koerstz Madsen		F	-8	70	68	70		208
	5		2	Justine Dreher		F	-7	67	70	72		209
	6		16	Amelia Lewis		F	-6	70	71	69		210
	6		3	Emily Kristine Pedersen		F	-6	72	66	72		210
	8		6	Liv Cheng		F	-5	70	69	72		211
	8		6	Noemi Jimenez Martin		F	-5	70	69	72		211
	10		43	Valentine Derrey		F	-4	71	74	67		212
	10		31	Sarah Kemp		F	-4	71	73	68		212
	10		31	Olivia Cowan		F	-4	73	71	68		212
	10		27	Hannah Green (a)		F	-4	71	72	69		212
	10		27	Gemma Dryburgh		F	-4	73	70	69		212
	10		20	Whitney Hillier		F	-4	75	67	70		212
	10		12	Miriam Nagl		F	-4	72	68	72		212
	17		31	Katie Burnett		F	-3	72	72	69		213
	17		20	Danielle Montgomery		F	-3	73	69	71		213
	17		20	Stacey Keating		F	-3	72	70	71		213
	17		20	Lauren Hibbert		F	-3	71	71	71		213
	17		12	Marianne Skarpnord		F	-3	70	70	73		213
	17		6	Nicole Broch Larsen		F	-3	66	73	74		213
	17		6	Maria Hernandez		F	-3	70	69	74		213
	24		43	Tonje Daffinrud		F	-2	70	75	69		214
	24		43	Beth Allen		F	-2	71	74	69		214
	24		43	Nuria Iturrios		F	-2	73	72	69		214
	24		31	Katelyn Must		F	-2	72	72	70		214
	24		31	Angel Yin		F	-2	71	73	70		214
	24		31	Hannah Burke		F	-2	71	73	70		214
	24		27	Trish Johnson		F	-2	73	70	71		214
	24		27	Gwladys Nocera		F	-2	68	75	71		214
	24		12	Nina Muehl		F	-2	72	68	74		214
	33		31	Laura Davies		F	-1	74	70	71		215
	33		20	Camilla Lennarth		F	-1	72	70	73		215
	33		12	Lauren Taylor		F	-1	70	70	75		215
	33		6	Jeongmin Cho		F	-1	71	68	76		215
	37		52	Celine Herbin		F	E	73	73	70		216
	37		52	Heather MacRae		F	E	75	71	70		216
	37		43	Adriana Brent		F	E	74	71	71		216
	37		31	Diana Luna		F	E	74	70	72		216
	41		52	Amy Boulden		F	+1	74	72	71		217
	41		52	Rebecca Kay (a)		F	+1	74	72	71		217
	41		52	Manon De Roey		F	+1	71	75	71		217
	41		43	Becky Brewerton		F	+1	73	72	72		217
	45		43	Rebecca Artis		F	+2	74	71	73		218
	45		43	Ellen Davies-Graham		F	+2	75	70	73		218
	45		20	Cathryn Bristow		F	+2	69	73	76		218
	45		20	Doris Chen		F	+2	71	71	76		218
	45		16	Isabelle Boineau		F	+2	73	68	77		218
	50		52	Sarah-Jane Smith		F	+3	77	69	73		219
	50		52	Kelsey Macdonald		F	+3	73	73	73		219
	50		52	Jessica Speechley		F	+3	75	71	73		219
	50		31	Marion Ricordeau		F	+3	73	71	75		219
	50		16	Alannah Campbell (a)		F	+3	71	70	78		219
	55		52	Caroline Hedwall		F	+4	72	74	74		220
	55		31	Elissa-Jayne Orr		F	+4	71	73	76		220
	57		52	Eleanor Givens		F	+5	76	70	75		221
	57		43	Elmay Viking		F	+5	75	70	76		221
	57		31	Momoka Kobori (a)		F	+5	70	74	77		221
	60		31	Jenna Hunter		F	+7	70	74	79		223
	61			Vicky Thomas		Cut	3	76	71			147
	61			Rica Tse		Cut	3	76	71			147
	61			Alexandra Vilatte		Cut	3	75	72			147
	61			Laura Jansone		Cut	3	75	72			147
	61			Alexandra Bonetti		Cut	3	74	73			147
	61			Emily Talley		Cut	3	74	73			147
	61			Michelle Koh		Cut	3	71	76			147
	61			Bree Arthur		Cut	3	70	77			147
	69			Caroline Martens		Cut	4	80	68			148
	69			Jade Schaeffer		Cut	4	78	70			148
	69			Rebecca Codd		Cut	4	76	72			148
-	69			Becky Morgan		Cut	4	75	73			148
-	69			Chloe Leurquin		Cut	4	74	74			148
-	69			Louise Stahle		Cut	4	74	74			148
-	69			Kylie Walker		Cut	4	73	75			148
-	69			Minoria Iwasaki (a)		Cut	4	71	77			148
	77			Vani Kapoor		Cut	5	75	74			149
	77			Stacey Tate		Cut	5	75	74			149
	77			Jenny Lee		Cut	5	75	74			149
	77			Aditi Ashok		Cut	5	74	75			149
	77			Fabienne In-Albon		Cut	5	73	76			149
	77			Munchin Keh (a)		Cut	5	73	76			149
	77			Kyle Roig		Cut	5	73	76			149
	77			Isi Gabsa		Cut	5	71	78			149
	85			Krista Bakker		Cut	6	81	69			150
	85			Lynnette Brooky		Cut	6	81	69			150
	85			Hanhusan Yu (a)		Cut	6	79	71			150
-	85			Leigh Whittaker		Cut	6	79	71			150
-	85			Ayame Morii		Cut	6	78	72			150
-	85			Jayde Panos		Cut	6	78	72			150
-	85			Christine Wolf		Cut	6	77	73			150
-	85			Lorie Kane		Cut	6	76	74			150
	85			Natalia Escuriola Martinez		Cut	6	74	76			150
	85			Liz Young		Cut	6	73	77			150
	95			Chantelle Cassidy (a)		Cut	7	77	74			151
	95			Annabel Dimmock		Cut	7	77	74			151
	95			Alex Peters		Cut	7	75	76			151
	95			Tamie Durdin		Cut	7	75	76			151
	95			Georgina Simpson		Cut	7	74	77			151
	95			Rosie Davies		Cut	7	74	77			151
	95			Dewi Claire Schreefel		Cut	7	73	78			151
	95			Karolin Lampert		Cut	7	72	79			151
	103			Amy Walsh		Cut	8	81	71			152
	103			Leticia Ras-Anderica		Cut	8	77	75			152
	103			Georgia Hall		Cut	8	75	77			152
	106			Jamila Jaxaliyeva		Cut	9	81	72			153
	106			Anne Van Dam		Cut	9	80	73			153
	106			Lien Willems		Cut	9	77	76			153
	106			Alison Whitaker		Cut	9	75	78			153
	106			Tzehan Lin (a)		Cut	9	74	79			153
	111			Ae Young Shin		Cut	10	80	74			154
	111			Grace Lennon		Cut	10	79	75			154
	111			Stephanie Na		Cut	10	77	77			154
	111			Ines Lescudier		Cut	10	76	78			154
	115			Hayley Bettencourt		Cut	11	82	73			155
	115			Mireia Prat		Cut	11	80	75			155
	115			Je Yeong Lee (a)		Cut	11	80	75			155
	115			Johanna Gustavsson		Cut	11	78	77			155
	115			Isabella Ramsay		Cut	11	78	77			155
	115			Nadine Smith		Cut	11	78	77			155
	115			Chayuda Singhsuwan		Cut	11	78	77			155
	115			Marta Sanz Barrio		Cut	11	77	78			155
	123			Brooke Hamilton (a)		Cut	12	83	73			156
	123			Ashley Ona		Cut	12	78	78			156
	123			Ana Menendez		Cut	12	77	79			156
	123			Breanna Gill		Cut	12	76	80			156
	127			Sydney Cox		Cut	13	82	75			157
	127			Kristen Farmer		Cut	13	80	77			157
	127			Malene Jorgensen		Cut	13	80	77			157
	127			Charlotte Ellis		Cut	13	80	77			157
	127			Kate Chadwick (a)		Cut	13	78	79			157
	132			Amandeep Drall		Cut	14	83	75			158
	132			Alexandra Orchard		Cut	14	79	79			158
	132			Paige Stubbs		Cut	14	77	81			158
	132			Victoria Lovelady		Cut	14	76	82			158
	132			Grace Senior (a)		Cut	14	75	83			158
	137			Amolkan Phalajivin		Cut	15	81	78			159
	138			Katy Jarochowicz		Cut	16	83	77			160
	138			Hathaikarn Wongwaikijphaisal		Cut	16	80	80			160
	140			Brittany Bomar		Cut	17	81	80			161
	141			Yanjiao Jiang		Cut	19	78	85			163
	141			Kyla Inaba		Cut	19	78	85			163
	143			Sienna Lambert		Cut	20	79	85			164
	144			Ashleigh Blacksell		Cut	22	79	87			166
	145			Jessica Macphee		Cut	29	82	91			173
	W/D			Belinda Diamond
	W/D			Pamela Pretswell