At their first event in six weeks, Rolex ranked No. 2 Jin Young Ko the field at the Cambia Portland Classic 2021 absolutely. Ko carded a bogey-free 69 on Sunday (the third and final round after Saturday’s game was canceled due to rain) and took her ninth LPGA Tour win, a runaway four-stroke win over Jeongeun Lee and Su Oh.
“I really wanted to play yesterday, but we couldn’t play. I tried a bogey-free lap today and I did it, ”said Ko, whose last competition was the Tokyo Olympics in early August. “I’ve had a lot of misses and I’ve had a lot of misses or something so I had to do great par saves, but I did it.”
Ko never blinked on Sunday and started the day one stroke ahead of Gemma Dryburgh. She made her first birdie at seventh, growing her lead to three strokes after Dryburgh made three and six bogeys, and the lead grew to five with another birdie at tenth.
Oh and Lee kept Ko in their sights, with Lee taking the eagle in 18th place to draw within three at -7. But Ko, always the confident putter, dropped a 23-foot putt off the back of the green at 18 to underscore the win.
“I thought I was just doing two putts. Simple. But the ball goes in, who knows, ”she said with a laugh.
Oh and Lee both took the top rankings of their LPGA Tour careers with a tie in second place. Oh had previously finished second three times, while Lee’s best result to date was a tie for third.
“I played with a slow start and stayed with it and just pocketed a really good par putt at 6 and then I got the round going a bit and then got one at 7,” said Oh. “After that I did pretty well today. Falling a few more putts would have made me closer, but still pretty happy with the way I’ve been playing all week. “
The Cambia Portland Classic was shortened to 54 holes due to the space available at the Oregon Golf Club, which had had a little more than two inches of rain since Friday evening. The game was completely rainy on Saturday, the third round started on Sunday at 7.30 a.m. Pacific.
Ko raved about the hard work of the maintenance staff at Oregon Golf Club, who have spent countless hours making the course playable over the past two days. “This course was really fantastic, perfectly cleared and the fairways and greens are really perfect,” she said. “I can’t wait to play next year.”
Dryburgh fought on Sunday, carding a 4 over 76 and finishing eighth overall with -3. European Solheim Cup star Carlota Ciganda, who played in the last group with Ko and Dryburgh, shot a 1 over 73 and finished fifth with -4.