Hyo Joo Kim bogeyed her final hole Thursday for a 5-under 66 and a share of the Marathon Classic lead with fellow South Korean player Mirim Lee and Japan’s Haru Nomura.
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The top-ranked Ko made a 10-foot birdie putt on the fourth extra hole after Jutanugarn and Lee ran into trouble on the par-5 18th.
Ko got to 14-under par 270 in regulation as she rallied to catch the leaders and get into the playoff with Lee, who shot 65 and Ariya, who had a 68.
The 19-year-old Ko, who tied for third last week at the Women’s U.S. Open and won a major championship earlier this year at the ANA Inspiration, completed her round with six birdies and one bogey.
It was Ko’s short game which helped her on the final two holes, as she was able to chip close to the hole with both of her third shots on the par fives. Jutanugarn had a good chance on the second playoff hole, but missed an 8-footer.
“I had a couple of bogies yesterday as well, so I kind of told myself that I still had 17 more holes to play and there were a lot of birdie opportunities out there”, she said. I had a few birdies where it was 3, 4, 5 feet.
Ko birdied three of the first six holes, while Kim had three bogeys on the stretch.
“I feel like I played a real solid round”, she said Friday.
“But I said, the ball is (small) enough to fit inside the hole”. “I managed to get up-and-down and I made good putts”.
It marked the second time in two years that it has taken extra holes to determine a Marathon victor.
The world number one led by three shots at the turn before dropping two shots on her back nine to finish tied atop the leaderboard at 14-under. She also looks in line to make her 80th LPGA cut in 81 events. “It’s definitely been a while since I’ve felt like this, but it was worth the wait”.
“The longer we were out here, I think physically and mentally we were all getting a little exhausted”, Ko said.
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“It was just slipping more and more away during the back nine and I said hopefully it’s not like what happend a few weeks ago”, she said. Nordqvist also was 3 under after a 70.
