The 20-year-old finished four shots clear of Sei Young Kim who claimed solo second.
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They’ll be home-province favourites at the US$1.6-million Manulife LPGA Classic in Cambridge, Ont., starting Thursday.
Ariya said following her third round on Saturday that she doesn’t watch the leaderboard.
Henderson, 18, finished tied for 14th at 11-under for her best result at a Canadian Open. “I made some good pars on the first few holes, and then I started to hit some better iron shots and made some putts”. “I think I was a little far away going into today”, said Ko. A year ago back at Vancouver as a pro, she beat Stacy Lewis in a playoff. She successfully defended her title in 2013, winning by five strokes in Edmonton.
Ko has won the event three of the past four years, the first two as an amateur.
South Korean Chun In-Gee, the victor of the 2015 US Women’s Open, took third at 270 after a 69. “I know in the past we’ve done well as a group, the Canadians, so it’s nice to see halfway through we’ve got some people up there. So after that I feel like just play golf, and it didn’t feel like anything changed”. “And to come back here and miss the cut last time and then really dominate and kind of take a little bit back from the course that it took from me in 2009 [when the tournament was last held at Priddis] and be here in front of the hometown crowd, it’s wonderful”.
“After I won my first tournament, I feel like I reached my goal”, she told reporters after her round.
New Zealand’s Lydia Ko hits from the 13th tee during final-round action at the LPGA Canadian Open golf tournament in Priddis, Alberta, Sunday, Aug. 28, 2016.
Calgary-raised amateur Jaclyn Lee is 5-under, while superstar-in-the-making and gallery-magnet Brooke Henderson – the beloved blonde from Smiths Falls, Ont., is already a three-time victor on the LPGA Tour – has shaved four strokes off par.
The world No. 2 didn’t give her pursuit-pack much hope in Sunday’s final round, mixing seven birdies and just one bogey in her last lap of the Raven Course at Priddis Greens and signing for a four-day tab of 23-under 265. “After I win like three tournaments in a row, I really strayed”. “But when I got here on Monday and Tuesday, it’s getting a lot better, and first round of the tournament it’s fine”.
“After that, I feel like just play golf”.
Hamilton’s Alena Sharp carried her strong play into the final round, shooting a 67 to wrap-up the event in fourth spot at 16 under. Thats really helped me the last two days..
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Quebec City’s Anne-Catherine Tanguay was the only other Canadian to qualify to play on the weekend as her two-day total of 1 under put her right on the cut line with a host of other players.
