Lydia Ko has won her 17th LPGA Tour title

Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio - Final Round

BOCA RATON, FLORIDA - JANUARY 30: Lydia Ko of New Zealand poses with the trophy after winning the 2022 Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio Golf Club on January 30, 2022 in Boca Raton, Florida. (Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images)

Lydia Ko has won her 17th LPGA Tour title at the Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio and put herself within touching distance of being eligible for the LPGA Hall of Fame.

Ko went wire-to-wire at Boca Rio Golf Club shooting rounds of 63, 70, 72, and 69 to finish 14-under-par, a shot ahead of her close friend, Danielle Kang. The victory also gave her a point towards the Hall of Fame, which she has now accumulated 21 of the 27 points required to become eligible.

The 24-year-old began the final round with a two-shot lead over Kang. After making a fast start with a birdie at the first, she bogeyed the second, and with Kang making a birdie at the third, they now shared the lead.

Ko and Kang traded pars for the remainder of the front nine, leaving them nine-holes to decide the title.

They both birdied 11, and then Kang briefly took control with a birdie at 12 only to give the shot right back with a bogey at 13. Ko remained patient and finally poked her nose back in front with a clutch birdie at the 15th, a lead that should wouldn’t surrender.

After birdies at the 16th and pars at the 17th, Ko stood on the 18th tee with a one-shot lead. Her approach found the bunker, and with Kang finding the putting surface, Ko needed an up and down to force Kang to hole her birdie putt. She splashed her bunker out to a couple of feet, and with Kang missing her birdie, Ko was able to tap in for her 17th LPGA Tour event.

“I tried to stay really patient out there and not get carried away on what everybody else was doing and just focus on my game, trying to make the lowest score I could.

“I think that helped me really dial it in and just kind of stay in the present, which I think is really important, especially when other players are playing well and I'm not making many birdies,” Ko explained.

She’s now in a tie for 32nd on the LPGA Tour Career Wins list and moves into ninth on the LPGA’s All-Time Career Earning list.