Lydia Ko dominates in Singapore — Quotes from Central Florida
The IX: Golf Thursday with Marin Dremock, March 6, 2025
Lydia Ko made quick work of the final round of the HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore to claim her 23rd LPGA Tour victory.
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Welcome back to Golf Thursday, and happy March!
On Sunday, March 2, Ko ran away with the HSBC Women’s World Championship with a dominating four-stroke victory over Ayaka Furue and ever-present Jeeno Thitikul. Ko shot a solid final round score of 69 (-3) to edge out the competition on a hot, firm and breezy day in Singapore.
Ko’s 3-under final round got the job done, despite the stats. According to KPMG Performance Insights, Ko’s five straight pars to start the final round dropped her win probability to 44.9%. After Ko’s birdie at 15, her win probability skyrocketed to 99.0%. Those three straight birdies on Nos. 6, 7 and 8 to close out the front nine surely helped too.
Some changes in the leaderboard were in store from the end of round three to the end of the final round. Furue surged into a tie for second place with a 68 (-4) in the fourth round. She started the day tied for seventh but quickly made work of the 6,500-yard course layout. Furue’s perfect fairway percentage, five birdies and back-nine score of 34 helped her to her first top-10 finish of the season.
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Charley Hull dropped from solo second place to a tie for fourth with her final round 74. She struggled to close out the tournament, but despite that, it was her first top-10 finish since the 2024 ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican.
In the final round, Ko hit 10 of 14 fairways and 14 of 18 greens, helping her out to putt only 29 putts that day. For the tournament, she was the only player to record three rounds in the 60s and was tied for first for most birdies with 19.
“Yeah, I just wanted to play steady. I started off really consistently. I hit a lot of greens, and I think that was going to be the big key. I knew that Jeeno and Charley hit it much further than me,” Ko said after her win. “The distance wasn’t going to be to my advantage, but as long as I played steady golf and just give myself good looks for birdies, I felt like some of them were going to drop.”
And just enough of those birdies dropped, helping pave her way to an impressive 23rd LPGA Tour win. With this, Ko moved to second in the LPGA Tour all-time money list.
What impresses me most — and, honestly, what I love most — is the fact that Ko’s already a Hall of Famer. She literally has nothing to lose, yet she’s playing like everything’s on the line. Maybe the subconscious knowledge that she’s cemented as one of the greats has freed up some space in her game, allowing her to play with some more liberty and have more fun.
Ko will take a rest this week while other athletes make their way to the People’s Republic of China for the 2025 Blue Bay LPGA. Thitikul makes her first appearance at this tournament as Rolex Rankings No. 2. Her bestie, Ruoning Yin, looks to win again in her home country.
“It’s always good to be back home and play in front of all the home fans,” Yin said in a pre-tournament press conference. “Especially last year in Shanghai I did pretty good, so I’m just looking forward to playing in front of all the fans again.”
Thitikul has been on the hunt relentlessly in the start to the 2025 season. With her second place finish at the HSBC, she recorded her 10th consecutive LPGA Tour top-10 finish. It’s about time she takes one home. (I feel like I say this every week. Don’t let me down, Jeeno!)
See you next week, golf fans.
This week in women’s golf
LPGA News
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On this date: Mickey Wright collects first of 82 titles on LPGA Tour
Money moves made at HSBC Women’s World Championship
Lydia Ko moves into second on LPGA career money list, challenging Annika Sorenstam
Field breakdown: 2025 Blue Bay LPGA
How to watch the 2025 Blue Bay LPGA
Five things to know about the 2025 Blue Bay LPGA
Jeeno Thitikul continues hot streak with another solid finish in Singapore
Olympic champion Lydia Ko wins 2025 HSBC Women’s World Championship
One in a million: Micaa’ Thomas breaks glass ceilings on and off the course
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Thitikul named LET Player of the Month for February
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LET heads down under for Australian swing
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World-class talent confirmed for KPMG Women’s Irish Open
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Central Florida Championship tools of a winner: Riley Smyth
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Five at The IX: Riley Smyth captures first professional, Epson Tour win with playoff victory at the 2025 Central Florida Championship
The 2025 Epson Tour season kicked off with a bang at the 2025 Central Florida Championship. On March 2, Riley Smyth claimed her first-ever professional victory in a playoff over Matilda Castren. The two battled back and forth all day during the final round, so it was only fitting that the battle would extend to extra holes. Smyth and Castren both birdied the first two playoff holes, but on the third, Smyth made her par save while Castren missed just right of the hole. It definitely came down to the wire, but Smyth ultimately walked away victorious. The win punched her ticket to the Epson Tour Championship at Indian Wells. Here’s what Smyth had to say after the tournament wrapped up.
Q: We’re here with Riley Smyth after the Central Florida Championship. Your first professional win. How are you feeling right now?
RILEY SMYTH: Unreal. I mean, it’s just, it’s so surreal right now and so happy to be able to get it done.
Q: Talking about just your day, leading up to the playoff, we’ll get to that in a minute, but just your day, a lot of birdies out there, one bogey. Can you talk us through your round, you know, getting up to that playoff?
RILEY SMYTH: Yeah, I mean, I just played very consistently today. I’ve been playing the par fives really well this week out here that I knew with having five of them, those are really, really good birdie opportunities. So, it was really managing the rest of the course and just trying to get around with pars and a couple of birdie looks here and there and try and take advantage of those par fives.
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Q: And then getting to the playoff, obviously a couple groups off that lead group, kind of waiting to see what Matilda (Castren) did with her putt there. Were your nerves going or how did you feel?
RILEY SMYTH: Oh yeah, oh yeah. I mean, I was sitting in scoring, shaking, because I just had a tap-in birdie. Just being able to sit and watch definitely helped, rather than being in the last group and having to make a putt. But yeah, nerves were up there.
Q: Talking a little bit about your playoff partner… Matilda has been on Solheim Cups, is an LPGA Tour winner. … Did that boost your confidence a little bit, finally getting that putt in and getting it done and walking off that third playoff hole with a win?
RILEY SMYTH: A little bit, I mean, she’s a really great player. I knew I had to do something in order to win. I hung in there for two playoff holes, and I think just getting that last putt in felt good, knowing that I did what I could.
Q: Awesome, I love that. Talking a little bit about last year, an up and down year. You came out to a couple of events as an alternate and then picked up the bag for some friends, and now finally finding yourself in the winter circle. What would you tell last year’s self to keep your momentum going?
RILEY SMYTH: Just be patient. Time works itself out. Everything happens for a reason, and just be patient. Be where you are. Do what you can of being on site.
I think being able to go out and caddy for a couple friends and just be on-site every week really helped the back half of my year, where I knew everyone, I was in the rhythm, and I just knew that all I needed was an opportunity. So once I got in, it did give me a lot of confidence knowing that I belonged.
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