Lydia Ko finally did what she had been trying to do in her last 10 appearances at the HSBC Women’s World Championship when she won the championship by four shots on her 11th attempt at the Sentosa Golf Club on Sunday.

Ko signed off with a final round three-under-par 69 to clinch her 23rd LPGA title with a winning total of 13-under-par 275. Thailand’s Jeeno Thitikul and Japan’s Ayaka Furue shared second place after posting rounds of 70 and 68 respectively while England’s Charley Hull, who started the round one shot behind Ko, posted a 74 to finish in a share of fourth place with Mexico’s Gaby Lopez and South Korea’s Im Jin-hee.

Ko, who led by one after the penultimate round, went to sleep dreaming of victory. The LPGA Hall of Famer then returned to the starting tee with a game plan, making five straight pars before extending her lead with three consecutive birdies from the par-four sixth.

“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.

“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,” said Ko.

Ko, the Olympic champion and three-time major winner, dropped a shot on 11 but recovered with birdies on 13 and 15. A bogey on 17 did little to threaten her title bid, as she still held a four-shot cushion. A closing par on 18 sealed the victory, making her dream a reality.

“I dreamt last night that I won but then I woke up, and I was like, it's not real yet. So, I just wanted to focus on my game as it was a pretty tight leaderboard.

“I felt a lot better coming into this event than a few weeks ago. I didn’t know if I would win. But to win here in Singapore and get all the love, not only this year but for the years that I've come, it means a lot. It's also exciting to add Asia's Major to my major collection,” said Ko.

Despite falling short of a win in the Lion City, it was still a memorable week for Jeeno, who secured her 10th consecutive top-10 finish on the LPGA Tour while Ayaka had her best finish in her last four LPGA starts.

“I was frustrated with my play in the first two rounds, so this result exceeded my expectations, to be honest,” said the 22-year-old Thai.

Ayaka was also pleased with her efforts after finishing inside the top 10 for the first time this season.

“I'm very happy with this outcome because I hadn't been playing well this year until this tournament,” said the 24-year-old.
Shannon Tan, meanwhile, signed off with a 74 to finish tied-34th, which was also the best result by a Singaporean in the history of the HSBC Women’s World Championship.

“I was in the top 20 yesterday, which shows that my level is close, but there are still things to improve on,” said Tan.

The 20-year-old hopes her performance will continue to inspire more Singaporeans to play the sport even as the standard of the golf gets higher.

“It (her result) means a lot for Singapore golf. I would say in the last few years the standard of Singapore golf has gotten better.

Hiroshi will be teeing up at the Masters next month. And I guess, also, as a whole, you get to see a lot more junior golfers out there picking up the game. This week it was just me versus the golf course.”

Records tumbled as Angel Yin defied Akie Iwai in an epic final-day duel at the US$1.7 million Honda LPGA Thailand.

Despite firing a tournament best 11-under-par 61, Japan’s Iwai was edged out by American Yin after an extraordinary and mesmerising contest to rival any that have preceded it in the tournament’s storied 18-year history.

Five shots ahead of LPGA Tour rookie Iwai at the start of the day, Yin withstood every punch her rival threw at her en route to carding a flawless seven-under-par 65. It was her second consecutive bogey-free round, giving her a four-day aggregate of 28-under 260 and a one-stroke success from Iwai, who made a stunning last-hole eagle to ensure the tournament went right down to the wire.

Both players bettered the previous low tournament total of 262 posted by Nanna Koerstz Madsen and Lin Xiyu in 2022.

Thais Jeeno Thitikul (66), Moriya Jutanugarn (68) and defending champion Patty Tavatanakit (65) all performed brilliantly, finishing third and joint fourth respectively, but could only look on in bewilderment as the top two blitzed the Siam Country Club’s Old Course.

In what will go down in the annals as one of the great final-day duels in LPGA Tour history, the numbers were simply staggering. Between them, Yin and Iwai snared 17 birdies and an eagle with a better ball score of 15-under 57.

In front of record galleries of more than 45,000 who flocked to the Chonburi venue over the course of the four days, it was a brilliant exhibition of world-class golf from two players for whom multiple top-level triumphs surely await.

For Yin, who leaned on the experience of local caddie Sakchai Sirimaya (Tom) after her regular looper fell ill at the start of the week, it was the second win of her LPGA Tour career, adding to her victory at the Buick LPGA Shanghai in 2023.

Throughout the week, Yin was in formidable form, following an opening 67 with back-to-back 64s and a 65 to sign off with. Across 72 holes she made 30 birdies and just two bogeys, and did not drop a shot over the last 47 holes.

Nonetheless, she was pushed all the way by the fearless 22-year-old Iwai, a six-time winner on the Japan LPGA Tour who is destined to become one of the next superstars in the women’s game.

Bidding to become only the sixth sponsor invite to win on the LPGA Tour in the last 20 years, Iwai quickly made inroads into Yin’s healthy overnight lead, birdies at three of the first four holes reducing the deficit to just two in the showpiece.

Yin began conservatively with four straight pars but stepped up a gear with three successive birdies of her own from the fifth. Her lead was three at the turn. But Iwai, five-under at that point, still would not lie down, rolling home further birdie putts at 10, 11 and 12 to draw level.

With tension mounting, Yin responded with a courageous birdie three at 13 to re-establish the lead. The duo continued to match each other blow-for-blow before Iwai missed the green right on 17 and lipped out with her par putt, giving Yin a two-stroke cushion going to the last.

Still the drama was not over. Both players struck majestic second shots to the treacherously positioned pin at the back of the 18th green. After seeing Yin’s eagle attempt slide two feet beyond the cup, Iwai holed a lightning-quick 22-foot downhill putt for a three.

Maintaining the commendable mental fortitude she displayed all week, Yin duly rolled home her birdie effort to avoid the prospect of a sudden-death play-off and seal a win for the ages.

She said: “I stuck to my strategy and didn't really budge. I knew I had to do that, because there was nothing else. I didn't need to change my strategy because that was the best strategy going in because it brought me to where I was today.”

Iwai was magnanimous in her assessment. “One time I caught up with Angel, but she played really well. She didn’t give me any room to get in. She played better than me. That's it.”

The Honda LPGA Thailand was the first stop of the LPGA Tour’s early season Asian swing, which continues with the HSBC Women's World Championship (Feb 27-Mar 2 / Sentosa Golf Club, Singapore) and the Blue Bay LPGA (Mar 6-9 / Jian Lake Blue Bay Golf Course, Hainan, China).

Kim Leun Kwang returned to the winner's circle with a triumph at the 2025 PGM Seri Selangor Championship.

Ending his campaign with final round 68 to finish at eight-under-par 208 (73-67-68), he edged Ervin Chang by two shots, securing his first PGM Tour victory since the 2022 PGM MNRB Championship.

Chang mounted a strong challenge with a closing 67, finishing at six-under-par 210 (75-68-67), while Shahriffuddin Ariffin (71-68-72) and Edven Ying (70-69-72) shared third at five-under-par 211. Galven Green (68-78-66) bounced back from a tough second round with a final-day 66 to finish tied for fifth alongside Ben Leong (70-70-72) at four-under-par 212.

In the Ladies Championship, Zulaikah Nurziana Nasser completed a dominant wire-to-wire victory, finishing at four-under-par 212 (68-73-71) to claim her third professional title. She held off Geraldine Wong (73-72-75) and Liyana Durisic (71-78-72) to secure the win.

Aiden Kei bin Ahmad Shaharuddin took home the Best Amateur prize as the championship wrapped up with a prize presentation at Kelab Golf Seri Selangor and a calendar launch for the nine remaining events of the year.

American Yealimi Noh broke through for her maiden LPGA Tour victory at the 2025 Founders Cup presented by U.S. Virgin Islands.

Making her 118th tour start, Noh carded rounds of 68, 64, 63 and 68 at Bradenton Country Club for a 21-under-par 263 total. The 23-year-old Californian finished four strokes ahead of 36-hole leader Jin Young Ko of South Korea, a three-time winner of this event.

Noh had started the final round one stroke ahead of Ko, a former Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings number one. A birdie at the 2nd hole saw Noh extend her lead to two shots, but Ko responded with birdies on Holes 4 and 6 to tie for the lead on 19-under-par.
Ko took the lead after picking up her third birdie of the day at the par-five 8th hole. After going bogey-free for 95 holes, a streak that began last Saturday at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, Ko dropped a shot on the 13th hole while Noh made birdie for a two-shot swing.

Noh picked up another birdie on 14 to move to 21-under-par, while Noh made her second consecutive bogey to fall three shots back. It was plain sailing for Noh from there on and she parred her way home for her first career LPGA Tour title.

“This means so much to me. I worked really hard the past few years and went through a lot of struggles. I told myself 2025 is going to be my year, so this is the best way to start it,” said Noh, who became the first Rolex First-Time Winner of the 2025 LPGA Tour season.

“I've been in contention a couple of times and I told myself I could do it, but this is the first time it got done. This is a really big confidence booster for me for the rest of the year,” she added.

While Ko was disappointed to miss out on a fourth Founders Cup title, the 29-year-old was still upbeat about her second consecutive top-five finish.

“Overall, I had great last couple of weeks, and it's going to be a big year for me. I practiced a lot the last couple of months and worked out every day, and my distances are getting farther than the last two years,” noted Ko, a 15-time LPGA Tour winner.

Megan Khang of the United States finished third on 16-under-par, three shots clear of Australia’s Hannah Green, Japan’s Miyu Yamashita and Korean Jin Hee Im.

World number one and Bradenton native Nelly Korda tied for seventh on 12-under-par with France's Celine Boutier and Japan's Minami Katsu.

Following a one-week break, the LPGA Tour will head to Asia for the Honda LPGA Thailand (February 20-23) at Siam Country Club in Pattaya, the HSBC Women's World Championship (February 27-March 2) at Singapore’s Sentosa Golf Club, and the Blue Bay LPGA (March 6-9) at Jian Lake Blue Bay Golf Course in Hainan, China.