Top-ranked Lydia Ko saw No. 2 Inbee Park coming and stepped on the gas.
Ko, the 18-year-old from New Zealand, with her seven-stroke lead down to one, birdied the last three holes to post a third straight 5-under-par 67 and claim a four-stroke victory over Park in the Kia Classic at Aviara Golf Club in Carlsbad, Calif.
“I started out really well, gave myself birdie chances on 1, 2, 3 and 4 and made birdies on 1 and 2,” said Ko, who claimed her 11th LPGA Tour victory but the first this season. “Then I looked at the leaderboard and saw that Inbee was doing her Inbee thing, making a lot of birdies. And I was able to make some birdies down the stretch.
“I have a lot of confidence and have been playing consistently well. It’s good to see all the work I put in during the off-season pay off. I’m happy with the way I played and I’m focused on next week. It will be nice to go back to the ANA.”
Ko, whose only major title came in the Evian Championship in France last September, will be the favorite in the ANA Inspiration, the first major of the year, next week on the Dinah Shore Tournament Course at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage.
Park, who has won seven major titles, had three birdies in her own 67, while Ai Miyazato of Japan made four birdies down the stretch on her way to a 66 and was seven shots back in solo third.
“Lydia is so consistent that I knew I had to go really low to catch her because she wasn’t going to come back to us,” said Park, the South Korean great who won the ANA when it was the Kraft Nabisco Championship in 2013.
“But I started playing well about a week ago and feel good going into next week.”
Jenny Shin of South Korea, who grew up in Southern California and graduated from Torrance High, stumbled with a double bogey-7 on the last hole and shot 72 to finish another stroke behind in a tie for fourth with Sung Hyun Park, another South Korean, who also had a 72.
Gerina Piller closed with a 67 that included an eagle-2 on the 16th hole and was nine shots down in a tie for sixth with Shanshan Feng (68) of China, Hyo Joo Kim (69) of South Korea and Jessica Korda (71).
Brooke Henderson, the 18-year-old rising star from Canada, eagled the eighth hole and birdied the last three for a 66 to wind up 10 strokes back in a tie for 10th with Brittany Lang, who made two double bogeys on the back nine and struggled to a 74.
