ko tops pros again,
claims emotional win
�� In the end, it was the 15-year-old
amateur who had the moxie to close the
deal. Lydia Ko held off a Sunday charge
from American Amelia Lewis, who
played the first 13 holes of the final
round of the ISPS Handa New Zealand
Women’s Open seven under par to take
the lead. A birdie by Ko on No. 15 and a
bogey by Lewis on the final hole gave the
native Korean who now lives in New
Zealand her third professional victory in
377 days, a span during which she also
won the U. S. Women’s Amateur, the
Australian Women’s Amateur and was
low woman in the last October’s World
Team Amateur Championship.
Ko’s 10-under 206 at Clearwater GC in
Christchurch, where she closed with 68
and didn’t make a bogey after No. 3, was
one better than Lewis and two clear of
Stacey Keating. “I’m pretty excited to
have my name on this trophy,” said Ko,
who turns 16 on April 24, through tears
upon becoming the youngest winner of a
Ladies European Tour event. “It’s our
national open, so it means a lot.”
—Ron Sirak
CHAMPIONS TOUR
Mediate triumphs in
first senior start
�� Because of his engaging personality,
Rocco Mediate figured to be a hit on the
Champions Tour. His game, it turns out,
meshes just fine with his new proving
ground as well.
Mediate, 50, became the 16th player to
win his Champions Tour debut, defeating
Tom Pernice Jr. and Bernhard Langer by
two strokes at the Allianz Championship.
“This means as much to me as anything
I’ve done,” Mediate said after shooting
17-under 199 on the Old Course at Broken
Sound in Boca Raton, Fla.
EUROPEAN TOUR
Sterne runs away
with Joburg open title
�� With no round worse than 68 at Royal
Johannesburg & Kensington GC, South
African Richard Sterne cruised to his
first European Tour win in more than four
years, claiming a seven-stroke triumph
over Charl Schwartzel at the Joburg
Open. A tournament-record 27-under
260 elevated the 31-year-old from 94th
to 55th in the World Ranking to qualify
for next week’s WGC-Accenture Match
Play Championship.
COLLEGES
uClA men best
Pac- 12 foe in playoff
�� Late round birdie-eagle bursts by
two Washington golfers forced a playoff
between UCLA and the Huskies (22-under
842) at the Amer Ari Invitational in
Hawaii, but the No. 5-ranked Bruins
prevailed in sudden death to claim the
team title. Auburn’s Dominic Bozelli
(11-under 205) was medalist, winning
the individual title by two strokes.
