World No.1 amateur Lydia Ko called it her toughest test of her young amateur career.
The 15-year-old from the Gulf Harbour Country Club carded rounds of 76 and 78 in testing conditions on the final day of the British Open at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club to finish in share of 17th place and claim the Smyth Salver as the leading amateur. Ko claimed the medal by two shots from Englands Holly Clyburn who finished tied for 26th place.
The youngest golfer to win a professional event finished on a nine over par total, 18 shots back from runaway champion South Korean Jiyai Shin who won the event by nine shots.
-
Related
The New Zealand amateur rep entertained the distinguished guests and players in the Royal Liverpool Golf Club in her acceptance speech for the amateur medal.
"I'd like to congratulate Jiyai Shin on her win and it's really good for me as people say I look like you," Ko said, which was met by raucous laughter. "It's good to look like the winner."
It was a light moment of respite away from the howling winds and rain that Ko had battled for 36 holes on Sunday in her British Open debut.
"It was tough," laughed the Srixon Academy member.
"We were about to fall over and the greens were flooding and yeah it was really tough today. I mean this was one of the hardest golf courses I've ever played and for the weather to be really bad it didn't help at all."
Ko's tie for 17th means that she broke the record for the best performance by a Kiwi amateur at the British Open after Lynnette Brooky finished tied 37th and the fifth placed amateur at Woburn in 1993.
Marnie McGuire and Brooky still share the best finish by a New Zealander at the event when they both finished tied 14th in 1994 and 2003 respectively.
"I wasn't that happy with my game but I got leading amateur and thats what I wanted after yesterday so I guess I have to be happy about that.
"This is my first experience at the British Open and I did much better than the US Open so I can't say it was a bad day, and I have had lots of fun playing the course."
After rounds of 72 and 71 Ko began the day in a share of 12th place but the brutal conditions at Hoylake made the 36 hole shootout on Sunday a battle for survival.
She got off to a slow start in round three with five bogeys on the front nine to make the turn in five over par 40. The US Amateur Champion bounced back well playing the back nine in one under par to sign for a 76.
But there was little break from the wind and Ko was right back into the elements shortly after. She made the turn in three over par 38 in the final round.
Ko made three birdies, three bogeys and a triple bogey on the par four 14th to come home in 40 and sign for a 78. She was mindful of the leading amateur honours during her round and thought she had blown it.
"The scores are pretty high, except for Jiyai Shin, which shows it's pretty tough, but you know, after my triple on fourteen I was like, oh forget leading amateur," she laughed.
Ko said the experience of playing alongside the worlds best professionals was again a thrill and she was humbled by the amount of support she received following her win at the Canadian Open.
"They congratulated me and it's really awesome to see people giving congratulations, and I also respect them and look up to them so much. There were a few tweets on twitter [laughs] even Gary Player and stuff so yeah it was really awesome."
Ko is looking forward to playing in the 2013 British Open at the Home of Golf, St Andrews.
"Holy cow, it's going to be tough again, but I'll be preparing myself for that."
Jiyai Shin will also be preparing to defend her title and also keep a dominant run for Asian women golfers alive.
Shin's victory means that for the first time in history Asians have won all four of the womens Majors in a single calendar year with South Koreas Sun Young Yoo winning the Kraft Nabisco Championship, Chinas Shanshan Feng claiming the LPGA Championship and South Koreas Na Yeon Choi beating the field at the US Womens Open earlier this year.
The South Koreans performance extends Asias winning sequence in the womens Majors to seven with Taiwans Yani Tseng (LPGA Championship and Ricoh Womens British Open) and So Yeon Ryu (US Womens Open) emerging victorious in the last three majors in 2011.
It also means that Asians have now won four out of the five last Ricoh Womens British Opens with Shins own victory at Sunningdale in 2008 being followed by consecutive victories by Tseng at Royal Birkdale in 2010 and Carnoustie in 2011.
As for Ko she is going to enjoy some downtime before heading to Turkey for the Espirito Santo World Amateur Teams Championship from September 27 - 30 where shell team up with Emily Perry and Munchin Keh.
"I'll be in London for a few days just chilling out, and then
hopefully Ill be able to do good there."