Lydia Ko had her worst round of the tournament and still only fell four shots short of victory at the Aberdeen Standard Investments Ladies Scottish Open.
After moving up the leaderboard with a stunning 4-under 67 on Saturday, Ko gave all the good work back finishing the final day with a 3-over 74, tied for 12th spot on 1-under for the tournament.
The 12-year LPGA Tour veteran Stacy Lewis outlasted numerous challengers to win the tournament at -5, holing a 23-foot birdie on the first playoff hole to beat Emily Kristine Pedersen, Cheyenne Knight and Azahara Munoz.
It was the American’s first victory since 2017, she now has 13 victories and the first playoff win of her career, having previously gone 0-3 in extra holes.
Lewis had two opportunities to seal the win in regulation, missing birdie putts at 16 and 17 that would have gotten her to -6.
Instead, she settled for pars and reached the playoff with a two-putt par from 30 feet at No. 18.
“I was just very much in control and then hit a bad shot on 11 and it leads to double, and then really hit some good shots after that,” Lewis said.
“Made the birdie on 14. 15 was a mess. 16, I should have gotten up and down. 17, I probably should have made that putt.
“It was frustrating that I had my chances, but at the same time with all the stuff that went on there in that back nine, I still had a chance to win the golf tournament.
“So I stayed very positive for me throughout the day, and just proud of the way I hung in there.”
The Aberdeen Standard Investments Ladies Scottish Open is the first of two consecutive events in Scotland.
Next week, the Tour heads to Royal Troon for the season’s first major, the AIG Women’s Open.
