PALOS VERDES ESTATES, Calif. (AP) — Marina Alex won the Palos Verdes Championship on Sunday for her second LPGA Tour title, breaking a tie with a two-putt birdie on the par-5 16th and parring the final two holes for a one-stroke victory over Jin Young Ko.
Three strokes behind Hannah Green entering the round, Alex closed with a 5-under 66 to finish at 10-under 274 at hilly and windy Palos Verdes Golf Club.
The top-ranked Ko also shot a 66. She finished about an hour before Alex in the first-year event that wrapped up the LPGA Tour’s two-week, Los Angeles-area stay and five-tournament West Coast swing.
Alex bogeyed the par-4 third, then birdied the par-4 fifth, par-5 seventh and par-4 eighth. She added birdies on the par-3 11th and par-12th and two-putted from 40 feet on 16 to take the outright lead.
The 31-year-old from Wayne, New Jersey, also won the 2018 Portland Classic. She tied for 10th last week at Whilshire Country Club in the LA Open.
Third-ranked Lydia Ko (70) and Megan Khang (68) tied for third at 8 under. Green shot her second straight 72 to drop into a tie for fifth at 7 under with Ryann O’Toole (68), Andrea Lee (69) and Annie Park (69).
Canada's Maude-Aimee Leblanc of Sherbrooke, Que., finished her tournament shooting a 74 and falling back into a tie for 33rd place after beginning the day in a tie for 12th.
Anna Davis, the Augusta National Women’s Amateur winner, closed with a 76 to finish 70th in her first LPGA Tour start. The 16-year-old is from Spring Valley east of San Diego. She received a sponsor exemption.
“It’s been a really fun experience, I would say,” Davis said. “Overall it’s been really fun. Super good experience, and it’s something I look forward to doing in my future. So, glad that I got to see a little sneak peek this week.”
The Associated Press
