25 Mar 2015

Ko sixth, Lee 17th

12:29 pm on 25 March 2015
Lydia Ko

Lydia Ko Photo: Photosport

The New Zealand golfer Lydia Ko has finished tied for sixth at the latest LPGA tournament in Arizona.

The world number one fired a final round three under par 69 to finish 15 under for the tournament and six shots from the winner Hyo Joo Kim of South Korea.

Kim is the fifth South Korean winner in the first six events this year - and the other, top-ranked Lydia Ko of New Zealand, was born in South Korea.

Meanwhile, Rotorua's Danny Lee has finished the Arnold Palmer Invitational in a tie for 17th at nine under for the tournament.

Lee carded rounds of 72, 64, 71 and 72 in Florida to claim prize money of NZ$120,640.

He's improved six places to number 40 on the season's money list with earnings of $1.1 million.

The event was won by the American Matt Every for the second year in a row when he sank a 15-foot birdie putt at the final hole to beat Henrik Stenson by one stroke.

Every, who had not posted a top-25 finish since last June, had joked pre-tournament with Tiger Woods that he would win again on the Bay Hill course in Orlando where Woods has won eight times.

Every struck form in time to shoot a closing 66 and finish at 19-under-par 269, barely an hour's drive from his hometown of Daytona Beach.

Stenson (70) rued what might have been after bogeying the 15th hole and failing to birdie the easy par-five 16th.