New Zealand's Lydia Ko has returned to the top of the world golf rankings following a dominant victory at the Taiwan Championship.
The 18-year-old fired a seven under par 65 on Sunday to finish at 20-under for the tournament, nine strokes clear of second place.
The win in Taipei was Ko's 10th LPGA title, making her the youngest player win ten tournaments on the Tour.
Lydia Ko lines up a putt in Malaysia, 2015. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Ko has now claimed three wins, including her first major, in her past five starts, and has placed outside the top four only once in her last eight tournaments.
She headed into the final day at the Miramar Golf and Country Club knowing that finishing runner-up would be enough for her to regain the world No.1 ranking, supplanting South Korean Inbee Park - who skipped the tournament, despite being the defending champion.
Starting with a four-shot lead over the rest of the field, she quickly consolidated her position with four birdies over the first six holes.
Her only slip-up during her round was a dropped shot on the par-three seventh.
At the par-five 12th, she chipped in for eagle to extend her advantage to seven shots, and there were further birdies on the 14th and 18th at the course where she secured her first win as a professional in late 2013.
In a distant tie for second were South Koreans So Yeon Ryu and Eun-Hee Ji.
Ko's first term as world No.1 was earlier this year.
In February, as a 17-year-old, she became the youngest golfer, either male of female, to hold the top ranking and she kept it until June.
