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Ko won her second Saudi Ladies International
title by a stroke from India's Aditi Ashok, firing a final round
four-under 68 to finish with a 21-under total at the Royal
Greens Golf & Country Club.
Ko won the Ladies European Tour-sanctioned event at the same
venue two years ago.
"I'm two for two on this golf course," said Ko, who claimed a
$701,000 winner's cheque.
"Clearly something is going for me."
Ko has started the season as she finished the last one.
In November, the 25-year-old gave herself early wedding presents
as she won the LPGA's season-ending CME Group Tour Championship
in Florida to reclaim the world number one ranking, while
scooping the tour's Player of the Year award and a $2 million
winner's cheque.
It was her last tournament before tying the knot with Chung Jun,
the son of a prominent Korean businessman, in her birth-place
Seoul during the off-season.
"I played a lot of golf, maybe a bit too much golf, on my
honeymoon," said Ko.
"But my husband loves golf and that's something that we can
mutually do together, so we took advantage of that.
"And actually, thanks to him it made my transition into
off-season practice a lot easier."
Starting Sunday a stroke behind American Lilia Vu at the Red
Sea-adjacent course, Ko had an erratic start, bogeying the
par-four second hole to cancel out a birdie on the first.
However, she was flawless thereafter and seized the outright
lead on the 17th by rolling in a 12-foot putt for birdie.
With Ashok unable to birdie the last hole, a tap-in par on the
par-five 18th was enough for Ko to underline her status as the
top women's golfer.
"A lot of great things (are) happening, especially in the last
few months, again and again," she said.
(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
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