SINGAPORE (AFP) — World No. 3 Lydia Ko strode to a commanding four-shot victory over Thailand’s Jeeno Thitikul and Japan’s Ayaka Furue to lift the HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore late Sunday.

The Olympic champion’s victory was her first in 11 appearances at the championship on the Tanjong Course at Sentosa Golf Club, where her previous best was second in 2015.

Ko, a three-time major winner, started the final round with a one-shot lead over a tightly packed field.

She extended her advantage quickly with three successive birdies from the sixth hole and hardly looked back.

The New Zealander did drop a shot on the 11th but recovered quickly with two birdies on 13 and 15.

Another bogey on 17 did little to damage her title bid and a par on the 18th was more than enough for the Hall of Famer to clinch her 23rd LPGA win with a winning total of 13-under-par 275.

“I dreamt last night that I won but then I woke up, and I was like, it’s not real yet,” Ko said.

“So, I just wanted to focus on my game as it was a pretty tight leaderboard.”

“I felt a lot better coming into this event than a few weeks ago.”

“I didn’t know if I would win. But to win here in Singapore and get all the love, not only this year but for the years that I’ve come, it means a lot.”

“It’s also exciting to add ‘Asia’s Major’ to my major collection,” Ko added.

The consistent Jeeno enjoyed a second successive top-three finish to open her 2025 campaign, and her 10th top-10 in a row on the LPGA Tour, after coming third in Thailand last week.