Sylvania, Ohio • Now that she's officially a millionaire, Lydia Ko joked she'll have to keep a closer watch on where her paychecks go.
"I'll probably see that going into my mom's account," she said with a laugh, referring to the $210,000 she got for winning Sunday's Marathon Classic.
The 17-year-old broke free from a late tie with So Yeon Ryu, hitting a wedge to 4 feet for birdie on the 72nd hole to take the lead. Then she tried in vain she's just 5-foot-5 to see past the large gallery at 18 as Ryu missed a 6-foot birdie putt on the final hole that would have forced a playoff.
"I couldn't see it properly. I was behind some people," she said after her second LPGA Tour victory that matched the two Canadian Open titles she won as an amateur. "But I kind of could tell what happened by the crowd's reaction."
She became the youngest player to top $1 million in career earnings on the LPGA Tour. Ko is roughly 17 months younger than Lexi Thompson, previously the youngest. Ko has shown incredible consistency in her rookie year on tour, making the cut in all 15 tournaments she's entered. She has six top-10 finishes in addition to her wins, with five of those being top-fives.
Ryu had poured in a big-breaking, 25-foot birdie putt on the 17th to pull even.
But then Ko stuck her approach at the par-5 closing hole and calmly rolled in the birdie putt for a 6-under 65 that left her at 15-under 269.
Ryu hit a brilliant third shot to the green, but pushed her 6-footer at the 18th.
"Absolutely I'm disappointed I missed [that] birdie putt," she said. "Sometimes if I get something lucky, then I get something that is unlucky. I just accept it and let it go."
Ko was resilient, also shrugging aside a challenge from veteran Cristie Kerr, who pulled into a tie with her on the homeward nine.
Ko, who proudly bears the flag of her native New Zealand on her golf bag, started the final round in fifth place, three shots behind co-leaders Laura Diaz and Lee-Anne Pace.
While they foundered, she crept up the leaderboard with birdies at holes 3 and 4. She tied for the top spot with a 12-foot birdie putt at the par-3 eighth, then took a solo lead for the first time after hitting her approach to 10 feet at the 10th.
Kerr, seeking her 17th career victory, rolled in a breaker from 15 feet at the 13th to pull even. But her approach on the 399-yard, par-4 15th missed left and settled into heavy rough. She muscled the pitch shot onto the green, but it rolled 6 feet past and she lipped out the par putt.
Sunday's scores
LPGA Marathon Classic Par Scores
At Highland Meadows Golf Club
Sylvania, Ohio
Purse • $1.4 million
Yardage • 6,512; Par • 71
Final
Lydia Ko, $210,000 67-67-70-65 269
So Yeon Ryu, $128,069 68-67-68-67 270
Cristie Kerr, $92,905 70-67-68-67 272
Kelly Tan, $59,015 68-70-68-67 273
Katherine Kirk, $59,015 69-68-68-68 273
Lee-Anne Pace, $59,015 66-68-68-71 273
P. Lindberg, $32,044 71-68-70-65 274
Julieta Granada, $32,044 68-72-68-66 274
Kris Tamulis, $32,044 73-69-64-68 274
Lindsey Wright, $32,044 67-70-69-68 274
Mo Martin, $32,044 67-71-67-69 274
R. Lee-Bentham, $23,045 68-67-72-68 275
Ai Miyazato, $23,045 68-72-67-68 275
Mirim Lee, $23,045 71-67-68-69 275
Karine Icher, $19,259 73-67-73-63 276
Lexi Thompson, $19,259 71-72-66-67 276
Candie Kung, $19,259 70-67-69-70 276
Tiffany Joh, $15,586 71-72-67-67 277
Mariajo Uribe, $15,586 67-70-71-69 277
Austin Ernst, $15,586 66-73-66-72 277
Brittany Lang, $15,586 70-66-69-72 277
Brooke Pancake, $15,586 69-69-67-72 277 Jaye Marie Green, $15,586 72-68-63-74 277
Laura Diaz, $15,586 62-69-71-75 277
Jennifer Rosales, $11,950 70-69-71-68 278
Jenny Shin, $11,950 72-70-67-69 278
Meena Lee, $11,950 72-70-66-70 278
Stacy Lewis, $11,950 70-70-68-70 278
Beatriz Recari, $11,950 70-68-70-70 278
Marina Alex, $11,950 69-69-69-71 278
B. Lincicome, $11,950 69-69-69-71 278
Katy Harris, $8,491 74-69-69-67 279
Jennifer Johnson, $8,491 73-69-70-67 279
M. Jutanugarn, $8,491 72-69-70-68 279
Chella Choi, $8,491 71-72-67-69 279
Haru Nomura, $8,491 69-70-71-69 279
Kristy McPherson, $8,491 71-68-70-70 279
Marissa L Steen, $8,491 67-73-69-70 279
Na Yeon Choi, $8,491 69-71-68-71 279
Belen Mozo, $8,491 71-68-69-71 279
Caroline Hedwall, $8,491 69-68-69-73 279
Sarah Jane Smith, $5,881 70-71-71-68 280
Eun-Hee Ji, $5,881 72-69-69-70 280
Danielle Kang, $5,881 69-71-70-70 280
Amelia Lewis, $5,881 69-74-67-70 280
Katie M. Burnett, $5,881 67-73-68-72 280
Pat Hurst, $5,881 71-70-67-72 280
Kim Kaufman, $5,881 70-71-67-72 280
Kayla Mortellaro, $5,881 69-67-70-74 280
H. Bowie Young, $4,698 71-69-71-70 281
Moira Dunn, $4,698 70-69-70-72 281
Christina Kim, $4,698 69-70-70-72 281
Victoria Elizabeth, $4,698 71-69-68-73 281
Morgan Pressel, $3,997 72-70-71-69 282