7 Apr 2014

Ko down the field in first major

1:35 pm on 7 April 2014

The New Zealand golfer Lydia Ko has finished in a tie for 29th at the LPGA Tour's first major of the year, the Kraft Nabisco Championship in California.

Competing in her first major championship as a professional, Ko fired a two over par 74 at Mission HIlls to finish two over for the tournament and 16 shots behind the winner and fellow teenager, the American Lexi Thompson.

The 19-year-old became the second youngest winner of an LPGA major with her first triumph at that level as she surged away with the win with one of the best rounds of the day, a four under 68.

Thompson beat compatriot Michelle Wie by three shots with her 14 under total.

If Ko had won, the world No.4 would have become the youngest major champion in history, but the 16-year-old Aucklander carded rounds of 73, 70, 73 and 74.