Ko wins ANA, taking advantage of Jutanugarn's late collapse

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. — Lydia Ko took advantage of Ariya Jutanugarn’s late collapse to win the ANA Inspiration on Sunday for her second straight major victory and second LPGA Tour win a row.

The top-ranked Ko hit an 88-yard wedge shot to a foot on the par-5 18th to set up her winning birdie – and the traditional victory leap into Poppie’s Pond. She closed with 3-under 69 to finish at 12-under.

“This is an unbelievable moment,” Ko said before jumping in the pond.

Jutanugarn had a two-stroke lead at 13-under with three holes to play. The 20-year-old Thai player bogeyed all three, three-putting the par-4 16th, failing to get up-and-down from a bunker on the par-3 17th and hooking her drive into the water on No. 18.

“I really get nervous, especially being my first time leading,” Jutanugarn said. “Next time, it’s going to be so much fun to be there.”

Charley Hull and In Gee Chun finished a stroke behind Ko, and Jutanu­garn ended up fourth at 10-under.

Ko won the final major last season, the Evian Championship in September in France, and took the LPGA Tour event last week in Carlsbad. The 18-year-old New Zealander has 12 LPGA Tour victories, including five last year when she was the tour’s player of the year.

Ko had a bogey-free round, also holing a 22-foot birdie putt on the par-3 fifth and a 40-footer on the par-3 eighth. She made three key par saves on the back nine, the first with a 15-foot putt after crisscrossing the par-5 11th. She ran in an 18-footer on the par-4 13th, and a 10-footer on 17.

“Obviously, making those putts on 11 and 13 was crucial, too, but just not knowing anything, I wanted to focus on my game and just what I could control,” Ko said. “But on 17, I knew what I needed to do. Something like a miracle needed to happen, so I think 17 was probably the most crucial putt.”

Jutanugarn had been best known for blowing a two-stroke lead with a closing triple bogey at age 17 in the 2013 LPGA Thailand. On Sunday, she made four birdies in a five-hole stretch in the middle of the round to move into position for a breakthrough victory that slipped away. She finished with 71.

Hull birdied the 18th for 69 and her best finish in a major.

“I know I can play well under pressure now when I have to get it going,” the 20-year-old English player said. “I’m happy I holed that putt on the last, and I’m proud of myself.”

Chun also closed with a birdie for 70. The U.S. Women’s Open champion was making her first start after sitting out a month because of a back injury. She was hurt when she was struck by a hard-case suitcase that rival South Korean player Ha Na Jang’s father dropped down an escalator at the Singapore airport.

Lexi Thompson, the third-round leader, eagled the last hole for 73 to finish fifth at 9-under. The 2014 winner had three front-nine bogeys and failed to make a birdie.

PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS: In Saucier, Miss., Miguel Angel Jimenez shot 8-under 64 to win the Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic by two strokes.

Jimenez started in third place, three shots behind leader Scott Dunlap. But the 52-year-old from Spain took control with a bogey-free round that included four straight birdies on Nos. 10-13.

The decisive run on the back nine started on No. 10 when Jimenez made a 55-foot putt from the fringe.

It is Jimenez’s third victory on the PGA Tour Champions in just 10 starts dating back to 2014. He was 14-under for the tournament at Fallen Oak.

Dunlap finished in second place after shooting 69. Tom Pernice Jr., Jeff Maggert and Jerry Smith were five shots behind Jimenez to tie for third.

Augusta’s Scott Parel shot 74 and tied for 46th.

WEB.COM TOUR: In Sao Paulo, Andrew Svoboda rallied to win the Brazil Cham­pions, closing with a birdie to overcome a one-stroke deficit to Bhavik Patel. Svoboda birdied the par-4 18th for 4-under 67, and Patel closed with a bogey to finish a stroke back in his second event since returning from a doping suspension and hip injury.

Former USC Aiken golfer Matt Atkins shot 66 and tied for 14th. Augusta resident Wesley Bryan had 67 and tied for 35th.