Jin Young Ko overcame a four-stroke deficit to win the Cognizant Founders Cup for the third time in five years, earning victory on the first playoff hole on Sunday over defending champion Minjee Lee. The best French Celine Boutier finished 31st.

Jin Young Ko wins the Cognizant Founders Cup for the 3rd time

Jin Young Ko wins three-time Cognizant Founders CupVia Twitter ©LPGA TOUR

Winning for the 15th time on the LPGA Tour and for the second time this year, Jin Young Ko had the best performance of the final round with a card of -5 (67) in difficult and windy conditions. The 27-year-old South Korean forced the playoff with a downhill birdie putt from about 4,5 yards on the 18th hole to tie the lead.

Jin Young Ko and Lilia Vu are the only players to have multiple wins on the circuit this year, taking home $450 of the increased prize money to $000 million.

The two players returned to the 18 (par 4) of the Upper Montclair Country Club for the first playoff hole. Ko and Lee hit the green with their second shots, with Lee about 4.5 yards and closer than Jin Young Ko, who had a twisty right-to-left putt.

Jin Young Ko made his birdie attempt by tapping the hole and Lee tried to equalize, but putt two meters from the hole, missing par to the right. Ko punched the hole and rushed over to hug her caddy, David Brooker.

Lee let slip what would have been his ninth victory on the tour as he lost a three-shot 54-hole lead early in the game as well as a two-shot lead three holes from the end with a bogey at No. 16 and the Ko's birdie late in the game.

Lee shot a final round of -1 (71) and finished the 72-hole round at -13 (275).

Jin Young Ko is the only player to have won this event in 2019 and 2021. No event was held in 2020 due to COVID-19. Her three titles are the most won by a player in the event's 12-year history

South African Ashleigh Buhai, who won the AIG Women's Open last year, finished third at -10, a stroke ahead of South Korean rookie Hae Ran Ryu, in this event which honors the 13 founders of the LPGA Tour. .

Thailand's Atthaya Thitikul, India's Aditi Ashok and America's Angel Yin tied for fifth place at -7, one stroke ahead of Japan's Nasa Hataoka.

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Lee started the round with a three shot lead over Yin and Ashok, with Ko finding himself in a group four shots off the lead. Ko closed the gap to two shots with birdies at numbers 3 and 4, and Lee returned the other two shots when she hit a "big" iron at par 3 number 6 into the water for a double bogey.

This created a brief three-way tie for the lead with American Angel Yin at -10. Yin had started the day three shots off the lead and reached -10 with a birdie at No. 2.

Jin Young Ko briefly took the lead with a birdie at No. 7 and Lee responded with a 10-foot putt. Ko regained a shot via birdie at the par-12 5th, but Lee regained a two-stroke lead via birdies at the 11th, 12th and 15th.
Lee opened the door for Jin Young Ko with a bogey at No. 16 after missing the fairway and Ko entered the game with a downhill birdie putt at No. 18.

The 3 French women at the start passed the cut finishing respectively in 31st place for Céline Boutier, at the 42nd for Perrine Delacour, Pauline Roussin-Bouchard finished 66th.

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Cognizant Founders Cup: 3 French women at the start