Golf: Youngest top golfer Lydia Ko sets sights on HSBC Women's Champions title

Golf's youngest world No. 1 Lydia Ko is targeting an improved showing at this year's HSBC Women's Champions tournament.

The 17-year-old teenage sensation, who earlier this month rose to the top of the women's world rankings, has set her sights of winning the US$1.4 million (S$1.9 million) event in March at the Sentosa Golf Club.

The South Korean-born New Zealander star started playing golf at the age of five and competed in New Zealand's women's national amateur championships when she was seven-years-old.

In a teleconference call with local media on Wednesday, she said: "I would love to win the tournament. It features some of the world's best players, people have played well in last 12 months, and it would be great to win such a big event."

She finished 15th in last year's edition at the Serapong Course, eight strokes behind eventual winner Paula Creamer of America, who snatched victory after a stunning 75-foot eagle putt in a playoff against Spaniard Azahara Munoz.

Said Ko: "I had a lot of fun last year and I'm looking forward to going back. The hospitality was great.

"It's a tough course with the breeze and big greens which means you have to shoot for a small target."

Besides Ko, the March 5-8 tournament will feature a world-class field of 63 elite golfers, including all top-six female golfers that includes Ko, Park Inbee, Stacy Lewis, Feng Shanshan, Suzann Pettersen and Michelle Wie.

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