with return to Marathon

 It has been a year since Lydia Ko last lifted an LPGA trophy, but the former world number one was confident heading into her Marathon Classic title defense this week that her game is not far off.

"I feel like the puzzle pieces are there, but I've been struggling to kind of put those pieces together," the 20-year-old New Zealander said. "Sometimes that is almost the hardest bit, where you feel like those little pieces are there but to connect and put them all into good rounds -- I feel like there are a lot of positives going on, so I'm trying to stay patient."

Ko has seven top-10 finishes on the LPGA Tour this season, but she hasn't threatened in any of the three major championships this year.

The most recent major setback came at the US Open in New Jersey last week, where consistency was again a problem. Ko plummeted 10 places on the final day with a final-round 74, finishing 13 shots behind South Korean winner Park Sung-Hyun.

"I know that I'm playing solid enough, and for me I've just got to focus on my game and try and get better in the aspects that need improvements and just kind of move on and be positive and not really get down on the fact that I haven't won in some period of time," said Ko, who has fallen to fourth in the world.

The Highland Meadows Golf Club in Sylvania, Ohio, could be just the place for Ko to put it all together.

She won last year with a 10-foot birdie putt on the fourth playoff hole to hold off Thailand's Ariya Jutanugarn and South Korean Lee Mi-Rim, adding a second Marathon title to the one she captured in 2014.

This year's field includes six of the top 10 players in the world, including newly crowned US Women's Open champion Park.

Six of the top 10 players in the world are in the field, including newly crowned US Women's Open champion Park.

Park was the 18th different winner in 19 LPGA tournaments this year.

"It just shows that the amount of talent on the LPGA," Ko said. "You just never know who could be holding the trophy at the end of the week."

source: AFP