Golf: Lydia Ko finishes 20th in Ohio

New Zealand's Lydia Ko. Photo / AP

Lydia Ko took her foot off the accelerator on the final day of the Marathon Classic in Ohio, dropping one spot to finish 20th.

Kiwi former world No.1 Ko zoomed up the leaderboard in the third round of her title defence on Saturday, carding a six-under 65.

A closing 69 wasn't enough to make further headway, mixing four birdies with two bogeys.

The 20-year-old's nine-under tally was 12 strokes behind Korean In-Kyung Kim, who stormed home to claim a sixth career LPGA Tour title.

Kim sunk six of her eight birdies on the front nine to finish four shots clear of American Lexi Thompson, who takes over as the Tour's points leader.

World No.4 Ko, who hasn't won a tournament for more than a year, will contest next week's Scottish Open near Kilmarnock.

That precedes the year's fourth major, the British Open in Fife, Scotland.

- AAP