Evian Championship 2015: Final LPGA Leaderboard Scores, Prize Money Payouts

Lydia Ko capped off a brilliant 36-hole stretch Saturday and Sunday at the 2015 Evian Championship to capture her first career major title with a total score of 16 under par.

In winning the year's final major, thanks to a final-round 63, Ko has also become the youngest woman to accomplish that feat. The 18-year-old is nearly six months younger than Morgan Pressel was when she won the Kraft Nabisco Championship in 2007, per Randall Mell of the Golf Channel:

It was a historic day in many ways for Ko, as the Evian Championship added this additional nugget:

There weren't a lot of bad rounds behind Ko. Lexi Thompson started the day where she finished it, in second place, after a decent final-round 70. Ilhee Lee posted the same score to finish third in her quest to break through at a major tournament. 

Here's the top of the leaderboard following Sunday's final round in France:

Pos.	Player	Final Round Score	Overall Score	Payout
1	Lydia Ko	-8 (63)	-16	$487,500
2	Lexi Thompson	-1 (70)	-10	$303,188
3	Shanshan Feng	-1 (70)	-8	$208,000
T4	Ilhee Lee	-1 (70)	-7	$159,473
T4	Mi Hyang Lee	+3 (74)	-7	$159,473
T6	Alison Lee	-5 (66)	-6	$102,916
T6	Lee-Anne Pace	-1 (70)	-6	$102,916
T8	Inbee Park	-3 (68)	-5	N/A
T8	Eun-Hee Ji	+1 (72)	-5	N/A
T8	Amy Yang	+2 (73)	-5	N/A

Full leaderboard available at LPGA.com

Sunday Recap

Laurent Cipriani/Associated Press

Ascension is key to any great win in sports. Athletes and teams have to keep getting better every day to have that big moment in the sun. 

Ko started out well at this year's Evian Championship, shooting back-to-back 69s in the first two rounds, but she is standing tall after Sunday thanks to a 67 on Saturday and a bogey-free 63 on Sunday. Her ability to finish was at another level in this round, hitting a birdie on the ninth hole before making the turn and hitting five birdies on the back nine to turn what was a close battle at the top into a blowout. 

As has become tradition for LPGA event winners, per Alex Myers of Golf Digest, Ko was able to celebrate by being doused with water from her fellow players:

One big advantage she has in winning a major title at 18 is avoiding a lot of questions, something she touched on after Sunday's impressive finish, via LPGA on Twitter:

It's nice when a victory can solve many problems all at once, though Ko is likely to be basking in the glow of this win rather than thinking about future questions that she will now be able to avoid. 

The strange thing about her win and moment, impressive though it may be, is how inevitable it has felt. She has a long way to go before becoming the female Tiger Woods, but this is a young influential phenom who will be celebrating more major wins in the future. 

Ko turned professional at the age of 16, was named one of Time's 100 most influential people in the world in 2014, was the world's top-ranked player in February and already had eight LPGA wins before the Evian Championship. 

LPGA Hall of Famer Amy Alcott told Bill Fields of espnW.com that Ko's talent at such a young age is so rare and unique. 

"You see such greatness, and you know it's a privilege to be able to watch it," Alcott said. "I was 18 when I joined the tour. I kind of get it. She doesn't really know how difficult this game, and life, can be yet. I think she has a very special gift, and I don't think there is any limit on it."

The word "great" gets thrown around with regularity in sports, though its actual definition tends to get lost because today's world requires instant reactions that often lead to overreactions. In this case, though, it absolutely applies. 

Ko is unquestionably one of the greatest athletes—not just golfers—in the world already. The scary part for the rest of the LPGA players is that she will only get better with more experience and confidence.