Lydia Ko says she stuck with her game plan as she romped to a nine-shot win in the LPGA Taiwan Championship, a result that sent her back to the top of the world rankings.
The New Zealand teenager fired a seven-under 65 to finish on 20-under as she claimed her third victory in her past five starts and her fifth on the tour this year.
Ko had held a four-shot advantage going into the final day in Taipei and coaches David Leadbetter and Sean Hogan, in an exchange of texts with her, encouraged her to remain aggressive.
"After that, I felt like, `Hey, you've just got to go with your game plan'," she said.
"I think that's what I tried to do, and I think it worked out. Because I was aggressive on some holes I was able to give myself a couple more birdie opportunities."
Ko's margin of victory was the biggest on the tour this year and she achieved it on limited sleep.
She said she didn't know why, but she didn't sleep well before her closing final round on Sunday.
"Normally I could just sleep well and it doesn't matter if I have a one-shot lead or I'm two shots behind or whatever," she said.
"But I woke up during the middle of the night, and I'm a pretty heavy sleeper, so I was kind of surprised at that."
Ko banked $US300,000 ($A416,000) to take her earnings on the tour this year to $US2.71 million ($A3.76 million).
At 18 years and six months, she also added to her list of records by becoming the youngest player to reach 10 LPGA victories.
She eclipsed the mark set by American Nancy Lopez, who was 22 years and two months old when she won the 1979 Sunstar Classic.
"I actually met her in Cleveland for an outing a couple months ago," Ko said.
"She's such an amazing person and an amazing golfer. To have beaten her record, it's an honour."
Ko has taken over from South Korean Inbee Park as world No.1 to hold the status for the second time in her career.
In February, as a 17-year-old, she became the youngest golfer, either male of female, to top the rankings and she stayed there until June.
