Lydia Ko becomes golf's youngest tour winner, aged 14

Ko was the leading amateur at the 2011 Women's Austalian Open

New Zealand amateur Lydia Ko has become the youngest winner of a professional golf tour event, at the age of 14.

Ko, the world's top amateur, won the New South Wales Open by four shots to break the men's mark set by Japan's Ryo Ishikawa at 15 years, eight months.

Previous women's record holder Amy Yang was 16 years, 192 days old when she won the Australian Ladies Masters.

"To be part of history is like a miracle," said Ko. "It's not something you can have by clicking your fingers."

Ko came close to winning the same tournament last year, aged 13, missing a putt on the last green to lose by one shot.

This year, she held her nerve to record a three-under-par final round of 69 and beat Becky Morgan of Wales in the 54-hole tournament.

England's Laura Davies closed with a 71 to finish 14 shots off the pace.

"My driver and iron play were probably the nicest to me over the past two days," added South Korea-born Ko, who moved to New Zealand in 2003.

"I also putted well, but I was in good position on most of the greens because I was able to make approaches from good places on the fairways."

Ko plans to play in about 30 tournaments this year, including professional events over the next two weeks - the Australian Masters at Royal Pines on the Gold Coast and the LPGA's Australian Open at Royal Melbourne.

She added: "I'll play in mostly amateur tournaments after that, and my schedule looks pretty busy for several months."