LPGA standout Lydia Ko took home the gold medal in women’s golf on Saturday, earning a 2 shot victory over the competition at Le Golf National in Paris.
Entering the final round of play tied for the lead, Ko rode a strong front nine to the top of the leaderboard following her 3rd birdie of the day. However things became interesting on 13 as an uncharacteristic double bogey suddenly brought her back to the pack down the stretch.
After a string of pars, the Kiwi would birdie 18 with a brilliant approach shot to restore her 2 shot margin of victory. Rounding out the podium was Germany’s Esther Henseleit (silver) and China’s Xiyu Lin (bronze).
With the win, Ko now has a medal of each colour, having previously won silver at the Rio Olympics, and bronze in Tokyo. The victory also checks off the final hurdle she needed on her professional resume to qualify for the LPGA hall of fame, making the victory that much sweeter.
“I knew the next 18 holes were going to be some of the most important 18 holes of my life,” Ko said following the round. “I knew being in this position was once in a lifetime.”
Ko would go on to reveal that she had made the decision that this would be the final Olympics of her career after her final putt dropped on 18. “I kept telling myself, ‘I get to write my own ending.’ I wanted to be the one that was going to control my own fate. To have it end this way, it’s honestly a dream come true.”
World number 1 Nelly Korda began the day within striking distance of the leaders. However, some missed opportunities on the front nine, and a triple bogey on 15 ultimately doomed the American as she shot 75 for the round and finished tied for 22nd.
With the Olympics now wrapped up, most of the field will head over to Scotland for the Freed Group Women’s Scottish Open which kicks off on August 15th.
Photo: Wojciech Migda. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.