ST. ANDREWS, Scotland (AP) — Lydia Ko covered her face with her hands and cried tears of joy.
A Olympic Gold Medal. Induction into the Hall of Fame. And now another major championship title – and in the home of golf, of all places.
A summer can hardly be much better.
Ko completed what she described as a “Cinderella story” by breaking through a logjam of world-class talent to win the Women’s British Open at St. Andrews by two strokes on Sunday, securing her third major title – and first in eight years. Just two weeks ago, the 27-year-old New Zealander won gold at the Olympic Games in Paris.
“It’s almost too good to be true,” Ko said.
She holed a left-to-right birdie putt on the historic 18th hole of the Old Course to shoot 69 (3 under par) for a total of 7 under par and then had to wait to finish ahead of top seed Nelly Korda, defending champion Lilia Vu and two-time champion Jiyai Shin.
This quartet of former and current number ones shared the lead at times in the final spurt of an exciting final round, which was mostly held in cold, stormy and wet weather until it finally ended in sunshine.
Ko was waiting on the practice putting green near the 18th green, stretching with earmuffs on, when Vu lined up a 20-foot putt for a birdie that should have gone in to force a playoff. It wasn’t enough, and Vu ended up making bogey, shooting 73 strokes and falling to 5 under par, in a four-way tie for second place with Korda (72), Shin (74) and also Ruoning Yin (70). Ko cried in her caddie’s arms.
Ko qualified for the Hall of Fame by winning the gold medal on August 10 in Paris and now owns what many consider to be the ultimate trophy in the sport – a major championship title in the home of golf.
Ko was asked what feels better: an Olympic gold medal, her first two majors or her third victory at St. Andrews.
“It’s like saying, ‘Do you like your mother better or your father better?'” she said, drawing laughter from the crowd around the 18th green. “They’re all special in their own way.”
She won her last major title in 2016 at the Chevron Championship. A year earlier, as an 18-year-old prodigy, she had won the Evian Championship.
Now she’s like a veteran – and still wins trophies.
Korda aims for a second major title a dominant year 2024 with six wins for the American, began the final round two shots behind Shin, the 2008 and 2012 champion and the night’s leader at 7 under par. On her 10th hole, Korda led after three birdies in a four-hole stretch around the turn and soon had a two-shot lead as Shin and Vu struggled in miserable weather at the start of the back nine.
The turning point came on the par-5 14th hole, where Ko made a birdie and Korda later made a double after flying over the green and hitting her chip back onto the green short.
Ko played the par-4 17th, the famous Road Hole, impressively, hitting a hybrid to 20 feet and two-putting for par, then hitting a wedge shot close to the 18th before sinking the pressure putt.
Korda was on the 17th green and heard the cheers for Ko just before she made bogey after hitting her second shot into the Road Hole bunker.
Korda needed an eagle at the end, she could only make par, and so Vu was the only player who could deny Ko the fairytale ending to a perfect summer.
“Here I am as a three-time major champion,” Ko said against a backdrop of screeching seagulls. “It’s so surreal.”
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AP Golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
