By winning an Olympic gold medal two weeks ago in Paris, Lydia Ko got the final point she needed to be inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame.
Now she’s going even further.
The New Zealander won her third major tournament on Sunday, taking the AIG Women’s British Open after a round of 69 in difficult conditions on the Old Course in St. Andrews. She managed a birdie on the 72nd hole and reached 7 under par, but then had to watch as the Americans Lydia Vu and Nelly Korda could not keep up and forced a playoff.
Ko won by two strokes ahead of Vu, Korda, Jiyai Shin and Ruoning Yin, who all finished in second place at 5 under par.
MORE: Final results, money from St. Andrews
“The last few weeks have been crazy,” Ko said. “You know, something happened that was too good to be true and I honestly didn’t think it could be any better and here I am.”
Ko began the final round three strokes behind 36-hole leader Shin, played in the third-to-last group and was the only player in the final three groups to finish under par – by three strokes.
Vu needed a birdie on the 17th or 18th to force a playoff, but failed to do so, then lost second place with a short, missed par putt on the final hole. Shin bogeyed the 15th and 17th holes, and a birdie on the final hole was too little, too late.
Korda, the world No. 1 and 36-hole leader after two 68s, led by two shots after the 13th hole but made a double-bogey 7 on the par-5 14th and a bogey on the 17th after failing to get up and down from a greenside bunker. She shot 75-72 on the weekend in her quest for a second major in 2024.
“Look, this is golf. I’m going to mess up and unfortunately I messed up twice over the weekend, which ended up costing me two times,” Korda said. “Theoretically, it cost me the tournament, but I played well. I played solid. I even fought afterward. I’m going to take that into the next events.”
Ko’s last major title before Sunday was the 2016 Ana Inspiration (now Chevron Championship). In 2015, at age 18, she became the youngest major champion when she won the Evian Championship.
“The only thing I remember about winning the Chevron Championship is jumping into Poppy’s Pond and holding my nose as I went in because I didn’t want to get water up my nose. That’s all. It feels like it was so long ago.
“Between 2015, 2016 and 2024, I’ve had my fair share of ups and downs. A lot has happened. When things are going well, it’s kind of hard to think about it when you’re not playing well because you’re really just enjoying the moment.”
She has now experienced two unique moments in the same month.
