From an entertainment standpoint, it’s nearly impossible to top what golf fans got to experience on the final day of the 2024 major championship season.
The reigning AIG Women’s Open champion and Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings No. 2 trying to become the first American woman to successfully defend a major title in 24 years.
The No. 1 player in the game looking to add another layer to an historic season.
A two-time AIG Women’s Open winner vying to become the first to win it three times as a major.
The reigning Olympic gold medalist trying to cap off a summer for the ages.
The setting? How about the most iconic venue in the game, with the natural elements of Scotland cranking up the difficulty level on a championship Sunday.
The numbers behind the leaderboard at St Andrews provide a deeper look into an incredible close to the year’s major championship calendar.
Legendary Lydia
It was fitting that just weeks after mathematically cementing her place among legends in the game, Lydia Ko achieved something similar from a more narrative-based perspective. Ko’s first two major victories came in a completely different time in her life, eight and nine years ago respectively. And while the Dinah Shore Tournament Course at Mission Hills Country Club and Evian Resort Golf Club are fine championship venues, the gravitas of winning one of the sport’s biggest championships on the Old Course at St Andrews carries an historic significance more parallel to the greatness of Lydia Ko’s career.
Ko is the only amateur to win an LPGA Tour event since 1970, and she did it twice. She is responsible for 10 of the 14 youngest wins in the history of the Tour. She is the youngest major champion and youngest two-time major champion in women’s golf history. Ko didn’t need any validation on an already remarkable career, but the accolades she earned this summer befit her incredible list of achievements in the game.
After ranking outside the top-20 in the field in strokes gained putting in both rounds two and three, Ko saved her best on the greens for when it mattered most. Over her last 36 holes, Ko made just three putts of 8 feet or longer. Two of them came in her last five holes of the championship – birdies at 14 and 18 on Sunday. Ko ranked third in strokes gained putting in the final round and second in the metric for the week overall.
Last year at Walton Heath, players who finished in the top-10 got 54.7% of their strokes gained for the week with putting, a significant increase from the season average of 39.2%. That trend revealed itself again at St Andrews: six players who finished T-10 or better for the week averaged at least a stroke gained putting per round for the championship.
Ko trailed entering the final round in all three of her major championship victories. Over the last 50 years, she is the only player in the women’s game to trail after 54 holes in each of her first three major wins. Ko’s win was the 21st of her incredible LPGA Tour career, pushing her past Inbee Park for most victories since the beginning of the 2012 season.
Nelly’s Misfortunes at 14
According to KPMG Performance Insights, Nelly Korda had a win probability of 77.4% standing on the 14th tee box. Seven strokes later, she walked off that green at just 30.4%.
For Korda to make double bogey on that par-5 hole is statistically perplexing, especially after finding the fairway with her drive. Korda has made birdie or eagle 31% of the time this season when her tee shot on a par 4 or par 5 has wound up in the fairway. That is the highest rate of any player on the LPGA Tour.
Had Korda won at the Old Course, she would have become the first American player with seven victories including multiple majors in an LPGA season since Kathy Whitworth in 1967.
Best of the Major Season
Buoyed by runner-up finishes at both Sahalee and St Andrews, Lilia Vu finished the 2024 major championship season with a cumulative score of 14-under-par, best of any player. Vu is the first player to finish second the year after winning the AIG Women’s Open since Helen Alfredsson back in 1991.
Among players with at least 16 rounds played in the majors this season, no player averaged more strokes gained ball striking per round than Haeran Ryu (+2.03). Ryu was tied with Minjee Lee for most strokes gained approach per round in the majors, as well, fueling top-10 finishes at The Chevron Championship, the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and the Amundi Evian Championship.
U.S. Women’s Open champion Yuka Saso led all players in strokes gained putting in the majors this year, picking up more than 1.8 strokes per round on the greens. Saso also led all players in strokes gained short game, a metric that combines putting and shots around the green. In early June, Saso became the youngest two-time U.S. Women’s Open champion in history.
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