ST ANDREWS, Scotland — It was another unbelievable moment for Lydia Ko on Sunday afternoon at the Old Course as the 27-year-old birdied the last hole at St Andrews to win her third career major at the Home of Golf.
But it was a wild day of wet, windy, cold golf that ultimately led to Ko’s triumph, one that saw the lead change hands multiple times coming down the stretch in one of the most thrilling final rounds of the 2024 LPGA Tour season.
Ko began the day three shots back of 54-hole leader Jiyai Shin at 4-under, and she made a birdie on the par-4 4th hole to move to 5-under, now within two of the lead. A Shin bogey on three saw the Republic of Korea native slip back to 6-under and share the lead with Lilia Vu. Ko was then one shot back of the pair at that point, sitting at 5-under alongside Nelly Korda.
Korda birdied the fifth hole to join the twosome at the top at 6-under, leaving Ko alone just a shot behind, but the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings No. 1 stumbled with a bogey on six to drop back to 5-under. Korda rejoined Shin and Vu at 6-under with a birdie on seven, and Ko remained one back of the threesome until Shin birdied the par-4 7th hole, moving one ahead of Vu and Korda but two shots ahead of Ko.
Korda birdied nine to tie Shin at the top at 7-under, and Ko birdied the par-4 10th hole to climb to 6-under and again sit one back of the Korda-Shin duo. Korda then surged ahead to 8-under with another birdie on the 10th hole, now one shot ahead of Shin at 7-under and two shots ahead of Ko and Vu at 6-under.
A pair of Vu bogeys on 10 and 11 dropped her to 4-under, and when Shin bogeyed 11 to drop back to 6-under, Ko was now tied for second alongside Shin and two strokes back of Korda. Vu got a shot back with a birdie on 12, and then Ko made birdie on 14 to move to 7-under, now one back of Korda’s 8-under lead in solo second. But Ko bogeyed 15 to drop back to 6-under and once again sit two back of Korda.
Korda then wound up making a double bogey on the par-5 14th hole to slide back to 6-under, leaving Korda, Ko and Shin tied for the lead at the time. Vu re-entered the conversation when she rolled in a birdie putt on 14 to move to 6-under once again, and all of a sudden, it was a four-way tie at the top with four holes to play at St Andrews.
Things momentarily quieted down as rain began to fall at the Old Course, with everyone battling the elements and trying to just make pars in the challenging conditions. After a solid pair of pars on 16 and 17, Ko ultimately came to the last hole needing a birdie to post the clubhouse lead at 7-under while the other contenders worked to find birdies of their own on the last few holes. Ko easily found the fairway on 18 and giggled alongside Alexa Pano as the pair walked over the Swilcan Bridge.
She stuffed her approach shot on 18 to roughly six feet, draining the resulting birdie putt to post at 7-under overall, and Ko then headed to the practice putting green to wait out the finish.
Korda fell away with a bogey on 17, as did Shin, and it was then only Lilia Vu who had a chance to tie Ko and force a playoff on 18. She smashed her drive to just short of the green and knocked her pitch shot to within 10 feet, but Vu uncharacteristically three-putted the last and dropped back to 5-under, handing Ko a two-shot victory.
Considering she was two shots behind on the 16th tee box, it was a bit of a whirlwind finish for Ko, who couldn’t have predicted the insane outcome that ultimately led to her hoisting her third major championship trophy. But it’s a win that will go down in her personal record books as one of the most significant victories of her career, a long-awaited major title that couldn’t mean more to the now 21-time LPGA Tour winner.
“It's been a crazy past few weeks,” Ko said in her winning press conference. “Something that was too good to be true happened, and I honestly didn't think it could be any better, and here I am as the AIG Women's Open Champion this week. Obviously, being here at the Old Course at St Andrews, it makes it so much more special. I just loved being out there this week.”
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