Current:Home > FinanceLydia Ko completes ‘Cinderella-like story’ by winning Women’s British Open soon after Olympic gold-InfoLens
Lydia Ko completes ‘Cinderella-like story’ by winning Women’s British Open soon after Olympic gold
View Date:2024-12-23 11:40:06
ST. ANDREWS, Scotland (AP) — Lydia Ko captured her third major title — and first in eight years — by breaking free from a logjam of world-class talent to win the Women’s British Open by two strokes at the home of golf on Sunday, capping a summer when she also took gold at the Olympic Games.
The 27-year-old New Zealander rolled in a left-to-right birdie putt at the storied 18th hole on the Old Course at St. Andrews to shoot 3-under 69, and then had to wait to finish ahead of top-ranked Nelly Korda, defending champion Lilia Vu and two-time champion Jiyai Shin.
That quartet of past or present No. 1s shared the lead at one point down the stretch of an engrossing final round played mostly in cold, blustery and wet conditions before ending in sunshine.
Ko had already finished her round and was waiting near the 18th green, doing stretches while wearing ear muffs, when Vu lined up a 20-foot putt for birdie that needed to go in to force a playoff. It came up short, and Vu ultimately made bogey to shoot 73 and drop to 5 under overall alongside Korda (72), Shin (74) and also Ruoning Yin (70) in a four-way tie for second place.
Ko covered her face with her hands and wept in the embrace of her caddie after what she described as a “Cinderella-like story” over the past two weeks.
“This is almost too good to be true,” she said at the trophy presentation.
Indeed, it’s been a golden summer for Ko, who qualified for the Hall of Fame by winning the gold medal at the Paris Olympics on Aug. 10 and now has the ultimate prize in the sport — a major championship title at the home of golf.
Her last major came at the Chevron Championship in 2016. A year earlier, she won the Evian Championship as an 18-year-old prodigy.
Now, she’s like a veteran — and still winning trophies.
Ko was asked what feels better: an Olympic gold medal, her first two majors or winning a third at St. Andrews?
“It’s kind of like saying, ‘Do you like your mother better or your father better?’” she said, eliciting laughter from the crowd around the 18th green. “They are all special in their own way.”
Korda, seeking a second major title of a dominant 2024 for the American, started the final round two shots back from Shin, the champion from 2008 and ’12 and the overnight leader on 7 under. By her 10th hole, Korda was in the outright lead after three birdies in a four-hole stretch around the turn and before long she was two strokes clear as Shin and Vu toiled at the start of the back nine in miserable weather.
A turning point came at the par-5 14th, which Ko birdied and Korda later doubled after flying the green and underhitting her chip back onto the green.
Ko played the par-4 17th, the famous Road Hole, impressively by hitting hybrid to 20 feet and two-putting for par and then hit a wedge shot close at No. 18 before draining the pressure putt.
Korda was up on the 17th green and heard the cheers for Ko, just before making bogey after hitting her second into the Road Hole bunker.
Korda needed eagle at the last — she could only make par — leaving Vu as the only player able to deny Ko the perfect end to what has proved a perfect summer.
“Here I am as a three-time major champion,” said Ko, to a backdrop of squawking seagulls. “It’s so surreal.”
___
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
veryGood! (155)
Related
- Lee Zeldin, Trump’s EPA Pick, Brings a Moderate Face to a Radical Game Plan
- New York dad learns his 2 teenage daughters died after tracking phones to crash site
- Disney returns to profit in third quarter as streaming business starts making money for first time
- Can chief heat officers protect the US from extreme heat?
- Jimmy Kimmel, more late-night hosts 'shocked' by Trump Cabinet picks: 'Goblins and weirdos'
- Striking video game actors say AI threatens their jobs
- USA basketball players juggle motherhood and chasing 8th gold medal at Paris Olympics
- Ryan Reynolds Hilariously Confronts Blake Lively's Costar Brandon Sklenar Over Suggestive Photo
- Jana Duggar Reveals She's Adjusting to City Life Amid Move Away From Farm
- Victory! White Sox finally snap 21-game losing streak, longest in AL history
Ranking
- Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly are expecting their first child together
- Microsoft hits back at Delta after the airline said last month’s tech outage cost it $500 million
- Duane Thomas, who helped Dallas Cowboys win Super Bowl VI, dies at 77
- American Cole Hocker pulls Olympic shocker in men’s 1,500, leaving Kerr and Ingebrigtsen behind
- Will Aaron Rodgers retire? Jets QB tells reporters he plans to play in 2025
- Extreme heat is impacting most Americans’ electricity bills, AP-NORC poll finds
- Taylor Swift leads VMA nominations (again) but there are 29 first-timers too: See the list
- US ambassador to Japan to skip A-bomb memorial service in Nagasaki because Israel was not invited
Recommendation
-
Lost luggage? This new Apple feature will let you tell the airline exactly where it is.
-
US rolls into semifinals of Paris Olympic basketball tournament, eases past Brazil 122-87
-
Judge rejects bid by Judicial Watch, Daily Caller to reopen fight over access to Biden Senate papers
-
Lionel Richie Shares Insight Into Daughter Sofia Richie's Motherhood Journey
-
The results are in: Peanut the Squirrel did not have rabies, county official says
-
'The Final Level': Popular GameStop magazine Game Informer ends, abruptly lays off staff
-
Elon Musk’s X sues advertisers over alleged ‘massive advertiser boycott’ after Twitter takeover
-
How do breakers train for the Olympics? Strength, mobility – and all about the core