Lydia Ko, of New Zealand, waves to the crowd wearing her gold medal during the medal ceremony after the final round of the women’s golf event at the Paris Olympics 2024 at Le Golf National in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt York)
SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France — Lydia Ko completed her Olympic medal collection on Saturday, with the most prized medal being the gold medal that has put the 27-year-old Kiwi into the LPGA Hall of Fame.
Ko built a five-shot lead on the back nine at Le Golf National after all the players closest to him fell away, and then had to hold on until the end. After cutting his lead to one, Ko layed up on the par-5 18th, hit wedge to 7 feet and made birdie for a 1-under 71 and a two-shot victory.
Ko won silver in Rio de Janeiro. She won bronze in Tokyo. The lost medal turned out to be worth more than its weight in gold. The win pushed her career total to 27 points for the LPGA Hall of Fame, which has one of the strictest criteria for any shrine.
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Germany’s Esther Henseleit shot a birdie-birdie 66 to give Ko a tough time. She won the silver medal. China’s Shiau Lin shot a birdie on the last hole to win the bronze medal.
It was a day to forget for Nelly Korda, Rose Zhang, Morgan Metraux and many others. They were all in range early on. They all fell behind due to big mistakes, which paved the way for Ko.
It is the latest award in a remarkable career for Ko, who won her first LPGA title as a 15-year-old amateur and reached No. 1 in the world for the first time at age 17. She began this year with a win that left her one point behind Hall.
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To cross the Olympic gold medal line?
“That would be a very, very difficult thing to do,” Ko said earlier in the week.
He played brilliantly and finished with a score of 10-under 278 despite the course being very rough and watery over the 10 holes, especially at the end when the pressure was highest.
Lydia Ko, of New Zealand, walks off the 14th green during the final round of the women’s golf event at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024, at Le Golf National in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Ko became the 35th player to qualify for the LPGA Hall of Fame, and the second-youngest after Australian great Kerry Webb to earn the required 27 points — two points for her two major titles, one point for her other 18 LPGA victories, one point for winning LPGA Player of the Year (twice) and one point for winning the Vare Trophy for lowest scoring average (twice).
And a big point for Olympic gold.
Ko needed only two putts from short distance to win, and when the putt fell in, she walked away with her hand over her mouth and was crying shortly after.
The final round was tougher than it should have been. Ko was leading the competition, but suddenly, shockingly, everyone lost, except her.
China’s Ruoning Yin, who had moved to within one shot of the lead, bogeyed two of three holes after making the turn. Hannah Green was two holes behind but her tee shot on the 10th hole went into the water, leading to a double bogey that ended her comeback from an opening-round 77.
Miyu Yamashita and Rose Zhang played tennis on the ninth green, chipping back and forth from one side of the green to the other, until both made double bogey.
And just like that, Ko moved five ahead of the field and the only drama was a wild race for the remaining two medals. At one point, 12 players were separated by two shots, the equivalent of B-flight.
If only it were that simple for Ko.
She was leading with birdie looks on every hole until she found the water on the 13th hole for a double bogey. That reduced her lead to three shots, which was pretty safe until Henseleit forced Ko to do her best.
Suddenly had a one-shot lead and was playing on fat greens, twice making nervous 3 1/2-foot par putts. She made all the putts until she reached the par-5 18th, the easiest of Saturdays at Le Golf National, needing only par to take all the prize.
Then there was a separation for the bronze medal. The diminutive Yamashita played brilliantly, two points behind the lead, until she fell into the water on the par-3 16th and made double bogey. She had a chance to force a playoff for the bronze medal but missed a 35-foot eagle putt on the 18th.
Bianca Isabel Pagdanganan of the Philippines receives advice from her caddie during Round 4 of the Women’s Golf Individual Stroke Play of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Le Golf National in Guyancourt, southwest of Paris on August 10, 2024. (Photo: Pierre-Philippe Marcou/AFP)
She shot 73 to finish one shot off the podium, along with Green (69), Bianca Pagdanganan of the Philippines (68) and Women’s PGA Championship winner Amy Yang (69).
Korda, the No. 1 player in women’s golf and a gold medalist at the Tokyo Games, lost again in the final stages. This time, she hit a wedge into the water at the 15th and made triple bogey. She finished with a score of 75. This week Korda made a triple bogey at the 15th, a quadruple bogey at the 16th and two three-putt bogeys at the 17th.
“I played really well until the last couple of holes,” he said. “Again, I think that was the story of my week. Other than that, I played really good golf.”
Green was 12 shots off the lead after her opening 77. She was two shots behind a podium position when she made the turn. Her last chance was for birdie on the 18th, but she drove into the rough and hit a weak wedge onto the green.
Zhang made two birdies on the last three holes to shoot 74. Metraux, who was tied for the lead with Ko on the final day, failed to make a birdie until the 15th hole and shot 79.
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In the end, the stage, the podium – and the temple – belonged to everyone.
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