“It’s a fairy tale.”
This is how Lydia Ko (27, Hana Financial Group) feels after winning the gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics and winning the AIG Women’s Open (total prize money of $9.5 million), the last major tournament of the U.S. LPGA Tour season. 먹튀검증
On the last day of the tournament at St Andrews Old Course (par 72, 6784 yards) in Fife, Scotland, England, on the 25th (local time), Ko blocked one bogey and made four birdies to hit 3-under 69.
Ko, who recorded 7-under 281 overall, shook off the pursuit of the joint second-place players by a two-par difference to win the prize money of 1,425,000 U.S. dollars. Shin Ji-ae (36), world No. 1 Nelly Koda, defending champion Lilia Bu (U.S.) and In Luo Ning (China) tied for second place.
It is her 21st LPGA Tour victory in seven months since the Hilton Grand Vacations Champions Tournament in January. She is the third golfer to win a major championship after the Evian Championship in 2015 and the ANA Inspiration in 2016.
Ko confirmed her LPGA Tour Hall of Fame membership by winning the gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics. She likened being the hero of a big event for a month in August to a story like a fairy tale.
Ko, who entered the final round tying for fourth, three strokes behind the first-runner Shin Ji-ae, made birdies at the fourth, 10th (par 4) and 14th (par 5), laying the groundwork for her to come from behind to win the title. She made a bogey at the 15th (par 4) but birdied the 18th (par 4) to finish the race first as club house champion.
The poor performance of all players who competed for the championship also contributed to the team’s victory. Shin, who had attempted to win 65 titles in her professional career, lost three pars through Hole 17 (par 4), effectively moving away from the competition for championship. It was rather comforting for Shin to join the team tied for second place with a birdie at the 18th hole.
Although Shin was the runner-up, she showed particularly strong performance at the AIG Women’s Open even at a considerable age. Shin won the competition in 2008 and 2012. She also ranked third last year.
Koda was expected to win seven games this season by reducing three pars to the 10th hole (par 4), but he dedicated his victory to a double bogey on the 14th hole and a bogey on the 17th hole. Boo was expected to play in overtime with Lydia Ko, who finished the game first until the 17th hole, but ended the competition tied for second by throwing away a birdie putt opportunity of about 4 meters with three putts.
“Recent weeks have been incredibly crazy,” Lydia Ko said. “This tournament is especially special because it was held at the Old Course in St Andrews.”
“I played here for the first time in 2013 when I was 16 years old,” he said, adding, “I was older than then, but I wanted to be a little wiser. Winning at a historic place with my family, it feels like a fairy tale.”
Ko hinted that she will continue her career for a while. “Before the Olympics, I was told by someone that ‘entering the Hall of Fame is not the final destination, it’s like a gas station on the way to the final destination,'” Ko said. “After hearing that, I thought it would be difficult to quit golf immediately after joining the Hall of Fame. First of all, I will focus on what lies ahead of me.”
Rookie Lim Jin-hee (25, Angang Construction) lost two strokes, but finished tied for 10th (1 under par 287 overall). Yang Hee-young (35, Keum Securities), who challenged for the Rolex Annika Major Award, which is given to the player with the best performance in the five major tournaments by winning the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, finished the tournament tied for 37th (4 over par 292 overall).
Koda, who won the Rolex Annika Major Award once and the runner-up at this year’s major competition, won the title. The award will be given at the CME Group Tour Championship, the last major competition of the season.
