ST. ANDREWS, Scotland — Jiyai Shin won her first AIG Women’s British Open 16 years ago. At 36, she is the winningest player still in the field on the Old Course, one stroke ahead of defending champion Lilia Vu, two strokes ahead of world number two Nelly Korda and three strokes ahead of the LPGA’s newest Hall of Fame member, Lydia Ko.
Sunday at St. Andrews will be a battle of generations. Shin has won more than 60 titles worldwide. She left the LPGA in 2014 at the peak of her career and took her talent to Japan, where she has now won 30 times. Her career began in her home country on the Korean LPGA, where she won 21 times, and moved up a gear when she won 11 times from 2008 to 2013.
As a rookie on the LPGA in 2009, Shin set goals for the next decade but achieved them all in a short period of time, struggling to find her next step and the motivation she needed.
That’s when she decided she needed a change and joined the Japan LPGA to be closer to her family. She was afraid of disappointing her fans, but then she met new fans.
“I made a great decision,” said Shin, who wants to be a mentor to younger players like so many were to her all those years ago.
South Korea’s Jiyai Shin smiles on the 17th tee during day three of the 2024 Women’s British Open Golf Championship at the Old Course at St. Andrews in St. Andrews, Scotland, on August 24, 2024. (Photo by ANDY BUCHANAN / AFP) / EDITORIAL USE ONLY (Photo by ANDY BUCHANAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Count Ko, 27, is one of Shin’s admirers and admired her 6:30 a.m. workout session earlier this week and the way she exerted herself in the gym.
It was Shin who played alongside Ko when she won the Canadian Women’s Open 12 years ago at the age of 15.
“I think it requires not only a strong work ethic, but also a passion for the game,” said Ko, who called Shin’s decision to leave the LPGA in its prime a brave one.
Ko goes into Sunday’s final round with a little less confidence than most, having earned her place in the Hall of Fame with a fairytale win at the Paris Olympics. That’s not to say she isn’t still “greedy” and wants to win more, but there’s definitely nothing left to prove.
“It’s definitely nice to know that I can go back to my room and that even if I have a bad day, there’s a gold medal waiting for me,” said Ko, who smiled and then quickly added, “And my husband.”
Korda finished with a birdie on the back nine, which included two bogeys and a double. She led for as many as three holes on a sunny but windy day at the Home of Golf, but fell to third place after a disappointing 75 strokes.
A win on the Old Course would change the story of a challenging summer for Korda, who won six times in the first half of the year, including a major.
The last player to win seven times in a season, including multiple majors, was Yani Tseng in 2011. The last American player to do so was Kathy Whitworth in 1967.
Tseng’s victory at the 2011 British Open at Carnoustie was the last time a player won the championship in two consecutive years, and Vu has a chance to do that on Sunday when she goes for her third major title.
Lilia Vu of the United States tees off on the 14th hole during day three of the AIG Women’s Open on August 24, 2024, at St. Andrews Old Course in St. Andrews, Scotland. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
After managing to avoid the bunkers in the first two rounds, the 2023 LPGA Player of the Year had to take her medicine on the back nine on Saturday.
“I definitely acted like a kid,” Vu said, “because I thought I hit a good shot and then the ball just happened to roll in.”
She thanked her caddy for changing her mind.
Vu had to miss several months of competition earlier this year due to a back injury and is doing everything she can to beat the cold. On Friday, she went back and forth between the cold bath and the sauna and found the new routine helpful, along with plenty of hot chocolate.
Last year’s victory took place at Walton Heath, a parkland golf course outside London. The combative Vu was given a kitten to celebrate, which she named Walton. Her father has already offered her a second bribe: if she wins another major, she can get a second cat.
She has already thought about names and said that this time she would have a girl and name her Andie.
Lydia Ko of New Zealand poses for a photo with her caddie and team during a pro-am ahead of the AIG Women’s Open at St. Andrews Old Course on August 21, 2024 in St. Andrews, Scotland. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Ko, who raves about her puppy Kai when asked, says the events at the Paris Olympics were too good to be true. Imagine how she would have felt if she could top it all off with a win in the home of golf, ending a drought at major championships that stretches back to 2016.
Would she wave goodbye at the Swilcan Bridge? Ko, who has long said she will not play after she turns 30, was asked earlier this week about retiring without playing.
“I think you just have to listen to yourself,” Ko said. “The way Suzann (Pettersen) did after she holed the putt at Solheim, she couldn’t have ended her career any better.”
The same could be said of Ko, who could end her incredible career in the place where golf began. It doesn’t get more epic than that.
