ST. ANDREWS, Scotland – It was another incredible moment for Lydia Ko on Sunday afternoon on the Old Course as the 27-year-old birdied the final hole at St. Andrews to win her third major title at the home of golf.
But it was a wild day of golf with wet, windy and cold weather that ultimately led to Ko’s triumph, with the lead changing hands several times down the home stretch in one of the most thrilling final rounds of the 2024 LPGA Tour season.
Ko began the day three shots behind 54-hole leader Jiyai Shin at 4 under par and birdied the par-4 fourth hole to move to 5 under par and within two shots of the leader. A Shin bogey on the third hole dropped the Korean-born player to 6 under par and shared the lead with Lilia Vu. Ko was one shot behind the pair at the time and was alongside Nelly Korda at 5 under par.
Korda birdied the fifth hole to move into a tie with the leading pair at 6 under par, leaving Ko just one shot behind, but the No. 1 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings stumbled with a bogey on the sixth hole to drop to 5 under par. Korda birdied the seventh hole to catch Shin and Vu at 6 under par, leaving Ko one shot behind the threesome until Shin birdied the par-4 seventh hole to move one shot ahead of Vu and Korda, but two shots ahead of Ko.
Korda made a birdie on nine shots to move level with Shin for the lead at 7 under par, and Ko made a birdie on the par-4 10th hole to move to 6 under par and one shot back behind the Korda-Shin duo. Korda then shot to 8 under par with another birdie on the 10th hole to move to 7 under par and two shots ahead of both Ko and Vu at 6 under par.
Two bogeys by Vu on the 10th and 11th dropped them to 4 under par, and when Shin bogeyed the 11th to drop to 6 under par, Ko was now tied with Shin for second place and two shots behind Korda. Vu made a birdie on the 12th to move up a shot, and then Ko made a birdie on the 14th to move to 7 under par, now one shot behind Korda’s 8 under par lead in second place. But Ko made a bogey on the 15th to drop to 6 under par and again two shots behind Korda.
Korda then made a double bogey on the par-5 14th hole to drop to 6 under par, leaving Korda, Ko and Shin tied for the lead at that point. Vu got back into the conversation when she holed a birdie putt on the 14th hole to move back to 6 under par, and suddenly they were tied for the lead with four holes to play at St. Andrews.
Things quieted down briefly when rain started to fall on the Old Course, with everyone battling the elements and trying to shoot pars in the difficult conditions. After two solid pars on holes 16 and 17, Ko eventually needed a birdie on the final hole to take the clubhouse lead at 7 under par, while the other competitors tried to score their own birdies on the final holes. Ko found the fairway on hole 18 with ease and giggled alongside Alexa Pano as the two walked over the Swilcan Bridge.
She sunk her approach shot to 18 to about 6 feet and sank the resulting birdie putt for a total of 7 under par. Ko then went to the practice putting green to wait for the end.
Korda fell behind with a bogey on hole 17, as did Shin, and then it was only Lilia Vu who had a chance to tie Ko and force a playoff on hole 18. She hit her drive to just short of the green and got her pitch shot to less than 10 feet, but Vu uncharacteristically three-putted on the final shot and fell to 5 under par, giving Ko a two-shot victory.
Considering she was two shots down on the 16th tee, it was quite a tumultuous ending for Ko, who couldn’t have predicted the crazy result that ultimately gave her her third major title. 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 could mean nothing to the now 21-time LPGA Tour winner.
“The last few weeks have been crazy,” Ko said in her victory press conference. “Something happened that was too good to be true and I honestly didn’t think it could be any better. And here I am this week as the winner of the AIG Women’s Open. Of course, it’s even more special here on the Old Course at St. Andrews. I just loved being there this week.”
