2024 Olympic women’s golf final round recap: Lydia Ko wins gold, into LPGA Hall of Fame

Ko has long talked about retiring at the age of 30. Good thing she’s only 27. Ko didn’t hint at walking away Saturday after winning gold. Instead, she said, “I’m going to enjoy this week up until tomorrow and then get adjusted for the cold weather in Scotland.”

Ko is set to compete in the upcoming Women’s Scottish Open and then the AIG Women’s Open (a major) on the Old Course at St. Andrews.

“I’m excited to see how this hard work pays off,” she said.

Ko said she rewatched Simone Biles’ documentary Friday night, for inspiration. She needed those positive thoughts as she admitted when she made double bogey on the 13th hole Saturday to cut her lead from five to three strokes, the thought of Jon Rahm “crept in.”

Rahm led by four shots on the back nine in the men’s event but finished off the podium. Ko didn’t allow that to happen and, as Biles would say, she got to “write my own ending.”

She now has to collect the silver from her sister’s house and the bronze from her dad’s closet.

A very brief summary:

• Earns first LPGA Tour win as a 15-year-old amateur
• Successfully defends that title, still as an amateur
• Turns pro, becomes world No. 1 and wins 12 times in three seasons
• Wins first major at age 18
• Wins second major less than a year later
• Wins silver in 2016 Rio Games
• Wins bronze in 2020 Tokyo Games
• Wins gold in 2024 Paris Games
• Earns final point for inclusion into LPGA Hall of Fame

1. Lydia Ko (NZL): -10 (71)
2. Esther Henseleit (GER): -8 (66)
3. Xiyu Lin (CHN): -7 (69)
T4. Bianca Pagdanganan (PHI): -6 (68)
T4. Hannah Green (AUS): -6 (69)
T4. Miyu Yamashita (JPN): -6 (73)
T8. Wei-Ling Hsu (TPE): -5 (68)
T8. Rose Zhang (USA): -5 (74)

Lydia Ko now has gold to add to her silver and bronze medals. The New Zealander won the Olympic women’s golf competition, shooting 1-under 71 in the final round to finish at 10 under par.

Germany’s Esther Henseleit (66) won silver at 8 under, while China’s Xiyu Lin (69) won bronze at 7 under.

Ko takes 3-wood off the tee and lays up to 76 yards. She then hits a perfect wedge to 6 feet.

After a par at the 17th, Ko enters the par-5 18th leading by one over Esther Henseleit, who is in the clubhouse at 8 under.

If this was her final competitive event, she ended her career with an eagle. The Colombian hit a beauty into the par-5 18th and rolled in the putt.

Uribe shot 73 in the final round and was tied for ninth.

Lots of cheers from the home fans. The Frenchwoman, who led by three shots after the first round, followed up her opening 65 with rounds of 76-71-74. At 2 under par, she was tied for 18th.

After making birdie on two of her first three holes Saturday, Korda made four bogeys, two birdies and a crushing triple, the rest of the way.

Korda had two ‘7’s this week which cost her seven shots. She finished at 1 under, currently tied for 22nd.

China’s Lin narrowly misses her eagle putt on No. 18 and taps in for birdie. That puts her alone in third place at 7 under.

Green (69) pars the 18th while Yang (69) makes birdie. They both join Bianca Pagdanganan in the clubhouse at 6 under.

However ... Xiyu Lin is also at 6 under with 15 feet for eagle at the par-5 final hole.

Bianca Pagdanganan (68) posted 6 under. That’s currently T-3 with Hannah Green and Xiyu Lin playing the 18th.

Lin bogeyed the 17th to drop to minus-6 while Miyu Yamashita doubled the 16th to fall to minus-5.

What pressure? Henseleit launched her drive 300 yards down the fairway at the par-5 18th. From 150 yards, she hit her second to 43 feet and two-putted for birdie.

The German shot 6-under 66 on Saturday to post 8 under par. She’s currently alone in second place and one back of Lydia Ko, who is playing the 15th.

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Yamashita makes a 20-footer for birdie at the 15th — her second in a row — to tie Esther Henseleit for second. Moments later, Lin birdies the 16th — her second in a row — to do the same.

They are all two back of leader Lydia Ko, who struggled at the par-5 14th but managed par.

The German rolls in a 12-footer for birdie at the 17th to reach 7 under par. She’s alone in second and only two shots back of Lydia Ko.

Coming off a birdie, one shot off the podium, in the fairway, from 147 yards, Korda hits an awful approach shot on the par-4 15th into the water.

She makes triple bogey — missing a 2-footer for double — to fall into a tie for 18th.

Ko, in the fairway from 135 yards, hit her approach into the water at the par-4 13th on her way to a double bogey.

Her five-shot lead is now three, with five to play.

Lydia Ko and her five-stroke lead aside, there is quite the competition for second and third place. Here’s where we stand:

T2. Esther Henseleit (GER): -6 (15)
T2. Hannah Green (AUS): -6 (14)
T4. Ruoning Yin (CHN): -5 (14)
T4. Amy Yang (KOR): -5 (14)
T4. Xiyu Lin (CHN): -5 (13)
T4. Miyu Yamashita (JPN): -5 (13)
T8. Wei-Ling Hsu (TPE): -4 (16)
T8. Bianca Pagdanganan (PHI): -4 (16)
T8. Brooke Henderson (CAN): -4 (14)
T8. Nelly Korda (USA): -4 (13)

Tied for third and one shot from the silver position, a bad tee shot forces a pitch out and leads to a bogey for Korda at the 13th. She falls into a big group at 4 under.

Four players are now tied for third at 5 under.

Esther Henseleit is alone in second place at 6 under.

Lydia Ko is five clear with seven holes remaining.

Ruoning Yin bogeyed the 12th hole to fall into a tie for second with Esther Henseleit at 6 under.

Ko is safely in the fairway at the 10th, at 11 under par.

Zhang hit her tee shot into the water and then pingponged around the green to drop to 3 under par, three shots off the podium.

Ko is in control for gold with a big battle for silver and bronze. Here’s the leaderboard as the final group makes the turn:

1. Lydia Ko (NZL): -11 (9)
2. Ruoning Yin (CHN): -7 (11)
3. Esther Henseleit (GER): -6 (12)
T4. Brooke Henderson (CAN): -5 (12)
T4. Hannah Green (AUS): -5 (11)
T4. Amy Yang (KOR): -5 (11)
T4. Nelly Korda (USA): -5 (11)
T4. Xiyu Lin (CHN): -5 (11)
T4. Miyu Yamashita (JPN): -5 (10)

Korda birdied the ninth for a front-nine, 1-under 35. After saving par at the 10th, she is at 5 under for the tournament, two off the podium.

Ruoning Yin found water off the tee at No. 10 and made bogey. She dropped into a tie for second at 7 under with Esther Henseleit.

Back of them, Amy Yang is alone in fourth at 6 under. Miyu Yamashita doubled the par-5 ninth and Hannah Green doubled the 10th. They are part of a logjam at 5 under.

Ko drains a 45-foot birdie at the seventh hole to reach 10 under par and take a two-shot lead.

The German made her fifth birdie of the day at the 10th hole and is now at 7 under and in a tie for third.

While her playing competitors struggled, the New Zealander got up and down for par from 95 yards at the fifth. She’s in the gold medal position at 9 under, one clear of Ruoning Yin. Hannah Green and Miyu Yamashita are two back.

It’s a triple bogey for Metraux, dropping her into a tie for ninth at 4 under, three shots from the podium.

Anatomy of a triple:

• Tee shot: So far left it hit a lady ducking under an umbrella
• Second shot: From the rough, hooked into more rough
• Third shot: Chunked from the rough
• Fourth shot: Through the green and into more rough
• Fifth shot: 17 feet from the hole
• Sixth shot: Short
• Seventh shot: In

Hannah Green has clearly stated how much an Olympic medal would mean to her and it seemed a lost cause after her opening 77.

She’s since gone 70-66 and is 4 under in the final round. The Aussie, who is a two-time LPGA winner this year, is at 7 under for the tournament and one shot from the podium.

While Miyu Yamashita is contending for gold, the other two players in the penultimate group are struggling on Saturday. Thitikul, who was three back to start the final round, is 3 over on the day through five. Uribe, who was four back, is 4 over.

Korda missed the fairway off the tee at No. 5 and then left herself with a long greenside bunker shot. She failed to get up and down, dropping to 5 under, three off the podium.

Ko birdied the par-5 third to pick up the shot she lost at the first. She’s back to 9 under, one clear of Miyu Yamashita.

Rose Zhang and Morgane Metraux both failed to birdie No. 3 to remain tied at 7 under, along with Ruoning Yin.

Celine Boutier, the 18-hole leader, has made two bogeys in four holes to fall into a tie for 17th, five shots from the podium position.

Morgane Metraux has made both in her first two holes Saturday. After hitting the green at the par-3 second, she three-putted, nearly missing the entire hole with her 4-footer for par.

She’s now one back of Lydia Ko, who parred the second, and Miyu Yamashita, who is playing the third. That sisterly support (see below) is badly needed.

Morgane’s older sister, Kim, who competed in the 2020 Games and currently plays on the Ladies European Tour, has made her way to Le Golf National to cheer on sis’.

Korda gets up and down from 77 yards at the par-5 third and she’s now at 6 under, tied for sixth and two off the three-way lead.

Morgane Metraux salvaged bogey after hitting her opening tee shot into the water, and she’s still a co-leader.

Lydia Ko, from the fairway, blew her 172-yard second shot over the green. She then flubbed her chip and also made bogey.

They are at 8 under along with Japan’s Miyu Yamashita, who birdied the second to tie for the lead.

Korda coaxed in a 7-footer at the par 3. That gets her to 5 under and in a tie for fifth. She’s four off the lead and two off the podium.

The co-leader overcooked her tee shot at the first. Her ball took one hard bounce off the bulkhead and into the water hazard.

Fellow co-leader Lydia Ko and Rose Zhang, who trails by two, both found the fairway.

Yes, it was only a par but it was a 6-footer for par. Korda has struggled at times in that 5-to-7-foot range, so she’ll take that a merrily move forward.

This is the third straight time that Ko will play in the final threesome in the final round.

2016 Rio: Trailed by two, shot 69, earned silver.
2020 Tokyo: Trailed by five, shot 65, earned bronze after losing playoff for silver.

Beginning the final round five shots off the lead and three from the podium, Korda split the fairway at the first.

When asked on camera what winning a medal would mean to her, the Swiss golfer said, “Maybe I can tell you after my round. I’m trying not to think about it too much.”

The LPGA Hall of Fame is different than the World Golf Hall of Fame. The former is based on a points system; the latter is based on votes.

For more on how the LPGA’s system works and who has already been enshrined, check out the story below:

Who is in the LPGA Hall of Fame and how do players qualify?

Lydia Ko became the most recent player eligible for the LPGA Hall of Fame when she won Olympic gold.

• Golf Channel Staff,

• Golf Channel Staff,

Here’s where the medal winners started the final round last weekend:

• Gold: Scottie Scheffler (USA) — four back, shot 62
• Silver: Tommy Fleetwood (GBR) — one back, shot 66
• Bronze: Hideki Matsuyama (JPN) — three back, shot 65

With just over and hour before the final group tees off, here’s the leaderboard:

T1. Morgane Metraux (SUI): -9
T1. Lydia Ko (NZL): -9
T3. Rose Zhang (USA): -7
T3. Miyu Yamashita (JPN): -7
5. Atthaya Thitikul (THA): -6
6. Mariajo Uribe (COL): -5
T7. Nelly Korda (USA): -4
T7. Xiyu Lin (CHN): -4
T7. Celine Boutier (FRA): -4
T7. Ruoning Yin (CHN): -4