After winning gold at the Olympics and earning Hall of Fame status, Lydia Ko was asked by a team member, “What’s your goal now?”
After some brief thought, Ko responded, “Win a major championship before I’m done competitively playing.”
Two weeks later, it’s time for a new goal. Ko captured the AIG Women’s Open on Sunday for her third career major title and her first since 2016. Not only did she win another major, she did so on the Old Course at St. Andrews.
“It’s kind of like saying, ‘Do you like your mother better or your father better?’” she said when asked which achievement felt best. “They are all special in their own way.”
Ko birdied the par-4 18th to shoot 3-under 69 and post 7 under par, breaking out of a three-way share of the lead. She finished two clear of the field as Nelly Korda (72) bogeyed the 17th and Lilia Vu (73) bogeyed the 18th. They finished as part of a four-way tie for second with Jiyai Shin (74) and Ruoning Yin (70).
Sunday evening, the 27-year-old Ko didn’t state a goal moving forward — just that she had no desire to stop now. Though, she has long mentioned retiring at age 30, having done what she’s done in the last month doesn’t feel like the perfect ending.
Actually, she has a hard time describing how it feels.
“I don’t think there’s a word in the dictionary that can explain what just happened. But somebody put it into perspective before I won the gold, they said, try to think of like getting into the Hall of Fame as like a gas station on the way to my final destination and not like my final destination,” she said.
“I think for a while, that was my goal. I was making it seem like, OK, that was my end point, and I think after hearing that, that put it into perspective of saying, you know, what it’s not like I’m going to get in the Hall of Fame and say, ‘Bye-bye, golf.’
“I’m still planning to play. I think that just makes it easier to say, you know, if it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen, and I’m also going to focus on what’s in front of me. I think this past three weeks was kind of like a representation of that scale.”
Here’s how the final stretch played out in Scotland:
The moment Lydia Ko won the AIG Women’s Open at St. Andrews
Final leaderboard at the 2024 AIG Women’s Open
Lydia Ko now owns three different major trophies
She adds this one to her 2015 Amundi Evian Championship and 2016 Chevron Championship titles. Here’s the trophy ceremony:
Lydia Ko celebrates victory with husband
What it means for Lydia Ko 💙#AIGWO pic.twitter.com/Np50yQGrEK
— Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) August 25, 2024
Lydia Ko is the AIG Women’s Open champion
Vu leaves her birdie putt to force a playoff well short (she also misses the par putt). Ko wins her first major championship since 2016 and her third overall — and she does it on the Old Course. Ko has now won an Olympic gold medal, gained entry into the Hall of Fame and won a major at St. Andrews in the last three weeks.
The moment Lydia Ko officially became a THREE-TIME major champion. 🏆🇳🇿 @AIGWomensOpen pic.twitter.com/axhlMU9U9T
— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) August 25, 2024
Lilia Vu will have 15 feet to force a playoff
Maybe Vu was too close to the green. Her short approach flies past the flag and settles 15 feet from the hole. She must make that to force a playoff with Lydia Ko.
Lilia Vu with big putt, big bounce
Vu saves par at the 17th to remain one back of Lydia Ko and then hits a great drive on the par-4 18th which catapults forward off the crossroad and nearer the green. She needs birdie to force a playoff — or an eagle will win it.
Another big number ruins Nelly Korda’s chance at Old Course win
Korda was leading by two when she made a horrible double bogey from near the green at the par-5 14th. After winning the season’s first major, the Chevron Championship, Korda has had some difficult moments in big events:
- U.S. Women’s Open: Makes a 10 on her second hole of the championship en route to an opening 80 and a missed cut.
- KPMG Women’s PGA: After opening in 69, shoots 81 in Round 2 to miss the cut.
- Olympic competition: With a shot at a medal, Korda plays the back nine in 40, including a triple bogey at the par-4 15th, to tie for 26th.
Nelly Korda will not win her second major in 2024
Needing to hole her wedge shot on the par-4 18th to catch Lydia Ko, Korda flew her approach well long of the flag and now has 30 feet for birdie.
Nelly Korda bogeys the 17th, falls two back
And just like that, Korda goes from co-leader to two off the pace with one to play. Just after Lydia Ko birdied the 18th, Korda missed a 10-footer for par at the 17th. Korda now needs to eagle the par-4 18th to have a chance at a playoff.
Lydia Ko birdies the 18th at St. Andrews!
Ko hits a brilliant approach shot into the par-4 18th and then makes the 6-foot slider to take the solo lead at 7 under.
LYDIA KO LEADS AT ST ANDREWS. 🤯🇳🇿
— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) August 25, 2024
Clutch birdie on 18 for the clubhouse lead at 7-under!
📺 NBC & Peacock | @AIGWomensOpen pic.twitter.com/MUlrGmBow6
Korda gives her a chance for par at the 17th
After hitting her approach shot into the Road Hole bunker, she plays a deft shot to 10 feet.
We now have three tied at the top
Jiyai Shin bogeys the 15th to drop to 5 under. It’s now Nelly Korda, Lydia Ko and Lilia Vu tied for the lead at 6 under.
Nelly Korda and Lilia Vu narrowly miss birdies
Korda, trying to bounce back from a brutal double bogey at the par-5 14th, which resulted in a logjam at the top, had 10 feet for birdie at the 16th but missed. She remains at 6 under.
Vu, the defending champion, lipped out a 25-foot birdie putt at the 15th and stays at 6 under, too.
Lydia Ko pars the Road Hole
After a gorgeous approach shot to the brutal par-4 17th, Ko two-putts for par to remain at 6 under.
The rain is coming down
It’s the worst weather of the day with the final group on the 15th hole.