OIympic champion Lydia Ko's 'fairytale' continues at St Andrews - with the help of a Scotsman


First an Olympic gold medal and now a major winner at St Andrews. What a two-week spell it’s been for Lydia Ko – and even the sun came out to see her crowned as the AIG Women’s Open champion on the Old Course.
As the final major of the 2024 season edged towards a conclusion at the end of a painfully-slow closing circuit, four players shared the lead at one point before Ko came up with the shots that mattered while, at the same time, world No 1 Nelly Korda gave the New Zealander a helping hand in landing a third major victory and first since 2016.
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Hide AdStanding on the tee at the par-5 14th, Korda held a two-shot lead and, with her length, had a chance to leave the chasing pack, which also included two-time winner Jiyai Shin and defending champion, feeling as though they were battling it out to be the bridesmaid to her on the Fife coast.


A sloppy double-bogey 7, however, meant the title battle was back on and, boy, did Ko seize the lifeline she’d been thrown. The 27-year-old had hit driver-driver to set up a birdie at the 14th in the group ahead of Korda.
In the worst rain of the four days, Ko then produced arguably the best shot of the championship to safely find the heart of the green at the Road Hole and made par there before calmly rolling in a six-footer down the slope for a closing birdie.
Signing off with a 69 for a seven-under-par total, the LPGA Hall of Famer then faced an anxious wait to see if anyone could catch her in the final two groups and force a play-off.
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Hide AdAfter finding the greenside bunker at the 17th, Korda was unable to get up and down to save par and then closed with a par while Shin’s hopes of becoming the event’s first three-time winner since it became a major in 2001 were effectively ended when she also dropped a shot at the penultimate hole.
That meant it was all down to Vu, who was bidding to become the first player to claim the title back-to-back since 2011. The American, who’d shown dogged determination all week, had a 20-footer for a birdie at the last to match Ko’s total but couldn’t convert it. In fact, she ended up three–putting.
All of which meant that Ko was a major champion once again while Korda (72), Vu (73), Shin (74) and Ruoning Yin (70) all ended up sharing second spot on five under. It was Ko’s 29th professional victory, with this one being worth just over £1 million. She burst into a flood of tears as the reality of pulling off her latest success coming at the Home of Golf hit home.
“I don't think there's a word in the dictionary that can explain what just happened,” admitted Ko, who had started the day three shots behind overnight leader Shin. “It's been a crazy past few weeks.
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Hide Ad"You know, something that was too good to be true happened (completing a full collection of Olympic medals by striking gold in Paris) and I honestly didn't think it could be any better and here I am as the AIG Women's Open champion this week. Obviously that being here at the Old Course at St Andrews, it makes it so much more special.
“I just loved being out there this week. I had a lot of family members here with me. I played here when I was 16 in 2013 (the second time the event was held at St Andrews after a first staging in 2007), but I don't think I got to really enjoy and realise what an amazing place this is. Now that I'm a little older and hopefully a little wiser, I just got to realise what an historic and special place this golf course is, and it's honestly been such a fairytale.”
In challenging conditions, the winner hit lots of good shots over four days, but her face lit up when she was asked about that approach at the penultimate hole. “What a time for us to play that 17th hole,” said Ko. “On 15, I thinned my 3-wood into the green and hit into the bunker. So my biggest goal is to make solid contact. And honestly it was so windy and rainy. That was probably one of the best shots I've hit.”
Ko heaped praise on her Scottish caddie Paul Cormack, who was also on Anna Nordqvist’s bag when the Swede won this title over on the other side of the Eden Estuary at Carnoustie in 2021. “Yeah, I said he's one up on me. He won in Carnoustie with Anna and now hare,” she said, smiling of the Aberdonian.
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Hide Ad“Paul is a very positive person. I think when the conditions are tough or things aren't going your way, it's easy for all of us to spiral down and be a little bit negative. But he's always got a positive outlook on things.”
Korda’s hopes of landing a seventh success on the LPGA Tour this season ultimately ended in disappointment. Explaining her untimely slip up at the 14th, the American said of her third shot: “I had 58-degree and it just shot on me. The wedge shot that I had over the green was kind of sitting a little bit in a hole with the hay or whatever you call it behind it. I just can't catch it cleanly and then obviously didn't make the putt for bogey.”
She also talked about why she’d played away from the flag out of the Road Hole bunker. “Yeah, I had a hit to right of it,” she said. “I was a little too close to the back edge where I've had one of those where you think you can get it but you swing and miss and you hit the top of the bunker. Instead of doing that, I took my medicine and went a little right. Hit the putt really good but just didn't have enough speed.”
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