Steady improvement by New Zealand’s Lydia Ko gives her Olympic gold and full set of medals
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Lydia Ko (above) held off a late charge from Germany’s Esther Henseleit in a tense finish at Le Golf National.
PHOTO: AFP
GUYANCOURT – New Zealand’s Lydia Ko won gold in the Olympic women’s golf competition with a one-under 71 final round score on Aug 10, completing her medal set after silver in Rio and bronze in Tokyo.
In a tense finish at Le Golf National near Paris, she held off a late charge from Germany’s Esther Henseleit, whose six-under 66 in the fourth round put her on eight-under 280 overall and two strokes behind the Kiwi.
“Going into this week, everyone was saying, ‘Oh, what if you finish and collect the gold on top of the silver and bronze you have’,” Ko said. “Of course I wanted to do that, complete it, too, but it’s much easier said than done.”
China’s Lin Xiyu, who shot 69, was a further shot back to take bronze, making her the country’s second women’s golf medallist after Feng Shanshan, who won bronze in Rio in 2016.
The 27-year-old Ko, who started the final round as co-leader with Morgane Metraux of Switzerland, was cruising towards victory as she advanced to 11 under and established a five-stroke lead over Henseleit after the front nine.
But a wayward shot on the 13th saw her hit the water en route to a double-bogey, opening the door for Henseleit.
Two-time Major winner and former world No. 1 Ko kept her nerve with a string of par putts before slotting in a birdie on the 18th green to bag the gold.
“I just stayed patient and stuck to my game plan, and you know, 18, that tee shot and the second shot was probably two of the most important shots in my life,” she said, after shedding tears on the podium during the medal ceremony.
Gold for South Korean-born Ko will also bring her the remaining point she needed to enter women’s golf LPGA Hall of Fame and she says Paris will be her final Games.
Metraux (79) slumped from her overnight co-lead to be tied-18th at two under, failing to recover from two bogeys and a triple-bogey in her first five holes.
Finishing on the same score as Metraux was France’s Celine Boutier, who had thrilled home fans by taking a first-round lead.
Playing alongside Boutier (74), defending champion and world No. 1 Nelly Korda of the United States ended on one under and tied-22nd spot after a 75.
Nelly Korda fell out of medal contention during the final round to end at one under in tied-22nd position.
PHOTO: AFP
She hit a dreadful approach shot into the 15th green, coming up 50 yards short of clearing the water before racking up a triple-bogey.
“I just shanked it,” Korda said. “I just hit it fat and hit it short and into the water.”
A group of four players finished in an agonising tie for fourth, one shot outside a possible bronze medal play-off, after Lin made birdie on the final green.
The Philippines’ Bianca Pagdanganan (68), Australian Hannah Green (69), South Korea’s PGA Championship winner Amy Yang
Anxious before leaving for Paris, Lin said she called Feng, who cleared her mind by telling her to go for a medal.
“I feel like that conversation was really important to me, that just narrowed everything down,” the 28-year-old said.
Singapore’s debutante Shannon Tan was 40th out of 60 golfers after a 74 for a seven-over 295 total. REUTERS, AFP
