“It’s like a fairy tale.”
These are the thoughts of Lydia Go (27 years old, Hana Financial Group), who won the gold medal at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and won the AIG Women’s Open (total prize money of 9.5 million dollars), the last major tournament of the LPGA tour season.
In the fourth round of the final day of the tournament held at St. Andrews Old Course (par 72, 6,784 yards) in Fife, Scotland, England, on the 25th (local time), Lydia Ko saved a bogey, grabbed four birdies, and shot a 3-under 69.
Lydia Ko, who posted a final total of 7-under 281, defeated the players tied for second by two strokes and won the championship prize of US$1.425 million (about 1.89 billion won). Shin Ji-ae (36), world No. 1 Nellie Korda, defending champion Lilia Bu (U.S.) and Yin Luoning (China) tied for second.
This is her 21st LPGA Tour win in 7 months since the Hilton Grand Vacations Champions Tournament in January. This is her third major championship win, following the Evian Championship in 2015 and the ANA Inspiration in 2016.
Lydia Go confirmed her entry into the LPGA Tour Hall of Fame by winning a gold medal at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Becoming the protagonist of a major event during the month of August is like a “fairytale story.”
Lydia Ko, who entered the final round tied for fourth, three shots behind leader Shin Ji-ae, laid the groundwork for a comeback by making birdies on the 4th, 10th (par-4) and 14th (par-5) holes. She bogeyed the 15th (par-4) hole, but grabbed a birdie on the final 18th (par-4) hole and finished first as clubhouse champion.
The fact that all the players competing for the championship performed poorly also contributed to Lydia Go’s victory. Shin Ji-ae, who was trying to get her 65th professional win, lost 3 strokes by the par-4 17th hole, effectively falling out of contention for the championship. Shin Ji-ae’s only consolation was that she birdied the 18th hole and tied for second place.
Although Ji-ae Shin only finished second, she showed a particularly strong performance at the AIG Women’s Open despite her young age. Ji-ae Shin won this competition in 2008 and 2012. Last year she also took third place.
Koda was expected to claim her seventh win of the season by cutting three strokes to the par-4 10th, but surrendered the victory with a double bogey on the par-4 14th and a bogey on the par-4 17th. Boo was tied with Lydia Go, who finished first on the par-4 17th, and was expected to go to overtime, but finished the tournament tied for second after missing a three-putt 13-foot birdie putt opportunity.
Lydia Ko said: “The last few weeks have been so crazy it’s unbelievable” and “This tournament is especially special because it was held at St. Andrews Old Course.”
“I played here for the first time in 2013, when I was 16,” he said. “I was older than I was, but hopefully a bit wiser. “It feels like a fairy tale to win at a historic venue with my family,” he could not hide his joy.
Lydia Go has indicated that she will continue her career as an athlete for the time being. She said, “Before the Olympics, I heard someone say, ‘Getting into the Hall of Fame is not the final destination; it’s like a gas station on the way to the final destination. ’” She added, “Actually, after hearing that, I joined the Hall of Fame.” After playing golf, she thought it would be difficult to quit golf immediately. “First of all, I will focus on the task at hand,” she said.
Rookie Lim Jin-hee (25, Angang Construction) dropped two strokes but finished the tournament tied for 10th (final total, 1-under par, 287 strokes). Yang Hee-young (35, Kiwoom Securities), winner of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and the Rolex Annika Major Award for the player with the best performance in all five major tournaments, finished tied for 37th (final total of 4-over par, 292 strokes).
As a result, the winner of the Rolex Annika Major Award was Koda, who won once and finished second in this year’s major competition. The award will be presented at the CME Group Tour Championship, the final major tournament of the season.
Senior golf reporter Jeong Dae-gyun golf5601@kmib.co.kr
