New Zealand golfer Lydia Ko won the AIG Women’s Open Championship at St. Andrews on Sunday, finishing with a score of seven-under. Ko’s latest achievement comes shortly after she earned Olympic Gold at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics.
The 27-year-old Ko captured her third major title — and first in eight years, when she won the 2016 ANA Inspiration at Mission Hills in California. The victory was also her first time winning the AIG Women’s Open. Ko shot a 69 on the final day (her best round of the tournament) rolling in a left-to-right birdie putt at the storied 18th hole on the Old Course at St. Andrews – ahead of top-ranked Nelly Korda, defending champion Lilia Vu and two-time champion Jiyai Shin.
Ko said after the victory: “Just before my second shot on 18, I realized that I was tied for the lead, and I knew I kind of felt like the girls coming in would also birdie the 18th. So I wanted to make sure that I birdied and just give myself a chance at it, no matter if I go in a playoff or end up not winning … So I kind of accomplished and did all the small goals, and I think that made me a little bit more focused on what was right in front of me instead of thinking, ‘Oh, am I going to win or not. I mean, it’s no lie that sometimes when you’re about to win, you start thinking about what you’re going to say in this speech and all that. But there was no time for that. I was just so focused on what was in front of me, and that just made it a little easier.”
The next tournament on the LPGA slate is set for next week at TPC Boston. The FM Championship will take place Aug. 29-Sept. 1 and will have a purse of $3.8 million.
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