She did it all, and then Lydia Ko somehow added to her résumé.
After winning the gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics to become just the 35th woman in history to make the LPGA Hall of Fame, Ko somehow one-upped herself this week by winning the Women’s Open at the Old Course at St. Andrews.
She did it about as dramatically as possible, too.
Ko birdied the last hole to shoot a final round 69 to surge past a flailing Nelly Korda, who looked to be in control of the tournament late, and win the third major of her career but the first since 2016.
“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,” Ko said. “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…
