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Lydia Ko has participated in three Olympic Games since golf’s return to competition and has come away with a medal each time. The New Zealand native won a gold medal for her collection on Saturday at the Golf National de Paris after shooting a final round 71 to finish at 10 under par, two shots ahead of silver medalist Esther Henseleit of Germany.
China’s Xiyu Lin won bronze with a final score of 7 under par.
Defending gold medalist Nelly Korda of the United States finished at 1 under par. Rose Zhang finished at 5 under, while Lilia Vu was at 5 over par.
Ko, 27, has now won all three Olympic medals after winning silver at Rio 2016 and then bronze at Tokyo 2020.
Ko maintains control
Earlier this week, Ko said she deleted her Instagram in order to focus on the Olympic tournament. She spent her free time watching Netflix and was addicted to Simone Biles’ documentary, “Uprising“A quote from the seven-time Olympic gold medalist stuck to the 20-time LPGA winner:
“I can write my own ending.”
“Sometimes we get started on things we can’t control, and if I can do a good job on the things I can control, you know, the rest is not up to me,” Ko said. “But I always say, I want to be the one who determines my destiny and my ending and the way I end my career, my tour, and that had a big impact on me.”
Ko finished the 2016 Olympics five shots behind winner Inbee Park of South Korea to take silver. In Tokyo, she had to settle for bronze after losing in the playoffs to the Japanese Mone Inami.
This time, in Paris, Ko took control and moved into the lead after a slow start to the tournament.
In the first round of Ko, she found herself tied, seven strokes behind French leader Céline Boutier. But as some players took the wrong direction in the second round, like Boutier, Ko began her ascent.
She shot a 5-under 67 on Thursday, then a 4-under 68 on Friday to find herself tied for the lead after three rounds with Swiss Morgane Metraux.
“If it’s meant to happen, it’s going to happen,” Ko said afterward of his dream of winning a gold medal.
On Saturday, after making a bogey on the first hole, Ko finished in the top nine with three birdies, including a long one on hole No. 7 to take the solo lead for good.
Ko’s control of the lead eased late in the fourth round with a double bogey on No. 13 and Henseleit shooting at 6 under on the day to put himself in medal contention. But Ko didn’t let the setback affect his finishing. She followed that 6 with four pars then a birdie on the 18th hole to win gold.
The victory in Paris not only guarantees Ko a gold medal: she is also now officially a member of the Hall of Fame.
Ko entered the Olympics one point – or one win – away from securing a spot in the LPGA Hall of Fame. She can now add Olympic champion and Hall of Famer to an impressive record that includes 20 LPGA Tour victories, including two major victories.
