Lydia Ko clinches gold medal, LPGA Hall of Fame in dramatic Olympic finish

In a stunning performance at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Lydia Ko claimed the gold medal with a final-round score of 71, two shots ahead of Germany’s Esther Henseleit and three shots ahead of China’s Xiyu Lin, who won the silver and bronze, respectively.

With the victory, Ko becomes the first golfer in the modern era to claim three medals in three Olympics. The gold joins her bronze medal from the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, and her silver from golf’s return to the Olympics in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The gold medal also gave Ko the final point she needed for entry into the LPGA’s most exclusive club: the Hall of Fame.

To earn a spot in the LPGA Hall, players must accumulate at least 27 points. Under the current qualification format, one point is earned for each LPGA official tournament win, an Olympic medal (as of last year), a Vare Trophy win or a Player of the Year award, and a major is worth two points. A player must also win at least one Vare Trophy, Player of the Year or major championship.

After claiming her 20th career LPGA victory at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions in January, Ko needed just one final point to cement her place in the Hall. She had a chance to do it the very next week, at the LPGA Drive On Championship, but finished second.

Now, with her gold medal in hand, Ko, 27, becomes the 35th LPGA Hall of Fame inductee, the youngest under the most recent criteria, the first to enter the Hall since Lorena Ochoa in 2022, and the first active player to cement her status since Inbee Park in 2016. She’s also the first member of the Hall from New Zealand.

After 54 holes at the Paris Olympics, Ko was tied for the lead with Switzerland’s Morgane Metraux at nine under par. Rose Zhang and Japan’s Miyu Yamashita were tied for third at seven under.

But the drama started early in the final round, with Metraux fading to five-over through her opening five holes. Ko bogeyed her opening hole too, but bounced back with birdies on Nos. 3 and 7 to reach 10 under and take a two-shot lead.

Another birdie on No. 9 gave Ko and incredible four-shot cushion with nine holes to play — an eerily similar scenario to Jon Rahm at last week’s men’s competition.

Ko’s lead extended to five shots after she parred the 11th, but a water ball on her approach to the 13th green led to a double-bogey that cut her lead to three shots ahead of a charging Henseleit.

Henseleit, playing several groups ahead of Ko, then birdied the 17th and 18th to climb to within one shot of Ko’s lead.

Ko remained steady, parring her way to the 18th tee to maintain her one-shot advantage.

Ko’s drive on the par-5 final hole found the middle of the fairway. She played conservatively, laying up with an iron to set up a short-iron approach, needing only a regulation par to claim gold.

Ko hit her third shot to makeable birdie length, all but sealing the gold. She received a rousing ovation as she approached the green, and drained the birdie for good measure, securing the victory by two shots.

Americans Zhang, Nelly Korda and Lilia Vu finished T8, T22, and T36, respectively.