Heading into the final round of the 2024 AIG Women’s Open, a tightly-packed leaderboard featuring some of the game’s biggest names promised an electric final round on Sunday.
The players delivered, with Olympic golf medalist Lydia Ko claiming her third career major title — and first major since her win at the 2016 Chevron Championship — and second LPGA win of the season.
It was a dramatic finale, with Korda surging into the lead at eight under par after making four birdies on a six-hole stretch on Nos. 5-10. But disaster soon followed, with Korda making a double-bogey 7 on the par-5 14th. That dropped her to six-under overall, tying her with Ko, Jiyai Shin and Lilia Vu with just four holes left to play for the final pairing of Vu and Shin.
It was a battle among some of the LPGA’s biggest talents down the stretch: Ko, who had just clinched LPGA Hall of Fame eligibility after winning the gold medal at the Paris Olympics; Shin, an LPGA veteran who was seeking her third career Women’s Open title; Vu, the World No. 2 and winner of two major championships; and Korda, the World No. 1, who was seeking a third career major and seventh win of the season.
The weather had been challenging for most of the championship and didn’t let up down the stretch, with rain and blustery winds buffeting the players on their final holes and making putting especially difficult. On No. 15, Shin dropped out of contention when a lengthy birdie attempt resulted in a three-putt. That left Ko, Korda and Vu at six under.
At 17, Korda’s approach found the treacherous Road Hole bunker. That left her a difficult shot, with a lie on the downslope to a short-sided pin. Korda executed it beautifully, leaving herself a makeable par putt. Meanwhile, Ko stuck it close on her final hole, draining the putt for birdie to take the clubhouse lead at seven under with a final-round 69.
That meant Korda’s par putt became a must-make, but she left the putt a couple of rolls short, dropping her to five under — two shots behind Ko with one hole remaining.
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One hole behind Korda’s group, Vu and Shin held steady through the 16th hole at six under and five under, respectively.
Korda’s Open dreams officially dissipated when she failed to hole-out from the fairway on 18. At that point only Vu and Shin could potentially catch Ko.
When Shin bogeyed 17 to drop to four under overall, only one Ko contender remained: Vu could birdie the 18th to tie Ko and force a playoff.
Vu gave herself a fighting chance with a bombed drive that nearly reached the green, leaving her only 32 yards to the pin. But her chip ran long meaning about 15 feet long. When she missed the ensuing putt to force the playoff, leaving it about a foot short, Ko had won. Looking on from beside the 18th green, Ko put her hands to her face in joy and relief. She exchanged some quiet words and hugs with her family as tears flowed.
Shin drained her birdie putt to reach five under, while Vu shockingly missed her short par putt to drop to five under and into a four-way tie for second.
With the two -shot win, Ko joins an impressive list of female Open winners at the Old Course: Lorena Ochoa (2007) and Stacy Lewis (2013).