It has been said many times that no career in golf is complete without a tournament win at the Old Course at St Andrews. It is an aphorism that is only slightly hyperbolic. So many of the game’s true greats – Bobby Jones, Sam Snead, Jack Nicklaus, Peter Thomson, Nick Faldo, Seve Ballesteros and Lorena Ochoa come to mind – have tasted victory at the home of golf. It is a place where the very best have always tended to do well. And to that distinguished list we can add the name of Lydia Ko.
With a final round of 69, the former world No 1 and current Olympic gold medallist held off a cluster of challengers over the closing holes to claim her third major title. A par at the infamous Road Hole – where she struck a magnificent approach through heavy wind and rain on to the elusive green – was impressive enough. But a birdie on the 18th took Ko to seven under par and a score of 281 that no one could match.
“This is pretty surreal,” said Ko, whose Scottish caddie, Paul Cormack, was also on Anna Nordqvist’s winning bag at nearby Carnoustie three years ago.
“Winning the gold medal in Paris was a dream. But this is almost too good to be true. To be holding this trophy right now is very special. I’m not really sure if it has sunk in yet. I feel very honoured to be the champion. It was so tough out there this week.”
The defending champion, Lilia Vu, the current world No 1, Nelly Korda, Yin Ruoning of China and the two‑time champion Shin Ji-yai eventually gathered in second place. Indeed, for long enough, Korda appeared to be the most likely winner. Threes on five of the six holes that make up the famous Loop (holes 7-12) at the far end of the course looked like the key to eventual victory. Over that stretch, Korda picked up two shots on Ko, three on Shin and four on Vu.
But it wasn’t to be. A double-bogey seven at the long 14th was the start of Korda’s undoing. No more than 60 yards from the fall in two, she needed five more shots to get the ball in the hole. Which was bad enough, but two pars later Korda arrived at the Road Hole, one of golf’s most difficult par-fours. And it was there that she made one last mistake, finding the depths of the Road Hole bunker with her approach. A bogey was the inevitable result.
“It’s golf,” she said. “I’m going to mess up and unfortunately I messed up over the weekend twice in two penalising ways coming down the stretch. That’s what kind of cost me the tournament.”
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Not too much lower on the leaderboard, in a tie for 10th place, the world No 1 amateur Lottie Woad underlined that status with a final round of 73 with which she eased to a four-shot victory over Spain’s Julia Lopez Ramirez in the race for the Smyth Salver award for the leading amateur.
Even more impressively, the 20-year old from Farnham shot 287, one under par, to be the leading European – amateur or professional – alongside Sweden’s Linn Grant and Nanna Koerstz Madsen of Denmark.
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Not that it will concern the ineligible Woad, but many of those who will contest the Solheim Cup in Virginia next month were also identified at close of play.
On Monday at 4pm the European captain, Suzann Pettersen, will add four wildcard picks to the eight automatic qualifiers, two from the European Solheim Cup points list – Charley Hull and Esther Henseleit – and six from the world rankings: Céline Boutier, Maja Stark, Grant, Leona Maguire, Carlota Ciganda and Madelene Sagström.
One day later the American captain, Stacy Lewis, will complete her own 12‑woman squad by adding three captain’s picks to an already formidable lineup containing seven players – Korda, Vu, Lauren Coughlin, Ally Ewing, Allisen Corpuz, Megan Khang and Andrea Lee – drawn from the Solheim Cup points standings and two more, Rose Zhang and Angel Yin, from the world rankings.
After two successive victories and a dramatic tied match last year in Spain, Europe will be defending the trophy the USA last won back in 2017 in Iowa.
