Lydia Ko (-10) is the Olympic champion. The New Zealander completes the circle and adds her third medal in her third Games. Lydia takes the gold that she was missing after the silver in Rio and the bronze medal in Tokyo. Paris completes the cycle and gives Lydia a place at the top. She was accompanied on the podium by the German Esther Henseleit (-8) who took silver and the Chinese Xiyu Lin (-7) who took bronze.
The champion of two Majors, former World Number One and triple winner of the LPGA Race adds this milestone to her impressive career. Her victory in Paris also gives her the point she needed to enter the Hall of Fame. She becomes the fortieth woman to achieve this. A legend of women’s golf. After Karrie Webb, she is the second oceanic woman to enter this prestigious hall.
Lydia’s journey to the Olympus of legends has not been easy. She dazzled the golf world in 2015 at just 18 years old by winning her first Major (Evian Championship) and consecrating herself with another Major a year later (Chevron Championship). Since then, and although she has been World Number One and has 23 professional victories, the 27-year-old golfer was missing another great triumph. Lydia becomes Major again. It took her eight years. Who said the staircase to the temple of the golf gods was easy.
If yesterday equality was the norm throughout the day, the reality is that today Ko has escaped early on the board. She never looked back even though she started with a bogey. Her solidity was joined by the collapse of her immediate pursuers. She reached the ninth hole with a five-stroke lead and maintained the difference with some ease. Only a double bogey on hole 13 after going into the water gave a touch of excitement to the tournament. Although there was some tension and in the end she won by two strokes, she never gave the impression of losing the gold.
Lydia started as leader alongside the Swiss Morgane Metraux, but in just five holes the Swiss threw away her chances of being gold. Two bogeys and a triple bogey made her lose a lot of ground. It was surprising how well the 25-year-old was handling the pressure, but this Saturday she did succumb to the claws of Le Golf National.
Just two strokes behind these players were Rose Zhang (-4) and Yuyi Yamashita (-6). The Japanese woman was the only one able to intimidate the New Zealander very timidly. A birdie on hole two coupled with Ko’s initial bogey put her in the co-leadership. A mirage. Two bogeys and a double bogey in the first nine holes also ruled her out for gold. Rose Zhang suffered one of the disappointments of the day with a round of 75 strokes.
On the other hand, Esther Henseleit (-8) has been one of the great heroines of the day at Le Golf National. The German has given Europe its first Olympic medal in this modality. She signed the best card of the day (66 strokes) in the final round and coming from behind she sneaked into second place. The great revelation of European golf in 2019 achieves the best result of her career with this Olympic silver medal. Honours for the German who was visibly moved. In third place on the podium was the Chinese Xiyu Lin (-7).
Among the great contenders who aspired to a medal today, both Nelly Korda (-1) and Celine Boutier (-2) have sunk. The Number One started with two promising birdies, but in line with the whole week she has been very irregular and another triple bogey relegated her beyond the top 20. Mariajo Uribe has put an end to her career with a great eagle on hole 18 and a great top 10 in the Olympic Games. Just outside the medals and tied at -4 were Bianca Pangdanganan, Hannah Green, the aforementioned Yamashita and Amy Yang.
In the Spanish section, what a display Azahara Muñoz (-3) has given in the last three rounds at Le Golf National. Nine under par in the last 54 holes. Three rounds of 69 strokes. What a pity that first day when she handed in a card of 78 strokes. She was just three strokes away from the medal. These were her third Olympic Games and with this top 15 she has improved her twenty-first place in Rio. Carlota Ciganda has closed her participation in Paris with a card of 75 strokes and a total of +13.
