As others faltered, Lydia Ko kept mentally strong and produced a string of stunning shots down the stretch to add the AIG Women’s Open title to her Olympic gold medal: the 27-year-old New Zealander’s final round of 69 for a total of seven-under-par 281 gave her a two-stroke winning margin over a quartet of players, among them world number one Nelly Korda.
For Leona Maguire, it proved to be a frustrating final round on the links although there was some consolation in that the Cavan golfer – a key member of Europe’s Solheim Cup team in both 2021 and 2023 – as she ensured automatic qualification on Suzann Pettersen’s team for next month’s defence of the trophy against the United States in Virginia.
Maguire qualified for a third Solheim Cup through the Rolex world points route – along with Céline Boutier, Maja Stark, Linn Grant, Carlota Ciganda and Madelene Sagstrom – while Charley Hull and Esther Heneseleit qualified directly off the LET Solheim Cup points listing. Pettersen will complete her team with four wild card captain’s picks (on Tuesday).
A final round 76 for 292 saw Maguire finished in tied-37th in the season’s final Major before heading home to be the headline act at this week’s KPMG Irish Women’s Open which takes place at Carton House in Maynooth, Co Kildare, starting on Thursday.
Ko, though, reigned supreme on the Old Course where she played the role of pursuer to perfection with a number of clutch shots coming in, among them a wonderful pitch from rough on the 16th to save par and then – with the rain teeming down – a 3-wood approach to 25 feet on the notoriously difficult 17th, the Road Hole, where she safely two-putted for par and followed up with a birdie on the 18th.
Lilia Vu, the defending champion, had a 20-foot birdie putt on the 18th to force a play-off but focused so much on the line she underhit the putt and then missed the short par putt to fall back into that group two shots back which also included Korda, China’s Ruoning Yin and South Korea’s Jiyai Shin, who was the 54-hole leader.
Korda, like Vu, will also rue a missed opportunity, suffering a double-bogey seven on the 14th and a bogey on the Road Hole after her approach found the greenside bunker as those three dropped shots proved costly.
“It’s golf. I’m going to mess up and unfortunately I messed up over the weekend twice in two penalising ways coming down the stretch. Theoretically that’s what kind of cost me the tournament but I played well,” said Korda.
Ko’s win for a third career Major title – she also won the 2015 Evian and the 2016 Chevron – to go with her Olympic success which turned her season into a brilliant one. Ko collected a cheque for €1.27 million for her victory.
When asked at the trophy presentation which was most cherished, the Olympic medal or the Open trophy, Ko quipped back: “It’s kind of like saying, ‘Do you like your mother better or your father better?’ They are all special in their own way!”
