New Zealand’s Lydia Ko wins Olympic women’s golf title to complete medal set

Lydia Ko accomplished her Olympic medal assortment on Saturday with probably the most beneficial of of all of them, a gold medal that places the 27-year-old Kiwi into the LPGA Corridor of Fame.

Ko constructed a five-shot lead on the again 9 at Le Golf Nationwide as her closest pursuers all collapsed, after which needed to grasp on till the very finish. Her lead down to at least one, Ko made a 7-foot birdie putt for a 1-under 71 and a two-shot victory.

Ko gained the silver medal in Rio de Janeiro. She gained the bronze in Tokyo. The lacking one turned out to be extra beneficial than its weight in gold. The victory pushed her profession complete to 27 factors for the LPGA Corridor of Fame, one of many strictest standards for any shrine.

Esther Henseleit of Germany completed birdie-birdie for a 66 to make Ko work for it. She wound up with the silver. Xiyu Lin of China birdied the ultimate gap for a 69 to win the bronze.

Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., threatened halfway by way of the ultimate spherical however light with two bogeys on the again 9 and closed with a 1-under-par 71.

The 13-time LPGA Tour winner fired a 67 on Friday to provide herself an opportunity within the remaining spherical. She ended up tied for thirteenth place with a four-round complete of 3-under-par 285.

“I gave myself plenty of good alternatives,” mentioned Henderson. “If I had made two or three completely different putts over the course of the spherical, the momentum may need been a bit extra in my favour, and it may be a distinct story for me standing right here. However, total, it was an excellent battle these final two days, and it was good to be again within the motion.

“It looks like I performed actually horrible, however I nonetheless shot one-under [on Saturday]. It was form of a combined bag. I hit plenty of nice photographs, however generally they only did not prove in addition to I assumed they had been going to.”

WATCH l Henderson, of Smiths Falls, Ont., finishes in tie for thirteenth place:

Brooke Henderson’s Olympic medal drive stalls on again 9 as she finishes tied for thirteenth

Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., completed in a tie for thirteenth place at 3-under total on the Olympic ladies’s golf match in Paris.

Alena Sharp of Hamilton (73) completed tied for forty second place at 9-over-par 297.

Henderson began sturdy Saturday by rolling in a 12-foot birdie putt on the second gap. She chunked an eagle chip and settled for par on the third earlier than getting scorching across the flip.

The 26-year-old Canadian wanted to maintain urgent and hope for slightly assist elsewhere on the leaderboard.

A cool putter although killed any probability of momentum. Henderson completed in a tie for thirteenth place.

“Any week on tour, a top-10 or a top-15 consequence and also you’re fairly joyful,” Phoenix mentioned. “Right here it is powerful. It is form of one, two (or) three.”

The 43-year-old Sharp, in the meantime, talked about earlier within the week that this can be her final Olympic Video games.

“I attempted to only actually take pleasure in at present and take all of it in,” she mentioned.

Korda, Zhang, Metraux battle

For Nelly Korda, Rose Zhang, Morgane Metraux and so many others, it was a day to neglect. All of them had been in vary early. All of them fell again with huge blunders that paved the best way for Ko.

That is the newest prize in a exceptional profession for Ko, who gained her first LPGA title as a 15-year-old newbie and rose to No. 1 on the earth for the primary time at 17. She started this 12 months with a victory, leaving her one level wanting the Corridor.

To cross the road with Olympic gold?

She delivered a hell of a efficiency, ending at 10-under 278 on a course that introduced gnarly tough and water on 10 of the holes, most notably on the finish when the strain was best.

Ko turns into the thirty fifth participant to qualify for the LPGA Corridor of Fame, and the second-youngest behind Australian nice Karrie Webb to earn the required 27 factors — two factors for every of her two majors, one level for her different 18 LPGA victories, one level for profitable LPGA Participant of the Yr (twice) and for the Vare Trophy for lowest scoring common (twice).

And one huge level for Olympic gold.

Ko wanted solely two putts from brief vary to win, and when the putt fell, she stepped away along with her hand over her mouth and it wasn’t lengthy earlier than she started to sob.

The ultimate spherical was more durable than it wanted to be. Ko was forward of a decent chasing pack when it immediately, shockingly, got here undone for everybody however her.

Ruoning Yin of China, who received to inside one shot of the lead, bogeyed two of three holes after she made the flip. Hannah Inexperienced was two behind till her tee shot went left into the water on the tenth for a double bogey, ruining her daring comeback from a 77 within the opening spherical.

Miyu Yamashita and Rose Zhang every performed tennis on the ninth inexperienced, chipping from one facet of the inexperienced to the opposite, forwards and backwards, till each made double bogey.

And similar to that, Ko was 5 away from the sector and the one drama seemed to be a wild race for the opposite two medals. At one level, 12 gamers had been separated by two photographs in what amounted to the B-Flight.

If solely it had been that straightforward for Ko.

She was cruising alongside, birdie seems to be on each gap, till she discovered the water on the thirteenth for a double bogey. That lower her result in three photographs, nonetheless loads protected till Henseleit made Ko performed her finest down the stretch.

Ko immediately had a one-shot lead and was enjoying to the fats of the inexperienced, twice leaving herself nervy 3 1/2-foot par putts. She made all of them till coming to the par-5 18th, the best Saturday at Le Golf Nationwide, needing solely par to reap all of the rewards.

She completed one shot out of the rostrum with a 73, together with Inexperienced (69), Bianca Pagdanganan of the Philippines (68) and Ladies’s PGA championship winner Amy Yang (69).

Korda, the No. 1 participant in ladies’s golf and the gold medallist on the Tokyo Video games, was proper there within the combine till the closing stretch received her once more. This time, she hit wedge within the water on the fifteenth for a triple bogey. She closed with a 75. For the week, Korda had a triple bogey on the fifteenth, a quadruple bogey on the sixteenth and a pair of three-putts bogeys on the seventeenth.

“I performed fairly strong till the final couple holes,” she mentioned. “Once more, I really feel like that was the story of my week. Apart from that I performed some strong golf.”

Inexperienced was 12 photographs out of the lead after her opening 77. She was two photographs behind, in place for the rostrum, when she made the flip. Her final probability was a birdie on the 18th, however she drove into the tough and hit a weak wedge to the inexperienced.

Zhang closed with a 74 with two birdies on the final three holes. Metraux, who shared the lead with Ko going into the ultimate day, did not make birdie till the fifteenth gap and shot 79.

On the finish, the stage, the rostrum — and the shrine — all belonged to Ko.