Lydia Ko completes Olympic ‘cycle’ with Gold, achieves golf immortality

New Zealand’s Lydia Ko had her sights on achieving the one medal that had eluded her in her last two Olympics, the gold. She won silver at Rio in 2016. She came ever so close in Tokyo, only to watch American Nelly Korda pull ahead to clinch gold while she lost out to Japan’s Mone Inami in the playoff, settling for bronze.

This time, however, in Paris, Ko put on her own fight, capturing Gold in dramatic fashion with a 10-under final score at Le Golf National.

Ko had shared the lead with Swiss sensation, Morgane Metraux, when the fourth round began at 9-under. Some familiar names — Rose Zhang, Atthaya Thitikul, Korda, home country favorite Celine Boutier, Ruoning Yin and eventual Bonze winner Xiyu Lin — rounded out the T7.

Germany’s Esther Henseleit was not particularly on the radar. But the final day was all about nerves and some surprising names showed them on Saturday.

Namely, Korda was perhaps the biggest shock, having come off an incredible season, despite some recent losses. At any rate, much of this year has been extraordinary for the world No. 1 player, where she broke records and achieved her second major. Defending her gold seemed to be a storybook chapter destined for the 26-year-old.

Mixed results on the first three days seemed to give way to a last-day surge on Saturday, with three birdies giving some hope on the front nine. However, a disastrous back nine — including carding a seven on the 15th hole — set her back to 1-under, finishing tied for 22nd.

Zhang, other players, and especially French golfer, Boutier, lost confidence while Germany’s Henseleit played the round of her life to become the Cinderella story of women’s golf, securing the Silver medal finish at 8-under. Having never won on the LPGA, second place in the Olympics is certainly her biggest profile win.

While the German surged, Swiss Metraux played a nightmare round. Having dominated the first three days and emerging as the astonishing leader, her confidence dissipated on the last day. The 27-year-old carded several bogies and produced errors to watch her commanding lead disappear.

Lydia Ko captures gold medal at Paris Olympics, now eligible for Hall of Fame

Among the players it was Ko who held steady and maintained her composure, getting to one over the pack by the time she teed up at the 18th. With so much on the line, the New Zealand player managed one more smooth birdie to make it an unquestionable two-stroke lead, this time getting the gold outright and securing her name in the history books.

Ko’s Gold medal performance has locked in a guaranteed place in the LPGA Hall of Fame, her required 27th title.

“It would be a hell of a way to do it,” Ko said upon her Monday arrival, about the chances of getting Gold and her spot in the Hall of Fame, according to The Association Press.

She had been fighting to get to that feat all year long, with some heartbreaking losses along the way. But on Saturday, in Saint Quentin-en-Yvelines, France, the great golfer shed tears of relief and happiness as the realization of the win set in.

With golf icon Annika Sorenstam placing the gold medal around Ko’s neck, it all came full circle. She is the first golfer — male or female — to own three medals.

“But I always say, like, I want to like be the one that’s determining my fate and my ending and how I end my career, my round, and that just like sunk in with me a lot,” she said, via Yahoo!.

If Ko decides to retire—which she has hinted could happen in the near future—she would certainly be going out having achieved all her dreams.