GUYANCOURT, France — New Zealand’s Lydia Ko won gold in the women’s Olympic golf competition, holding her nerve in a tense finish to complete her medal set in her final Games.
Ko held off a late charge from Germany’s Esther Henseleit, who claimed silver two strokes behind, with China’s Lin Xiyu a further shot back to take bronze.
The 27-year-old New Zealander, a two-time major winner and former world number one who first topped the rankings aged 17, was chasing gold to add to her silver in Rio and bronze in Tokyo.
South Korean-born Ko started the final round as co-leader with Morgane Metraux of Switzerland and was cruising towards victory as she advanced to 11 under after her front nine holes to establish a five-stroke lead over Henseleit.
But a wayward shot on the 13th found the water en route to a double bogey, opening the door for Henseleit who cut Ko’s lead to one stroke.
Playing in the final group, Ko kept her nerve with a string of par putts before slotting in a birdie on the 18th green to bag gold on 10 under par.
“I just stayed patient and stuck to my game plan, and you know, 18, that tee shot and the second shot was probably two of the most important shots in my life,” she told said according to Reuters after the medal ceremony in which she shed tears on the podium.
“I repeat those words,” Ko said of becoming a Hall of Famer.
“It’s a hell of a way to do it. You say those kind of things, and until it happens, it’s not really factual. For it to have happened here at the Olympics, unreal. I do feel like I’m a mythical character in a fairytale.
“It really couldn’t have gotten any better than I could have imagined, and I’ve had so many grateful things that happened in my career so far, and this really tops it. I couldn’t have asked for anything more, to be honest.”
Early in the week, it wasn’t immediately apparent that the New Zealander would wind up in this position. She kicked off her bid for the medal trifecta with a quiet, even-par 72, making up some ground with a 5-under 67 to sit three back of the lead with 36 holes to play.
“Being tied for the lead going into today, I knew that the next 18 holes were going to be some of the most important 18 holes of my life,” Ko said.
“One of the things that I had said earlier in the week was I don’t know if there is another Olympics for me, and I will say, this is my last Olympics.
“I think that was at the back of my mind. I didn’t want to publicly tell anyone because I knew that being in this kind of position, it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
“I kept telling myself, I get to write my own ending and that Simone Biles had said (that) and I had heard in her documentary. I kept telling myself that, and I wanted to be the one who was going to control my fate and the ending to this week. To have ended this way, it’s honestly a dream come true.”
Paris will be her final Games, she said after the victory which secures her entry into women’s golf LPGA Hall of Fame.
Henseleit’s superb fourth-round performance, the second-best score of the day, yielded a first Olympic women’s golf medal for Germany and Europe.
For China, Lin Xiyu, who also calls herself Janet Lin, is the country’s second women’s golf medallist after Feng Shanshan, who won bronze in Rio.
Metraux slumped to tied 18th at two under par, failing to recover from two bogeys and a triple bogey in her first five holes.
The Swiss Olympic debutant said dizziness during the round contributed to a tough day.
Finishing on the same score as Metraux was France’s Celine Boutier, who had thrilled home fans by taking the first-round lead.
Defending champion and world number one Nelly Korda of the United States fell out of medal contention during the final round to end at one under par in tied 22nd.
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