ST. ANDREWS, Scotland — Lydia Ko captured her third major title — and first in eight years — by breaking free from a logjam of world-class talent to win the Women’s British Open at the home of golf on Sunday, capping a summer when she also took gold at the Olympic Games.
The 27-year-old Kiwi rolled in a left-to-right birdie putt at the storied 18th hole on the Old Course at St. Andrews to shoot 3-under 69 and then had to wait to finish ahead of top-ranked Nelly Korda, defending champion Lilia Vu and two-time champion Jiyai Shin.
That quartet of past or present No. 1s shared the lead at one point down the stretch of an engrossing final round played in cold, blustery and wet conditions before ending in sunshine.
Ko had already finished her round and was waiting near the 18th green, doing stretches while wearing ear muffs, when Vu lined up a 20-foot putt for birdie that needed to go in to force a playoff. It came up short, and Vu ultimately made bogey to shoot 73 and drop to 5 under overall alongside Korda, Shin and also Ruoning Yin.
It’s been a golden summer for Ko, who qualified for the Hall of Fame by winning the gold medal at the Paris Olympics and now has the ultimate prize in the sport — a major championship title at the home of golf.
Her last major came at the Chevron Championship in 2016. A year earlier, she won the Evian Championship as an 18-year-old prodigy.