Lydia Ko continues golden summer with Open triumph

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Lydia Ko continues golden summer with Open triumph

Lydia Ko has demonstrated her golfing Midas touch once more, lifting the Women’s British Open title at St Andrews just a fortnight after striking gold at the Olympics in another landmark day for New Zealand sport.

The Kiwi maestro headed an extraordinary leaderboard at the home of golf on Sunday, with the first six places all occupied by the players who have ascended to the world No.1 spot during their careers.

But not even the current holder of that accolade, Nelly Korda, could match the cool quality of the 27-year-old Ko, who captured her third major with a superb, curling seven-foot birdie at the storied final ***** of the Old Course that left her pursuers too much to do.

Ko’s three-under 69 gave her a third major crown – and a first in eight years – as she finished on seven under, two shots clear of a group of four – Korda (72), defending champ Lilia Vu (73), China’s Ruoning Yin (70) and two-time champion Jiyai Shin (74).

Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn, another world No.1 and former Open winner, was sixth after also ********* a final-round 70.

Victory finally slipped away from Korda when she found the Road ***** bunker, going on to bogey that infamous penultimate *****.

Asked where a victory at the game’s spiritual home ranked in her stellar career, Ko couldn’t help but smile as she responded beautifully: “It’s kinda like, ‘do you like your father better or your mother better?'”

But Ko was thrilled to prevail after a magnificent tussle down the stretch after a final round which featured cold, windy and rainy conditions before ending in sunshine and with one of the sport’s classiest acts prevailing.

“It’s pretty surreal. Winning the gold medal in Paris was almost too good to be true and I thought, ‘how is it going to be possible to win the Women’s Open’,” smiled Ko, who added the Open crown to her 2015 Evian Championship and 2016 Chevron Championship.

“I was saying to myself, ‘it’s not going to happen – don’t over-react’.”

Hopes of another special final-round performance from Australia’s Steph Kyriacou, who had just missed out on the Evian crown in France, never materialised as she endured a tough final day, ********* a seven-over 79 that left tied for 60th at seven over.

Former Olympic youth champion Grace Kim overtook her fellow 23-year-old Sydneysider to finish as leading ***********, with her one-under 71 leaving her at four over, tied for 37th.

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