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Lydia Ko has competed in the three Olympics since golf returned to competition and has left the Games each time with a medal. The New Zealand native secured a gold medal for her collection Saturday at Le Golf National in Paris after shooting a final-round 71 to finish 10-under par, two shots ahead of silver medalist Esther Henseleit of Germany.
China’s Xiyu Lin earned bronze with a final score of 7-under par.
Defending gold medalist Nelly Korda of the U.S. finished 1-under par. Rose Zhang ended up 5-under, while Lilia Vu was 5-over par.
Ko, 27, has now won all three Olympic medals after earning silver at Rio 2016 and then taking home bronze at Tokyo 2020.
Earlier this week Ko said she deleted her Instagram in order to focus on the Olympic tournament. She spent her downtime watching Netflix and was hooked on the Simone Biles documentary, “Rising.” One quote from the seven-time Olympic gold medalist stuck with the 20-time LPGA winner:
“I get to write my own ending.”
“Sometimes we get carried on about things that we can’t control, and if I can do a good job of the things that I can control, you know, the rest is out of my hands,” Ko said. “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.”
Ko finished the 2016 Olympics five shots behind winner Inbee Park of South Korea to take home silver. In Tokyo, she had to settle for bronze after losing a playoff to Japan’s Mone Inami.
This time, in Paris, Ko took control and climbed into the lead following a slow start to the tournament.
Ko’s first round saw her sitting at even par, seven shots behind leader Céline Boutier of France. But as some players moved in the wrong direction in the second round, like Boutier, Ko began her ascent.
She fired a 5-under 67 on Thursday and then a 4-under 68 on Friday to move into a tie for the lead after three rounds with Switzerland’s Morgane Metraux.
“If it’s meant to happen, it’s going to happen,” Ko said afterward about dreaming of winning a gold medal.
On Saturday, after carding a bogey on the opening hole, Ko finished out the front nine with three birdies, including a long one on hole No. 7 to take the solo lead for good.
Ko’s control of the lead loosened toward the end of the fourth round with a double bogey on No. 13 and Henseleit shooting 6-under on the day to put herself into medal contention. But Ko didn’t let that hiccup affect her finish. She followed up that 6 with four pars and then a birdie on the 18th hole to clinch gold.
The win in Paris doesn’t just ensure Ko a gold medal — she’s also now officially a Hall of Famer.
Ko entered the Olympics one point — or one victory — away from securing a spot in the LPGA Hall of Fame. Now she can add Olympic champion and Hall of Famer to an impressive resume that features 20 LPGA Tour wins, including two major victories.
