Lydia Ko birdies 18, holds on to win Olympic gold medal

GUYANCOURT, France — New Zealand’s Lydia Ko won gold in the women’s Olympic golf competition with a final score of 10-under par Saturday, completing her medal set after winning silver in Rio and bronze in Tokyo.

In a tense finish at Le Golf National south of Paris, Ko (71 on Saturday) held off a late charge from Germany’s Esther Henseleit, who shot a 66 to claim silver, two strokes behind the New Zealander.

China’s Xiyu Lin (69) finished at 7-under — 281 for the tournament — to take bronze.

Gold for the South Korean-born Ko also gave her the remaining point she needed to enter the women’s golf LPGA Hall of Fame at age 27.

Ko, who opened the final round as a co-leader with Morgane Metraux of Switzerland, was cruising toward victory as she advanced to 11 under after her first nine holes to establish a five-stroke lead over Henseleit.

But a wayward shot on the 13th saw her hit the water en route to a double bogey, opening the door for Henseleit, who cut Ko’s lead to as little as one stroke.

Playing in the final group, two-time major winner and former World No. 1 Ko retained her composure as she holed a string of four par putts before slotting in a birdie on the 18th green to win gold.

Metraux slumped from her overnight co-lead to shoot 79 and tie for 18th at two under par, failing to recover from two bogies and a triple bogey in her first five holes.

Finishing at the same score as Metraux was France’s Celine Boutier, who had thrilled home fans by taking a first-round lead on Wednesday. But after opening with a 65, Boutier finished with rounds of 76, 71 and 74.

Playing alongside Boutier, defending champion and World No. 1 Nelly Korda of the United States shot 75 to fall to 1 under for the tournament and finish in a tie for 22nd.

–Reuters, Special to Field Level Media