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KAWAGOE, Japan – It turns out that this first major championship was just the start for Nelly Korda. Now she is an Olympic champion and left little doubt on Saturday who is the best in women’s golf.
Korda kept his cool in a chaotic medal run and hour-long storm at the end, calmly taking two putts within 30 feet for a one-shot victory.
Korda, 23, presented the Americans with a series of gold medals in golf. Xander Sc Chaudele won the men’s competition last Sunday.
Jessica Korda, Nelly’s 28-year-old sister, who rolled a 64 for the low score in the final round, ran to the green and the sisters hugged and moved around to celebrate.
Nelly is the first player, male or female, to win a major and Olympic gold in the same year. She also won the KPMG PGA Women’s Championship in June and has won three of the last four individual tournaments.
“It’s kind of like almost legendary status as a golfer, period, male or female,” Jessica said. “It’s hard to win here and she makes it feel like it’s easy, but these girls are good. So to her, that’s insane to me. It’s like total GOAT (Greatest Of All) status. Time) for me. “
Mone Inami of Japan presented the avid golfer host nation with a silver medal, and it was almost better than that.
Inami, who had the honor of the opening tee shot on Wednesday, birdied five in a six-hole stretch towards the end, the last 8-foot on the 17th hole to tie the lead. But his approach to the 18th sank into the sand on the slope of a bunker. The best she could do was explode at 30 feet and she bogeyed for a 65.
Lydia Ko of New Zealand birdied 35 feet to tie the lead for 18th. She left 4 feet shorter and had to do this for a 65 to finish a behind.
In the silver medal playoff, Ko found a bunker off the tee at the 18th hole, had to lie down and missed a 10-foot putt.
Ko had to settle for bronze, after winning silver in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro. She is the only golfer to have won medals at both Olympics since returning from golf after a 112-year absence.
There was nothing easy about this final round for Korda, even starting with a three-stroke lead. She fell tied for the lead, rebuilt it to three shots at the start of the last nine, then closed with six pars as three players gave her a daring run.
That list includes India’s Aditi Ashok, extremely disadvantaged all week long with her lack of distance off the tee, in part brought on by a fight with COVID-19 this summer. With his magic touch on the greens, Ashok stayed in the mix all day.
Her 12-foot birdie putt to keep pace with Ko burned the edge of the cup on the 17th hole, and she had a 25-foot birdie putt on the 18th to stay in the medal race. Who slipped through the hole.
Korda finished 17-under 267 and completed two double bogeys this week.
One made it to the 18th hole of the second round when she needed a birdie for a 59. Korda and her younger brother didn’t realize the tee was 30 yards ahead, which led to a bad play in the rough behind a tree.
The other was on Saturday on the seventh par 3 when his tee shot went left into a pickup area. It took Korda three chips to enter the green, and the double bogey left her tied with Ko and Ashok.
The three birdied the eighth par 5 – Korda with a 25-foot putt that was as big as any – and Korda birdied the next two holes to restore his three-stroke lead.
Inami, Ko, and Ashok were all gone until they ran out of holes and Korda was left with a gold medal, as well as a future that never looked brighter.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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