Ko slams door on LPGA HoF with gold
New Zealander hangs on to complete sweep of Olympic medals and earns LPGA enshrinement
German Esther Henseleit (silver), Kiwi Lydia Ko (gold) and China’s Xiyu Lin (bronze) (Tracy Wilcox/PGA Tour/IGF)
SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France (IGF/DD) — New Zealand’s Lydia Ko now owns a complete set of Olympic medals after adding the missing gold medal to her collection Saturday at Le Golf National in the Women’s Olympic Golf Competition near Paris.
“Going into this week, everyone was saying, ‘Oh, what if you finish and collect all the gold on top of the silver and bronze you have?’” Ko said. “Of course I wanted to do that, complete it, too, but it’s much easier said than done.”
Rounding out the podium were Germany’s Esther Henseleit with silver and China’s Xiyu Lin with bronze.
The 27-year-old Ko, who started the day tied with Switzerland’s Morgane Metraux for the lead, fired a 1-under 71 in the final round to finish at 10-under 278. Her lead stretched to as many as five shots through 12 holes after turning in 2-under 34, but she opened the door to the rest of the field with a double bogey at the par-4 13th after hitting in the water from 135 yards in the fairway.
Ko rebounded with four straight pars before dropping a birdie after carefully laying up at the last, not only securing the gold medal but also the elusive final point she needed to secure entry into the LPGA Hall of Fame. The gold medal also makes Ko the first-ever three-time Olympic medalist in golf, adding to her silver from Rio 2016 and bronze at Tokyo 2020.
“I think it’s one of the things I’m most proud of is I stuck to my game plan and stuck to being aggressive off the tee, and that’s been something that I’ve been struggling with and been working really hard with on with my coaches,” Ko said. “And to progressively get better these past couple months and for it to hit its peak here at the Olympics, it doesn’t get better than this. To be holding and wearing this gold medal, it’s pretty crazy right now.”
Lydia Ko steadied after her five-shot lead was trimmed to 1 (Tracy Wilcox/PGA Tour/IGF)
Moving up 12 spots on the leaderboard and into the silver medal spot on the podium, Henseleit fired a 6-under 66 on Saturday to finish at 8 under, two shots behind Ko. The 25-year-old German opened with rounds of 72-73 before moving into the red on Friday thanks to a 3-under 69.
Also coming from behind to earn her spot on the medal stand was Lin, who birdied three of her last four holes to post 69 on Saturday and finish three shots behind Ko.
World No. 1 Nelly Korda of USA finished T22 in her gold medal defense, shooting a 3-over 75 on Saturday that included four birdies, four bogeys and a triple bogey. She was tied for fourth on the back nine before shanking her approach into the water on 15 and making triple. Korda failed to record a round in the 60s at Le Golf National.
“I was aggressive when I could, and I played safe when I had to. I mean, I played pretty solid until the last couple holes,” Korda said. “Again I feel like that was the story of my week. Other than that I played some solid golf.”
Also coming up short for Team USA was teammate Rose Zhang, who teed off in the final group with Ko but shot 74 on Saturday and finished T8.
“Takes a lot of resilience to get the job done or to even be in contention,” Zhang said. “Really proud of how hard I fought, and I think there’s just a lot more coming and pretty excited for what I can work on and what I can improve on.”
Switzerland’s Mertraux, who set a new nine-hole Olympic record in the second round with a 28 on the front nine, started the day tied for the lead but fell to T18 after 7-over 79 on Saturday.
“So right now it hurts, what happened today, but I’m going to eventually remember only the good stuff,” Metraux said.
Fellow Swiss Albane Valenzuela carded the round of the day, firing a 7-under 65 that vaulted her 20 spots up the leaderboard to finish T13.
Celine Boutier finished as the top Frenchwoman (T22) after carding a 2-over 74 during her final round.
Maríajo Uribe of Colombia eagled No. 18, carding a 1-over 73 during her final round of golf as she plans to immediately retire from professional play. She threatened to win a medal before a bogey-double start scuttled her hopes, but a career walk-off eagle allowed her to finish T10.
With her gold medal, Ko has reached the 27 points necessary for induction into the LPGA Hall of Fame. The 27-year-old New Zealand native achieved this milestone through a stellar career that includes LPGA Hall of Fame points earned for 20 LPGA Tour victories, highlighted by two major championship titles, two Rolex LPGA Player of the Year awards, twice earning the Glenna Collett Vare Trophy for the season’s lowest scoring average and now the Olympic gold medal.
“Being two points away last year was actually quite difficult because as much as people say it’s only two wins, I know how difficult two wins are, especially in this day and age,” Ko said of her quest to close out the criteria that included a playoff loss in Bradenton, Fla., to Nelly Korda. “You don’t win like multiple times, and not many players win multiple times in a season.
“So I think that put a lot of pressure on myself and so I struggled in 2023. But to win the first event of the year at my home club at Lake Nona that took the pressure off, and I knew that if I worked on the right things, that one tournament could happen at any point.
“Did I imagine that I was going to do it at the Paris Olympics? Probably not. But this is definitely the coolest way to do it.”
Ko’s gold medal pushed her over the threshold in LPGA Hall of Fame (Chris Condon/PGA Tour/IGF)
Ko becomes the 35th individual enshrined in the LPGA Hall of Fame — but only the 26th to hit the 27-point milestone — joining the ranks of the most accomplished and influential athletes in the history of women’s golf.
Ko’s major titles came at the 2015 Evian Championship (also in France) and the 2016 ANA Inspiration Championship (now known as the Chevron). She earned 18 of her titles since her rookie season in 2014, having won the 2012 and 2013 CN Canadian Women’s Open as an amateur prior to becoming an LPGA Tour member. Ko was the 2015 and 2022 Rolex LPGA Player of the Year and won the Glenna Collett Vare Trophy, awarded to the player with the season’s lowest scoring average, in 2021 and 2022.
Ko has seven wins on the Ladies European Tour, five wins on the WPGA Tour of Australasia and one win on the Korean LPGA Tour. She also partnered with Jason Day to win the inaugural Grant Thornton Invitational, a mixed-team unofficial event featuring PGA Tour and LPGA Tour stars, in December 2023.
Ko has set numerous “youngest ever” marks in her career. On Aug. 19, 2012, she became the youngest winner in LPGA Tour history when she won the Canadian Women’s Open at 15 years, 4 months and 2 days. She became the youngest player, male or female, to reach world No. 1 when she ascended to the top of the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings on Feb. 2, 2015, at 17 years, 9 months and 9 days. Later that year, Ko became the youngest female major winner when she captured the 2015 Evian at 18 years, 4 months and 20 days. She then became the youngest female ever to win two major championships at 18 years, 11 months and 9 days following her win at the 2016 ANA Inspiration.
Now at 27 years, 3 months and 17 days, Ko becomes the youngest player to be inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame under its current criteria. Prior to March 2022, induction criteria included the requirement that a player be active on tour for 10 years. Australia’s Karrie Webb reached the 27-point threshold at age 25 with her victory at the 2000 U.S. Women’s Open but did not reach the 10-year requirement until age 30 in 2005. Mexico’s Lorena Ochoa was 26 when she reached 27 points in 2008 and retired in 2010 after eight years on tour with 37 points at age 28 but had to wait until 2022 to be inducted when the LPGA waived the requirement that players play 10 years on tour.
“Lydia’s qualification into the LPGA Hall of Fame isn’t just a milestone in her extraordinary career; it’s a testament to her generational talent, having built an unmatched resume of success at such a young age,” said LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan. “Beyond her unprecedented achievements on the golf course, Lydia has inspired so many through her perseverance, kindness, generosity, and commitment to leaving the game better than she found it. She is a role model to us all and particularly to young girls, to whom she has shown what a true champion is, in sport and in life. Cementing her place in the Hall of Fame by winning the gold medal here in Paris is iconic, and it is something we will all remember for a long time. We are immensely proud of Lydia’s achievements and the impact she’s made on the world of golf and in global sports.”
Inbee Park was the last player enshrined in the LPGA Hall of Fame when she earned the honor by hitting 27 points in 2016. Prior to Ko, only five players had qualified by hitting the 27-point requirement since it was reduced from 30 in 1999: Annika Sörenstam, who was inducted in 2003; Karrie Webb (2005); Se Ri Pak (2007); Park (2016); and Ochoa (2022). Prior to 1999 reduction, Amy Alcott had been stuck on 29 points before being granted entry with the change.