New Zealand’s Lydia Ko can now boast a complete set of Olympic medals after adding the missing gold medal to her collection after finishing two shots clear of the field at Le Golf National.
Rounding out the podium at the women’s Olympic golf event in Paris were Germany’s Esther Henseleit with silver and China’s Xiyu Lin with bronze.
Ko, 27, who started the final round tied for the lead with Switzerland’s Morgane Metraux, fired a closing 1-under 71 to finish at 10-under for the week.
Her lead stretched to as much as five shots after turning in 34, but she opened the door to the rest of the field following a double bogey at the par-4 13th.
Ko rebounded with four straight pars before bagging a birdie 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 medallist in golf, adding to her silver from Rio 2016 and bronze at Tokyo 2020.
Moving up 12 spots on the leaderboard and into the silver medal spot on the podium, Henseleit fired a 6-under 66 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 also post 69 on Saturday and finish three shots behind Ko.
Defending gold medallist and world No.1 Nelly Korda finished T22 in her gold medal defence, shooting a 3-over 75 on Saturday.
