Key event
John Huggan’s day four report
Lydia Ko adds Women's Open to Paris gold
Lydia Ko completed a fairytale fortnight by adding the AIG Women’s Open title at St Andrews to her Olympic gold medal from Paris.
The New Zealander started the final round in a share of fourth but made three birdies over a flawless first 14 holes to challenge for the title, which boiled down to a thrilling finale between Ko, Nelly Korda and Lilia Vu tied at the top of the leaderboard on six under par.
Ko took the clubhouse lead with a brilliant birdie on the 18th, but defending champion Vu was on her heels right to the end as Korda fell short. Vu needed a birdie to force a playoff, but ran up a bogey five. Ko’s third major title caps off a fantastic couple of weeks after she took Olympic gold earlier this month.
Speaking at the trophy presentation, world No 12 Ko said: “It’s pretty surreal. Winning the gold medal in Paris a couple of weeks ago, it was almost too good to be true.”
“Obviously heading into the weekend, I said ‘how is it possible for me to win the AIG Women’s Open?’ I’ve had the most Cinderella-like story this past few weeks. To be holding this trophy right now, I can’t believe it and it’s obviously very special this year with my family being here this week too.” PA Media
Congratulations then to Lydia Ko, the new Women’s Open champion. Commiserations to last year’s winner Lilia Vu, who defended her title bravely, and to Ruoning Yin, Nelly Korda and Jiyai Shin, who also came up just short but contributed greatly to a fine final round. Thanks for reading this blog, and here’s to next year at Royal Porthcawl!
-7: Lydia Ko
-5: Ruoning Yin, Nelly Korda, Jiyai Shin, Lilia Vu
-3: Ariya Jutanugarn
-2: Akie Iwai, Mao Saigo, Casandra Alexander
-1: Angel Yin, Nanna Koerstz Madsen, Linn Grant, Pajaree Anannarukarn, Lottie Woad (a), Im Jinhee, Alexa Pano
“With a score of 281, the winner of the gold medal, and the 2024 AIG Women’s Open champion is Lydia Ko.” She hoists the trophy with a wide smile, then has a quick chat with Sarah Stirk of Sky Sports. “It’s pretty surreal … winning the gold medal in Paris was almost too good to be true … I’ve had the most Cinderella type story … of all the majors, this one I had the least amount of confidence … to be holding this trophy I can’t believe it … it’s very special with my family being here … I thought it’s not going to happen … don’t over-react … I had two goals going into today … make par on 11 and birdie 18 … I accomplished both!”
What’s best, Olympic gold or this title? “It’s kinda like asking do you like your mother or father better!”
The moment Lydia Ko got her hands on the AIG Women's Open trophy 🏆 pic.twitter.com/9qQuduITvb
— AIG Women’s Open (@AIGWomensOpen) August 25, 2024
Updated
“With a score of 287, the leading amateur is Lottie Woad.” The 20-year-old from Farnham, Surrey takes receipt of the Smyth Salver.
Updated
That’s a thoroughly deserved victory for Lydia Ko. Her 69 was by far the best round of the leading contenders; in fact it was only bettered by two players today (Momoko Osato and Anne van Dam) and equalled by two others (Akie Iwai and Paula Reto). It seals her first major championship for eight years: this title goes alongside her 2015 Evian Championship and 2016 ANA Inspiration prizes. Oh, and the small matter of Olympic gold, which she won a couple of weeks ago. It’s been quite the month for the brilliant 27-year-old New Zealander.
As Lydia Ko dissolves into tears, sweet tears, and hugs her husband Jun, Jiyai Shin tidies up for a closing birdie. Then Lilia Vu, her mind perhaps swimming with disappointment, misses her par putt, so no longer has the consolation of sole ownership of second spot. But what a defence of her title, and she’ll always have Walton Heath.
-7: Ko (F)
-5: Yin (F), Korda (F), Shin (F), Vu (F)
Updated
Lydia Ko wins the 2024 Women's Open!
… underhits the putt. A perfect line, but she didn’t give it enough. Lydia Ko is the champion!
Updated
Before Lilia Vu takes her shot, she asks the referee if she’s allowed to swap out her ball, which now has a huge scuff mark on it. Oh Grannie Clark! How could you! But the ball’s still round, so she’s not allowed. Vu wastes no time in getting on with it … but rather clumsily sends her chip 12 feet past. No check. She’ll need to make the downhill left-to-right slider to force a play-off. She steps up, draws back the putter, and …
Updated
Lilia Vu’s drive has stopped just short of the Valley of Sin. It couldn’t be much better placed. But before she can wedge in, it’s Jiyai Shin’s turn. Shin is a good 50 yards further back, perhaps 80 yards out. She screeches her ball to a stop, eight feet past the flag. Vu would probably settle for that outcome, and take her chances with the flat stick.
This is magnificent drama! Lilia Vu batters her tee shot down the middle of 18 … and the ball takes a huge bound forward off Grannie Clark’s Wynd, the track that crosses the 1st and 18th fairway. Some bonus distance there. Jiyai Shin’s ball also pings off the track, but it’s not been her day so she doesn’t get such spectacular bounce. Meanwhile over on the practice green, Lydia Ko kills time. Her fate currently in the defending champion’s hands!
Lilia Vu’s long birdie putt bobbles a couple of times and stops five feet short. Huge par-saving effort to come … but she’ll be forced to wait, the nerves jangling, as Jiyai Shin scopes her long par putt. Shin can’t make it, so her race is run, but she smiles anyway, because that’s how she sees life. Vu, having gone to school on Shin’s putt, then tidies up with steely aplomb. A birdie on 18, then, and we’ll be heading to a play-off. No biggie.
-7: Ko (F)
-6: Vu (17)
-5: Yin (F), Korda (F)
-4: Jiyai Shin (17)
Jiyai Shin lashes through the jungle-grade rough on 17 and whips her ball up to 15 feet. That’s an outstanding escape, but if she’s to force a play-off, she’ll need to make that par putt, then hole out for eagle on 18. It’s not going to happen. It could happen for her partner Lilia Vu, though; she’s left herself a long right-to-left swinger for birdie. Par is more likely, after which she’ll need birdie up the last.
Jiyai Shin flays her second at 17 into obnoxious rough to the right of the green. She’ll do well to hack out and hold the green. It’s going to be a hit and hope. Lilia Vu meanwhile is on in two, and is therefore the only player left with a realistic chance of catching Lydia Ko.
Nelly Korda nearly rakes in a long valedictory birdie putt. But it stops just short. Par. Her weekend in microcosm. The back nine has killed her again. Back in 40 yesterday, back in 38 today. A level-par final round. She ends the week at -5, and trudges off, her eyes closed, rubbing her temples. This hurts. But the brilliant world number one will be back.
Nelly Korda whips her second at 18 over the flag, and drops her head sadly. Her bid is kaput. She looked in total control of herself, her game, and this tournament, before a double-bogey at 14 came out of nowhere to completely disturb her equilibrium. As she trudges past the Rusacks Hotel and up towards the R&A clubhouse, a look of pure pain washes across her face. So close to glory at the home of golf, yet so far. This one will sting for a while.
The defending champion Lilia Vu isn’t out of this yet. She powers her second at 16 out of the rough and into the front of the green, then salvages her par. A par for Jiyai Shin too, but she’ll now need a birdie-birdie finish if she’s to make a play-off, and sending her tee shot at 17 into the thick rough to the left of the fairway doesn’t help in that pursuit. Vu, who most likely needs par-birdie, sends her drive into the semi-rough.
Lydia Ko gently fist-pumps the air before, a quiet celebration … but she could be celebrating properly soon, because Nelly Korda’s race looks run. She underhits her par putt on 17, not the first timid stroke she’s made today. Bogey, and she’ll need to make an unlikely eagle on 18 if she’s to force a play-off.
-7: Ko (F)
-6: Vu (15)
-5: Yin (F), Korda (17)
Updated
Lydia Ko cards 69!
No bother for Lydia Ko! She strokes in the left-to-right downhill slider, and that’s a final round of 69! She sets a mark that Nelly Korda and Lilia Vu may not be able to match! A fair chance that Ko has just made the winning putt.
-7: Ko (F)
-6: Korda (16), Vu (15)
Updated
Lydia Ko, the new Olympic champion, hits a golden shot into 18. Over the flag, spinning back to five feet. It’ll be a notoriously slippery downhill putt – poor old Doug Sanders – but it’s the one Lottie Woad made. Very gettable. Meanwhile back on 17, Nelly Korda can only splash out from the Road Hole bunker to 15 feet, but that’s pretty much as good as she could do with the restricted backswing and the lie, and hey, it could have been so much better. Two huge putts coming up.
Lydia Ko finds the middle of the fairway on 18. She crosses the Swilcan Bridge with a big smile on her face. Not looking so happy: Nelly Korda, who sends her tee shot at 17 into the thick rough down the left, then her second into the Road Hole bunker. The ball only just topples in, and she might not have much room for a backswing. Also slightly concerned: Lilia Vu, whose drive at 16 scampers into the rough on the left. She might have copped a good lie, though. We’ll see. But at the moment, it’s advantage Ko.
Lydia Ko’s putt, from the shoulder of the Road Hole bunker, never looks like dropping. But that’s a fine par at a notoriously treacherous hole. Nelly Korda can’t make her birdie effort on 16. Lilia Vu nearly drains another monster, this time across 15, but her effort lips out. However Vu’s playing partner Jiyai Shin blinks at the wrong time: a three-putt bogey, though the big mistake was a miscalculated approach that bounded miles past the flag.
-6: Ko (17), Korda (16), Vu (15)
-5: Yin (F), Jiyai Shin (15)
With the rain coming down in sheets, Lydia Ko whips a glorious fairway wood into the heart of the 17th green. Fifteen, maybe 20 feet from the flag. One of the shots of the week. The shot of the week? It will be if she ends up winning this title. Big birdie chance coming up. Back on 16, Nelly Korda sets one up for herself, pin high and 12 feet away.
Updated
Ruoning Yin sets up another birdie chance on 18. Once again her putt stops one dimple short of dropping. So close and yet so far. She’s the new clubhouse leader after a fine closing round of 70, but the drained look on her face speaks volumes. She knows the cost of those two putts that failed to drop at 17 and 18. An inch combined, a couple of joules of energy short. She’s back in the big house at -5. Probably not quite good enough, but with the rain beginning to fall and the wind picking up, you never know.
Lydia Ko gets up and down from the back of 16. Nelly Korda takes two putts from distance on 15 for a nerve-settling par. Ruoning Yin’s birdie effort on 17 stops on the very edge of the cup; just (just!) a par at the Road Hole. Jiyai Shin is forced to splash out sideways from the fairway bunker, but then gets up and down from the front of 14 for par. And Lilia Vu makes her birdie, so suddenly there’s a four-way tie at the top … and all of them world number ones at some point in their career!
-6: Ko (16), Korda (15), Vu (14), Jiyai Shin (14)
-5: Yin (17)
-3: Jutanugarn (F)
Updated
Lottie Woad wins Smyth Salver as low amateur
Lottie Woad, the 20-year-old sensation from Surrey, has a silver medal to go along with her Augusta National title! She steers in the left-to-right downhill birdie putt on 18, and ends the week in red figures at -1. Woad looks forward to a glorious career tossing her orb about. (A treat for the Withnail heads there.)
Updated
Ruoning Yin is making a late run for the title. The 2023 PGA Champion draws a lovely second into the Road Hole and will have a good look at birdie. Lilia Vu sets up a great chance too, wedging to six feet on 14. And there’ll be a look at birdie from similar distance for Lottie Woad on 18. She’s got the silver medal in the bag now, whatever happens, but what a way to finish if she can make that.
Lydia Ko’s second into 16 takes a huge kick forward. Long and left, and snagged in some filthy rough. Back on 15, Nelly Korda splits the fairway. And further back on 14, Jiyai Shin finds a fairway bunker with shot number two, while Lilia Vu lays up comfortably. Good luck correctly predicting the outcome of this one.
Nelly Korda prods with great uncertainty at her bogey putt. It dies off to the right and that’s a double-bogey seven. All of a sudden this tournament, which looked like Korda’s for the taking, is back in the balance! As she departs the green, she effs and jeffs in the irritated style. No wonder: the world number one looked in complete control of her game, only for the wheels to suddenly clank off.
-6: Ko (15), Korda (14), Jiyai Shin (13)
-5: Yin (16), Vu (13)
-3: Jutanugarn (F)
Lydia Ko gives her par putt a good confident run, but it doesn’t drop. She slips back to -6, and Nelly Korda’s lead is once again two strokes. But for how long? Not too long, it would seem, because Korda’s chip up from the back of 14 is underhit, not quite getting up a bank and toppling back down the swale. She chips up again, and nearly holes out, but the ball rolls three feet past and that’s a little tester to limit the damage to bogey.
Trouble for Lydia Ko, who sends her second at 15 into a greenside pot bunker. She does well to smash out to 15 feet, taking a full face’s worth of sand in doing so. But that’s a big putt coming up. However there’s some bother for Nelly Korda back on the par-five 14th; her third, from thick gorse, flies through the green and over the back. Big up-and-down coming up, too.
Any faint chance Jeeno Thitikul had is extinguished on 15. A par putt horseshoes out and the former world number one drops to -3.
A bogey-birdie finish for Ariya Jutanugarn. The 2016 champion signs for a final round of 70 and becomes the new clubhouse leader at -3. Meanwhile two no-fuss putts for Nelly Korda on 13, and she remains one clear of Lydia Ko.
This isn’t over yet, though. Lydia Ko fires her second at 14 straight at the flag, then teases in the right-to-left six-footer for a birdie that takes her to within a shot of the lead. Then up on 15, birdie for Ruoning Yin, and suddenly a tournament that was beginning to feel like a procession is very much back in the balance!
-8: Korda (12)
-7: Ko (14)
-6: Jiyai Shin (12)
-5: Yin (15), Vu (12)
Lottie Woad nearly drains a birdie putt on 15 from 108 feet. Tap in for par. She’s level, and one step closer to that silver medal. Meanwhile in other monster-putt news, Lilia Vu sends a 60-footer up and across the warped LP that is the 12th green to love back to within three shots at -5. Turns out playing quickly can benefit one’s game.
Birdie for Jeeno Thitikul at 14. She joins the group at -4. But right now it all seems futile, because Nelly Korda is in the zone. The leader finds 13 in regulation and will have another look at birdie. She doesn’t look like making a mistake right now. In total control of her game. Mind you, major-championship golf and all that. Meanwhile the final group have been told to hurry up.
Lilia Vu is usually such a dependable putter. But the flat stick is suddenly betraying the defending champ. The camber of the green at the par-three 11th takes her tee shot well wide right. She misreads a big right-to-left swinger, sending the putt eight feet past. Then she knocks the one coming back four feet past. She does pretty well to knock in her third putt and limit the damage. But that’s back-to-back bogeys. Meanwhile a similar story for her playing partner Jiyai Shin: a tee shot sent wide right of the flag, then three putts. All of a sudden, Nelly Korda has a little cushion at the top of the leaderboard.
-8: Korda (12)
-6: Ko (13), Jiyai Shin (11)
-4: Yin (14), Vu (11)
Birdie for Ariya Jutanugarn on 16. The two-time major winner returns to -3. A couple of pars home, and she’ll be the new clubhouse leader. One of those holes being the Road Hole, that’s easier said than done of course. And that’s before you factor in the wind, which is beginning to seriously blow.
Welcome to the start of the 2024 Women’s Open, as the final pair hit the turn on major-championship Sunday. It’s not good news for the defending champion. Lilia Vu, having parred every hole on the front nine, makes bogey at 10, seriously undercooking a long birdie putt. The misjudgement knocks her back to -5. Par for her playing partner Jiyai Shin.
-8: Korda (11)
-7: Jiyai Shin (10)
-6: Ko (12)
-5: Vu (10)
-4: Yin (13)
-3: Saigo (14), Thitikul (13), Jenny Shin (11)
Updated
A lucky break for Nelly Korda, who catches a good lie in the Strath bunker. But you still need a magic touch to get close, which she does, despite being short-sided. A delicate splash out, perfectly judged over the face and over a ridge, the ball rolling down to kick-in distance. That’s a wonderful shot, and what a sandy par. She’s not world number one for nothing. She remains one in front at -8. Another bogey for her playing partner Jenny Shin, though, and at -3 her race looks run.
… so having said that, Nelly Korda dumps her tee shot at 11 into the pot bunker guarding the front of the green. The Strath bunker, named after Davie Strath, a late-19th-century pro who didn’t much like going in it. The great Bobby Jones had his issues there too, as related in this old Joy of Six. God speed, Nelly.
… he ripped his scorecard into tiny pieces, sent them scattering into the breeze, and stomped off wearing a look later described by onlookers as “puzzled dislike” …
It’s three birdies in four holes for the world number one Nelly Korda! Despite the wind whipping around the Old Course, she makes golf look so easy as she saunters down the 10th. A smooth drive, a gentle second pin high to 12 feet, the putt calmly rolled in. No hesitation, no faff, playing completely within herself. Her playing partner Jenny Shin should make birdie too, after a stunning second to four feet, but Shin allows the wind to get inside her head, and when she eventually pulls the trigger, the ball squirts wide right. Korda’s lead-stretching birdie probably didn’t help either, to be fair.
-8: Korda (10)
-7: Jiyai Shin (8)
-6: Ko (11), Vu (8)
-4: Yin (12), Jenny Shin (10)
Lydia Ko does not like the par-three 11th. At all. Bogey on Thursday, bogey on Friday, bogey on Saturday. It looks like she’ll make it a full house of misery as the strong wind nearly knocks her off her feet while standing over a four-foot par saver … but she steps away, waits for the gust to die down a bit, and eventually rams in the putt. That’s a brilliant save, and she remains at -6.
Jiyai Shin can’t take advantage of her fine tee shot at 8. Her eight-foot birdie effort shoved wide right. She hops in irritation; still smiling though. She’s always smiling.
Another birdie for Nelly Korda! She pours one in from 12 feet on 9 to hit the turn in 34. Meanwhile birdie for Lydia Ko up on 10. And back on 8, Jiyai Shin sends a forensic iron straight at the flag, and she’ll have a look at birdie from eight feet or so. After a slow start, this is bubbling up deliciously.
-7: Korda (9), Jiyai Shin (7)
-6: Ko (10), Vu (7)
-4: Yin (12), Jenny Shin (9)
The 54-hole leader has gone on to win the Women’s Open in each of the last five stagings. Jiyai Shin is naturally desirous of keeping that run going, and she fist-pumps the air after pinging her second at 7 to six feet and nailing the putt. The birdie – the first in the final pairing – gives her sole leadership of the tournament again.
-7: Jiyai Shin (7)
-6: Korda (8), Vu (7)
-5: Ko (9)
-4: Yin (11), Jenny Shin (8)
-3: Saigo (13), Jutanugarn (13), Thitikul (10)
-2: Iwai (F), Alexander (13), Pano (9)
Lottie Woad misses a short putt on 12 and slips back to level par. She’s still got a three-stroke cushion on fellow amateur Julia Lopez Ramirez, who is in the clubhouse at +3. But the battle for the Smyth Salver continues to bubble away.
Jenny Shin pulls her tee shot wide left of the par-three 8th. She does well to chip up to four feet, but the par putt is pulled as well. A gust of wind might have put her off there. She slips back to -4, two off the pace.
We have a new clubhouse leader. Anne van Dam held the position for three hours, at level par, but Akie Iwai has put her name at the bottom of a card of 69 and ends her week at -2. That’ll be surpassed, but not, you might suspect, by too many shots, given the way the wind is whipping around the Old Course at the minute.
Nelly Korda responds to her careless three-putt bogey by teasing in a 15-foot right-to-left slider on 7. Just enough energy for the ball to topple in, and her birdie means we’ve now got two former world number ones and the current holder of that spot in a three-way share of the lead!
-6: Korda (7), Jiyai Shin (6), Vu (6)
Updated
The temperature is dropping, but the tournament is beginning to heat up nonetheless. Birdie for Ariya Jutanugarn on 12 to rise to -3. Coming the other way, Mao Saigo, who lips out from close range on 11 to hand back the shot she’d just picked up.
… but how about this for bouncing back? Jenny Shin has responded brilliantly to that double bogey at 4. She sends her approach at 6 to ten feet, and rattles in the putt with great confidence. That’s back-to-back birdies, and it’s been quite the ride for the 31-year-old Korean so far: three birdies and a double bogey in six holes. She’s -5 … alongside her partner Nelly Korda, who carelessly three-putts. Meanwhile a walk-in birdie from 20 feet at 9 for last year’s PGA champion Ruoning Yin, and the 21-year-old from China is suddenly right in this!
-6: Vu (5), Jiyai Shin (5)
-5: Ko (7), Jenny Shin (6), Korda (6)
-4: Yin (9)
Updated
Bounceback birdie for Lottie Woad! The world’s leading amateur responds to that ugly double at 8 with birdie at 9, back into red figures at -1, her cushion over Smyth Salver clubhouse leader Julia Lopez Ramirez now four shots. A huge back nine coming up.
Things are finally beginning to happen: players are making birdies, making moves. Mao Saigo at 10; that’s her fourth in six holes, and the 22-year-old from Japan, who already has a tie for third at the Evian on her resumé, is properly in the mix now at -4. Her compatriot Akie Iwai is also on a birdie blitz, making her fifth of the day at 16; she’s -2. And Casandra Alexander follows up birdie at 8 with another at 9 … only to then drop a stroke at 10; she’s -2 as well.
Lexi Thompson waves goodbye
The brilliant, mercurial, ever-entertaining Lexi Thompson bids farewell to major-championship golf. She stops, waves and smiles on the Swilcan Bridge, grimaces briefly as she misses a short par putt, then waves and smiles again as she signs off with a disappointing final round of 76 but with the love of the gallery ringing in her ears. What a player she is, what a contribution she made, what stories she told. She retires as an all-time great, unquestionably so, despite somehow only winning the one major title, the 2014 Dinah Shore. Golf’s funny (and cruel) like that.
Updated
A touch of farce at the 5th. Jenny Shin prepares to hit a chip from the front-right edge of the green, but is forced to stop when a ball from the 13th rolls across her path. Having already had to wait for aeons to play the hole, this is the final straw, and she strides off to mark the errant ball herself. Once reset, and perhaps tiring of the hole, she seriously underhits her chip … but then walks in the 20-foot birdie putt! Not bad at all, especially after her wayward tee shot. Nelly Korda makes birdie too, and the pair will be much happier now. Worth the wait, huh?
-6: Korda (5), Vu (4), Jiyai Shin (4)
-5: Ko (5)
-4: Jenny Shin (5)
A horrible double bogey for Lottie Woad on the par-three 8th. She sends her tee shot up against the face of a pot bunker and is forced to chop out sideways. She drops back to level par for the tournament, and with fellow amateur Julia Lopez Ramirez safely in the clubhouse at +3, perhaps the race for the Smyth Salver isn’t quite done and dusted yet.
Ariya Jutanugarn hasn’t done much in the majors recently. No top-ten finish since tying for tenth in this tournament back in 2021. But with two majors to her name, the 28-year-old Thai has the game, and she’s rediscovering it here, raking in a 40-footer across 9 to hit the turn in 35 and rise to -2.
Mao Saigo and Casandra Alexander take turns to rake in long putts at the par-three 8th. Alexander’s in particular is a stunner, from the fringe, the best part of 80 feet away. She blows out her cheeks, a little chuckle at the audacity of it. Birdies for both, and suddenly the pair are in contention, Saigo at -3, Alexander at -2.
After a 20-minute wait on the 5th tee, an admirably calm Nelly Korda is able to hit her drive. She finds the semi-rough down the left. Jenny Shin, who has had all that time to stew over her double bogey, hoicks miles left. A penny to hear their internal monologues.
Lilia Vu sends her second at 4 to eight feet, but the birdie putt dies off to the right. Jiyai Shin, after taking an age over a three-footer, makes par too. The pair walk across to the 5th tee, where there are already two groups waiting. The pace of play is glacial. No wonder Nelly Korda, who likes to get on with it, looks distinctly bored, bordering on unimpressed.
Updated
… so of course having just reported that, Esther Henseleit, the Olympic silver medalist, is forced to come out sideways from a high-faced bunker at 5 and slips back to level par for her round, and -2 overall. Many apologies for alerting the golfing gods, Esther.
Of the leading players, only Lydia Ko and Esther Henseleit are under par for their round at the moment. With the wind blowing, the Old Course’s defences are up, and it’s a bit of a war of attrition right now.
-6: Vu (3), Jiyai Shin (3)
-5: Korda (4), Ko (4)
-3: Yin (5), Pano (4), Henseleit (4), Jenny Shin (4)
Having found the bushes down the right of 4, Jenny Shin takes an unplayable. After dropping she finds the green with her third, but only just, leaving herself a 50-footer for par. Three putts later, that’s a costly double bogey, and she slips back down the standings to -3.
Perhaps it’s going to happen for the former world number one Lydia Ko, though. She steers in a big left-to-right swinger on 4 for her first birdie of the day. Meanwhile a careless three-putt bogey for Jiyai Shin on 3, and suddenly the top of the leaderboard takes on a different complexion.
-6: Vu (3), Jiyai Shin (3)
-5: Ko (4), Jenny Shin (3), Korda (3)
Trouble for Jenny Shin at 4, as she carves her drive into bushes down the right. Nelly Korda splits the fairway. Meanwhile up on 6, some bother for Charley Hull, who like Shin finds trouble off the tee. Chopping her third shot into the green from thick rough, she nearly slam-dunks home for birdie, but the ball bounds 20 feet past and she’s not able to make the saving putt coming back. She’s -1 and the charge required simply isn’t happening.
Nelly Korda is a bit miffed as she walks off 3. A tilt of the head in disappointment, having boomed a big drive only to leave her short wedge outside an acceptably close distance. The birdie putt from eight feet dies off to the left, and now she’s shaking her head in irritation. Her partner Jenny Shin misses a shorter birdie putt, and there’s not been a lot of movement at the top of the leaderboard early doors. Plenty of time yet, let the Old Course do its thing.
-7: Jiyai Shin (2)
-6: Vu (2)
-5: Jenny Shin (3), Korda (3)
-4: Ko (3)
Lilia Vu’s approach play has been below average so far – she’s a good 50 feet away from the flag this time, at 2 – but her putter looks to be working well, just as it did on the final day at Walton Heath this time last year. A glorious putt that snakes over a hump and down a swale then back up again. It shaves the lip; it deserved to drop. Another par. Par too for Jiyai Shin, who sends her second to ten feet but fails to hit the putt. One more turn and it was birdie.
Nelly Korda is this close to making birdie at 2. A fairly straight 15-foot putt stays out stubbornly on the high side. A par-par start for the world number one, which is two shots better than yesterday, when a pair of bogeys set the tone for her dismal day. Par as well for her playing partner Jenny Shin, both players remaining at -5.
Jiyai Shin can’t make her birdie putt on 1. Par will suffice. It certainly will for Lilia Vu, who chips to eight feet and rattles in the par saver with supreme confidence. Meanwhile Lottie Woad, having narrowly missed birdie at 3 after setting herself up with a sensational long bunker shot, drops a stroke at 4. The world number one amateur slips back to -2.
-7: Jiyai Shin (1)
-6: Vu (1)
-5: Jenny Shin (1), Korda (1)
-4: Ko (1)
Updated
Is it good or bad luck for Jiyai Shin at 1? Her laser-like 7-iron into the green clatters the flagstick and twangs 15 feet back. Fortunate not to fly all the way back into the burn? Unlucky that the ball didn’t miss the stick and land softly nearer the cup? Take your pick. She’s certainly happier than Lilia Vu, though, who pulls nervously into the gorse to the left of the green. A big up and down coming up.
Lilia Vu is trying to become the first woman to retain this title since the five-time major-winning Yani Tseng in 2011. Jiyai Shin meanwhile is attempting to become the first player to win this championship for a third time in its guise as a major championship (which it became in 2001). So a little bit of history beckons for the pair of them. They both send their tee shots down the middle of 1. Meanwhile up on the green, Nelly Korda isn’t able to make her birdie, but her partner Jenny Shin, having wedged to five feet, rolls in her putt to move to -5.
On the subject of star quality, here comes Nelly Korda. She cracks her opening drive down the middle, then eases her wedge over the burn to ten feet or so. She’ll have a good look at birdie. The one she made on 18 last night, a sweet end to an otherwise sour back nine of 40, will have given her succour after a difficult day; it certainly put her right back on the leaders’ tails. If this putt goes in, it’ll give the final pairing of Jiyai Shin and Lilia Vu, back on the tee, something to think about.
Last year’s runner up Charley Hull, who contributed so much to the drama at Walton Heath, was hopeful of going one better this time. Yesterday’s miserable 75 kind of put paid to those dreams, though if she were to fly out of the blocks today … ah but that’s not happened. Four pars in a row to open, with a birdie putt that shaved the hole at 2 eliciting an unambiguous and frankly marvellous “fucksake”. She remains at -2, though it’s surely just a matter of time before the charismatic star makes her major-championship breakthrough.
Everyone’s after a fast start. It doesn’t get much faster than eagle at 1, which is what the 2014 Evian champion Kim Hyo-joo made earlier, holing out from 121 yards. However the 29-year-old Korean has handed both shots back in the shortest of orders, with a double bogey at 3. She’s back where she started the day at -1. Meanwhile her compatriot Im Jinhee, on Women’s Open debut this week, birdies the opening hole to make the first serious indentation at the top of the leaderboard. Let’s crack that out for the first time.
-7: Jiyai Shin
-6: Vu
-5: Korda
-4: Im (1), Jenny Shin, Ko
-3: Woad -a- (3), Henseleit (1), Pano
It’s possible to go low today. Momoko Osato has proved that, with a best-of-day 67. She ends her Open debut at +2. Anne van Dam meanwhile is back in with a 68, finishing at level par after her week’s work.
Let’s open with the race for the Smyth Salver, which is awarded to the low amateur who plays 72 holes. It’s not over yet, though one suspects that’s only because Lottie Woad is pegging it up so late in the day. The current clubhouse leader in this particular battle is the 21-year-old Spaniard Julia Lopez Ramirez, back in the hutch at +3 for the tournament. She shot a fine final round of 71, though it could have been so much better: something special looked on the cards when she was five under today through 10, but four consecutive bogeys between 14 and 17 had her coming back in 39. Without those she’d be right in the mix, but Woad, starting the day at -2, has just raked in a long birdie putt on the opening hole. The 20-year-old from Surrey, who won at Augusta National earlier this year, can be forgiven for dreaming of even bigger things. She couldn’t, could she? It’s a long shot, but there she is at -3 overall, just four off the lead.
It’s cold and windy at the Old Course today. Rain spotting as well, with heavier stuff forecast. Not sure it qualifies as dreich, though, because it’s still reasonably bright and in any case St Andrews always glows with its unique glamour. Anticipation crackling around the home of golf, nothing can dampen it.
Preamble
For a little while yesterday afternoon, the 48th Women’s Open was threatening to turn into a walk in the park for world number one Nelly Korda …
-9: Nelly Korda (11)
-6: Jiyai Shin (14), Lilia Vu (11)
… but then a run of five dropped shots in six holes, featuring an OB drive at 16 and wild pull at the Road Hole, saw her drop three shots behind the new clubhouse leader Jiyai Shin …
-7: Jiyai Shin (F)
-5: Vu (17)
-4: Jenny Shin (F), Ko (F), Korda (17)
… so birdie at the last was precious succour at the end of a difficult day. And now we’ve got ourselves one heck of a final round in prospect. Four of the top five have tasted life as world number one at some point in their career, the player in second spot is the reigning champion, and the leader has won this tournament twice already. Here’s how the top of the leaderboard looked at the start of play today …
-7: Jiyai Shin
-6: Lilia Vi
-5: Nelly Korda
-4: Jenny Shin, Lydia Ko
-3: Ruoning Yin, Im Jinhee, Jeeno Thitikul, Alexa Pano
-2: Charley Hull, Casandra Alexander, Mao Saigo, Lottie Woad, Albane Valenzuela, Esther Henseleit
… and here are the final few tee times (BST). This could go all the way. It’s the final major of the year. It’s the home of golf. It’s on!
1.45pm: Im Jinhee, Jeeno Thitikul
1.55pm: Alexa Pano, Kydia Ko
2.05pm: Jenny Shin, Nelly Korda
2.15pm: Lilia Vu, Jiyai Shin
