(Reuters) – Olympic champion Lydia Ko won the women’s British Open by two shots on Sunday after a tense and roller-coaster final round where four players were level at one point on the blustery Old Course at St Andrews.
Ko, world number one Nelly Korda, defending champion Lilia Vu and overnight leader Shin Ji-yai were all on six-under overall as they made their way through the back nine.
In the end it was New Zealand’s Ko who took home the $1,425,000 cheque, the highest amount in the event’s 48-year history, capping off a memorable three weeks where she won gold in Paris and was also inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame.
Ko set the clubhouse target at seven under and after Shin and Korda fell by the wayside, Vu needed a birdie putt to force a playoff. But the American underhit her putt on the 18th to give Ko her third major and her first since 2016.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; editing by Clare Fallon)
