The majority of Olympic gold medals in golf now belong to Team USA.
Nelly Korda, No. 1 in the women’s world golf rankings, held off a litany of challengers in the final round of women’s golf in Tokyo to capture gold with an aggregate score of 17-under.
The entire tournament came down to the difficult 18th hole at Kasumigaseki Country Club. Korda and Japan’s Mone Inami entered the hole tied for the lead at 17-under, but a trip to a bunker doomed Inami to a bogey. One group later, Korda finished with a tap-in par to seal gold.
Inami took the silver in a playoff. New Zealand’s Lydia Ko took bronze.
Korda gives Team USA its second golfing gold alongside Xander Schauffele in the men’s event. In a sport that saw a century-long Olympic hiatus, four of seven gold medals have now gone to Americans.
Nelly Korda’s eventful final round
Inami, Ko and India’s Aditi Ashok all finished within two strokes of Korda and were each tied with her at some point during the round, which Korda entered with a three-stroke lead.
A double bogey on the seventh hole put Korda in a three-way tie with Ko and Ashok, but she quickly bounced back with three straight birdies to take the sole lead again. That lead remained comfortable until Inami posted four straight birdies of her own to pull within one stroke.
A quick weather delay interrupted the tournament for nearly a half-hour as the top of the leaderboard waited on the 16th and 17th holes. With her first shot after the delay, Inami carded another birdie to tie Korda for the lead, but the events of the 18th hole left Korda the winner.
Big season for Korda continues
An Olympic gold medal is the latest addition to Korda’s impressive trophy case this year.
Since the start of 2021, Korda has won three LPGA tournaments, including the Women’s PGA Championship in June. She also finished tied for third in the ANA Inspiration. All of that added up to the 23-year-old Korda taking the No. 1 spot in the rankings for the first time in her career.
Per ESPN, Korda is the first golfer to ever win a major and the Olympics in the same year.
Adding to the fun was Korda getting to celebrate with her sister, fellow golf star Jessica Korda, in person. The elder Korda sister finished tied for 19th in the event at 9-under, but hit a seven-under 64 to finish with the best score of the round.
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