The AIG Women's Open, the last Grand Slam of the 2024 golf year, finished all four rounds at the Old Course at St. Andrews. Chinese player Yin Ruoning shot 70 (-2) in the final round and tied for second place with Nelly Korda, Lilia Wu and Shin Ji-ae. Lydia Ko won her third Grand Slam title after winning the gold medal at the Paris Olympics.

Galileo sports takes you inside the world of The AIG Women's Open.

Golf prodigy, "1 stroke reward of $10"

Looking back on Lydia Ko's career, from a "golf prodigy" to a top player, there is huge pressure behind the countless "youngest" titles.

Lydia Ko was born in Seoul, South Korea in 1997. She immigrated to New Zealand with her parents at the age of 4. She started playing golf at the age of 5, at the Pupuke Golf Club on the North Shore of Auckland.

Lydia Ko's starting point in her professional golf career can be described as "amazing". At the age of 7, she first attracted media attention for participating in the New Zealand National Amateur Championship.

When she was an amateur player, her mother would give her a $10 reward for every stroke she scored under par.

In 2015, at the age of 17, she became the youngest world No. 1 golfer in history. Since 2017, she has entered a trough period. During this period, she not only failed to win any competitions, but also changed coaches and caddies many times. Especially in 2019, she only entered the top ten 4 times in 24 competitions, which was the first time in her career that she failed to achieve 10 top ten times in the year. In 2021, Ko began to show strong competitiveness again. In 2022, she won three tournaments and regained the world's top spot. It was also during this period that she completed a major event in her life - getting married. Her husband is Zheng Jun, the son of the vice chairman and CEO of a famous Korean credit card company, and a golf enthusiast.

 "I don't have much time left"

With the support of her husband and family, she is more motivated to pursue her career. However, not winning the Olympic gold medal has always been her regret. She has found herself only one step away from the championship many times, always just a little bit away. The doubts that plagued her at different times in her career resurfaced. At the age of 27, she was not far from retirement. "Can I still win the championship? Can I still enter the Hall of Fame? Can I still participate in the Olympics?" She was lost. She didn't expect that this premonition would become a reality after the last round of the game: "I always told myself that I would control my own destiny and the outcome of the game. Now I feel that my dream has come true. Now, Ko has become the first golfer in the world to win gold, silver and bronze medals.

China's national treasure Yin Ruoning

Yin Ruoning started from the 1st hole today, swallowed a break on the 2nd hole, and then had 3 birdies on the 3rd hole, the 9th hole and the 15th hole after the transition. After handing in 70 strokes (-5), the total score came to 283 strokes (-5, 68-72-73-70), and finally ranked second, winning a prize of US$594,759 (about RMB 4.23 million).

"I think it's good and bad overall, but it's still pretty solid overall," Yin Ruoning said after the game. "Today's wind is smaller than the previous three days, and not having three putts is the biggest improvement today."

Yin Ruoning said regretfully, "The most impressive thing is that the birdie on the 17th hole died at the hole." "But I'm still quite satisfied with this round today." She said that she might rest after the Grand Slam until she returns to Shanghai to participate in the Buick LPGA Championship.

Other outstanding players

Nelly Korda led the final round alone and improved her score all the way. After the transition, she made another birdie on the 10th hole and her score reached -8. However, she came to the 14th hole with a +2, and her score returned to -6, tying the lead with several other players.

As the rain began to fall, the game calmed down a little, and everyone tried to save par in difficult conditions. Lydia Ko saved pars on the 16th and 17th holes, and finally came to the last hole, where she needed to make a birdie to lead with a score of -7. Her ball was only six feet from the hole, and she successfully putted in, and finally finished the game with 69 (-3), and a total score of 281 (-7).

Korda and Shin Ji-ae took a break on the 17th hole and both withdrew from the championship, leaving only Lilia Wu with the opportunity to tie Ko with a birdie on the 18th hole and enter the playoff. However, she unexpectedly three-putted on the green, and her score dropped to -5, and Lydia Ko won by 2 strokes.

"It's been a crazy couple of weeks," Ko said in a press conference after her win. "Something so good has happened that I can't believe it's happening, and I thought it couldn't get any better, and here I am, the AIG Women's Open champion. And obviously, to win at the Old Course at St. Andrews makes it even more special. I really enjoyed playing here this week."