St Andrews

Lydia Ko crowned the most magical month of her storied career by overcoming a host of fellow superstars to secure glory in the AIG Women’s Open at St Andrews.

The iconic Old Course played host to one of the great final days in major golf, with Ko’s final-round 69 – completed with a crucial birdie on the 18th – enough to clinch victory with a seven-under aggregate, by two shots from defending Champion Lilia Vu, world number one Nelly Korda, overnight leader Jiyai Shin and Ruoning Yin.

It was impossible to call a winner as a memorable Championship moved towards the most dramatic of conclusions amid gusting winds at the home of golf. Four players were tied for the lead with just a handful of holes to go, but it was Ko who finished the strongest, producing some fantastic golf in the face of challenging conditions and extreme pressure.

More than eight years since she claimed her second major victory as a teenager, Ko added the AIG Women’s Open title to an Olympic victory in Paris a fortnight earlier that sealed her place in the LPGA Hall of Fame.