Nelly Korda Wins to Clinch US Gold Medal Sweep

I said this last week and I’ll say it again, how in the world did the Olympics go 112 years without golf being played? I still don’t have an answer for you there, but Nelly Korda sure had an answer for the field.

Nelly Korda came into the final round of the Women’s Individual Stroke Play with a three shot lead, only to slowly watch it evaporate in front of her.

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Lydia Ko, the silver medalist from Rio 2016, went on a run making birdie on four straight holes and five of seven holes on the front nine alone.

India’s Aditi Ashok was steady all week, had one of the best putting performances for a tournament ever, by strokes saved putting.

Mone Inami of Japan also made a very late run with five birdies in six holes from holes 12-17. Putting a charge in and actually being tied for the lead heading into the 18th hole.

Ko came up a shot short, having a chance to birdie the 18th. Ashok just couldn’t make enough happen and was significantly shorter than Korda and Ko, in her group off the tee. Inami hit her second shot into the face of the bunker and plugged it, simlarly to Collin Morikawa last week. She would bogey, giving Korda the solo lead back.

For a moment, it seemed as if Nelly Korda was going to see it slip away on the par 3 seventh hole. She missed her tee shot left of the green, and it took her three shots to get it on the putting surface, leading to a double bogey.

That was the park that lit the fire. Korda would birdie the next three holes, and she was able to play well enough down the stretch to be able to close it out.

I can’t help but notice some striking similarities between Nelly Korda’s and Xander Schauffele’s final rounds in the Olympics.

Both went on hot streaks during the round, Xander’s early, Nelly’s toward the middle. They both hit a wall where it looked like we were seeing the beginning of the end, Xander on the 14th, Nelly on the 7th. Both felt the pressure from behind them and at one point surrendered the solo lead.

The most important things they shared were the incredible ways they played the 72nd holes of their respective tournaments. They both made par on their final hole, and both prevailed to hear the national anthem as the United States flag was being raised.

When the dust settled Korda won gold, Mone Inami won the silver in a one hole playoff over Lydia Ko, who took home the bronze, her second Olympic medal.

Nelly Korda played one of the gutsiest rounds of golf I’ve seen. She struggled somewhat after her second round challenge of 59. She had to grind hard at times, it looked like she was unraveling, she was being attacked from all sides by multiple competitors, and oh yeah, they had a tropical storm bearing down on them, causing about a 45 minute delay with less than two holes to play.

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Through all of that, Nelly Korda came out on top and the first person she celebrated with was sister Jessica. She showed exactly why she is world number one.

It was, yet again, another incredible week filled with excellent golf, pleasant surprises, and an ocean or two of drama. The tournaments in Tokyo blew the ones in Rio out of the water. It was again, everything I could want out of a major-like event.

Most importantly, it ended with an American winning Olympic gold. Again.

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