Olympic champion Ko completes Cinderella story with British Open win

ST ANDREWS, Scotland: Olympic champion Lydia Ko won the women's British Open by two shots in a tense final round on Sunday (Aug 25), capping a memorable three weeks where she won gold in Paris and was also inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame.

Ko, world number one Nelly Korda, defending champion Lilia Vu and overnight leader Shin Ji-yai were all on six-under overall at one point as they made their way through the back nine on the blustery Old Course at St Andrews.

In the end, it was New Zealand's Ko who took home the US$1,425,000 cheque - the highest amount in the event's 48-year history - as she won her third major and her first since 2016.

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 under-hit her putt on the 18th to give Ko a famous win at the home of golf.

"It's pretty surreal. Winning the gold medal in Paris was almost too good to be true. Heading into the weekend I was in contention and I thought, 'How is it possible for me to win the AIG Women's Open?'," Ko said.

"I've had the most Cinderella-like story these past couple of weeks and it's almost too good to be true.

"Of all the major championships, this one I've had the least amount of confidence because I've had the least amount of experience on links ... So to be holding this trophy right now, I can't believe it."

Overnight leader Shin is nicknamed the Final-round Queen but the South Korean was the first to crack when she lost her outright lead with a three-putt bogey on the par-four third, bringing Vu alongside her at the top.

Singapore's Shannon Tan finished tied 60th on seven-over overall.

Tan, who made history on Friday as the first Singaporean woman to make a cut