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Nelly Korda wins Olympic Gold for Team USA on 18th hole

Nelly Korda helped the US secure a gold medal sweep of golf, holding off Japan’s Mone Inami in the final round.

By Collin Sherwin Updated
Nelly Korda of Team United States plays her shot from the 12th tee during the final round of the Women’s Individual Stroke Play on day fifteen of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Kasumigaseki Country Club on August 07, 2021 in Kawagoe, Japan. Photo by Chris Trotman/Getty Images

The No. 1 player in the world is also the first women’s golf Olympic gold medalist from the United States. In a dramatic finish at Kasumigaseki Country Club, Nelly Korda of Team USA hung on for a one-shot win at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics on Saturday morning.

Korda’s mother Regina Rajchrtova was an Olympian for Czechoslovakia in tennis at the Seoul Games in 1988. It’s the fourth win on the year for Korda in 14 starts internationally, including a major as the 2021 Women’s PGA Champion at the Atlanta Athletic Club.

Korda played outstanding golf for four rounds, and her 62 in Round 2 was actually a legitimate chance at a 59 when she stood on the 18th tee. She took advantage of her length and outstanding short game, as she had just six holes of bogey or worse through the tournament, but 24 holes of birdie or better.

Mone Inami of Japan played wonderfully with a final round 65 on the Par 71 track, but a bogey on 18 after a brutal plug in a bunker took away her chances for gold in her home country. She ended up at -16, tied with Lydia Ko of New Zealand for second.

Inami won the silver medal after making par in what ended up as a one-hole playoff on the 18th hole after Ko made bogey for bronze. Aditi Ashok of India finished fourth at -15.

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