Denied Entry at Olympics, Lydia Ko’s Husband Sparked Her Emotional Breakdown at St. Andrews: ‘Was Really Gutted’
It was the final major of the 2024 LPGA Tour season. Lydia Ko had finished her Sunday round with a score of 7-under overall after the four days of play. A last-minute choke by fellow LPGA Tour pro Nelly Korda on the 14th and a brilliant shot by the Kiwi on the 18th had set up her 3rd major victory. Soon after, the 27-year-old was spotted enjoying the win with her husband, Chung Jun. However, as soon as they hugged each other, the couple broke down in tears.
On a recent mini-episode of the LPGA podcast, ‘Catching Up With Lydia Ko After the AIG Women’s Open’, the AIG Women’s Open champ recounted the moment and explained why she and her partner were so emotional at the moment of victory. “One of the biggest factors was just my husband,” confessed the pro as she recalled her win at the Paris Games without him owing to the situation, “He really wanted to be at the Olympics, and you know, the Olympics is difficult with like accreditation and everything.”
A very wholesome moment between Lydia Ko and her husband after she won the AIG Women’s Open ⛳️ pic.twitter.com/tiynYMimqx
— Sky Sports Golf (@SkySportsGolf) August 25, 2024
Although the two had planned to just spend the AIG Women’s Open together instead of the quadrennial event, the news of her winning the latter had brought them to tears as well. “After I’d won the gold, you know, we called each other and we both started crying,” remembered Ko as she added how Chung Jun really wanted to be there owing to it being her last Olympics.
“I know he was really gutted,” admitted the 3-time major champ as she sympathized with her partner’s feelings for missing the Olympics gold. Couple that with the fact that the AIG Women’s Open was the first event where the two were together the whole week for one of her wins made it all the more special. “Cause when I won at the CME, he just came on the weekend,” said Ko.
The golfer’s husband had even once blamed himself for her losses at a point in time. “I remember somewhere in between, he told me,” quoted the New Zealand athlete, “You know I feel like sometimes I(sic) don’t play well when he comes and I was like ‘No, that’s not true. It’s just like coincidental that I may not have played well.’” But all that doubt seems to have been washed away after seeing his wife win the last major of the season at St. Andrews!
Lydia Ko claims her third major win at the AIG Women’s Open
The Kiwi was able to put up figures of 71-70-71-69 over the four rounds of play to clinch her third major win of her professional career. She did so by carding 13 birdies and six bogeys over the course of her performance at the Old Course in St. Andrews. Consequently, she was able to finish two strokes ahead of the golfers at T2, including Jiyai Shin, Lilia Vu, Ruoning Yin, and Nelly Korda.
Her win at the major was, interestingly, preceded by her clinching the gold medal at the Paris Games by beating the likes of Esther Henseleit and Xiyu Lin, the silver and bronze medalists, respectively. Back then, she had carded a 10-under 278 while dishing out 20 birdies and 6 bogeys, not to mention the two double bogeys she scored over the four rounds. It truly was an amazing couple of weeks for the golfer and her husband.
