Lydia Ko AIG Women's Open victory speech. One of golf's greatest champions and gracious winners.

AIG Women's Open Champion is lyia co [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] you have won your third major championship here at the homeless golf what are the emotions right now um it's pretty serial uh you know winning the gold medal in Paris a couple weeks ago it was almost too good to be true and obviously heading into the weekend I was in contention and I said how is it possible for me to win the AIG woman's open you know I've had the most Cinderella like story this past few weeks and this is almost too good to be true and of all the major championships um I think this one I had the least amount of confidence um just because I haven't had as much experience playing on links and just know the results didn't follow either um but yeah you know to be holding this trophy right now it's I can't believe it and obviously very special especially with my family being here uh this week too how did you keep the emotions in check the walk over the swil bridge the war cup 18 with basically history on the line I think um you know like I said you know what happened these past couple weeks I was like you know what it's not going to happen um so don't get uh you know uh don't overreact uh just try and focus on the shout in front of you and you know my I had two goals going into today par making a par on 11 and birie the 18th and I accomplished both um so I was just more excited that you know I had those two small wins for the day um but yeah you know it's a special place I was fortunate enough to play here as an amator in 2013 When Stacy won and know I would have never imagined that 11 years later I would be uh in her shoes and especially with Stacy being somebody that I really respect and um you know I really look up to it's I think this makes it extra special why would you say this one ranks the Olympic gold medal in the summer the pre the previous two major championships and now this where does this one sit it's kind of like saying do you like your mother better or your father better um uh it's uh you know they're uh all special in its own ways I said you know even the silver and the bronze uh were some of the biggest highlights of my career and um before you know I don't know when uh you know I'm going to retire but I said before then I would love to win another mjes championship and that was my goal that IID set with my coaches and you know here I am as you know a three-time major champion and it's it's so surreal um and yeah I'm I'm just excited uh and you know I I'm not really sure if it has sunk in yet but very grateful there some some tough conditions this week we know the sun is shining right now it is absolutely beautiful here at the home of golf but it has not been easy it's been cold it's been Wy how much did you really embrace all the links true Scottish conditions that we've seen this week I think I just had a lot of fun and it was almost so windy that I mean um that I hit some shots and all I could do was laugh because I've never seen a ball react that way um you know it was difficult but you know going into the week I think all of us players knew that it was going to be tough out there um that's why it's you know huge uh Round of Applause to the team here um the superintendent for making the course playable because it was so windy that it could have easily not been that case um so yeah it's um I'm winded out but I've actually got a golf trip next weekend and it's meant to be windy there too so at least I'm ready uh for for next week too listen final question final word on the support you've received here this week in Scotland and I'm sure you just like to say a big thank you to our wonderful sponsor AIG to the RNA everybody involved in in putting this Championship on to the highest quality that we've witnessed over the last few days yeah um you know first off I would like to thank the AIG for your immense support I think because of Partners like you know women's golf has continuously grown and I've been fortunate enough to play this Championship since you guys have know taken over and it has been elevated year by year you know we've gone to some of the most uh you know amazing rotation of courses uh in the UK so yeah you know very grateful for your support um thank you to the RNA um for hosting this incredible major championship um without an organization like them uh this tournament would not be possible and obviously thank you to all the volunteers that are trying to find out find our balls in the Fescue and being out there with us at 7 7 in the morning for our early tea times know really appreciate you know all your help and thank you to the fans um I don't know if it's because I'm from New Zealand and we're Commonwealth country um I've gotten a lot of support here you know especially walking down these final stretch of Halles um and I feel very honored to be uh the AIG Women's Open Champion for 2024 and uh my final thank you is to my family and team that are have been with me this whole journey um my sister actually said that she cried so much in Paris she's got no tears to shed anymore um so now I I appreciate you guys and um this is for all of us thank you so dignified so well spoken and brandle so good coming off of bogey at 15 you see it right there six under par at the time tied with Melly cter Lil Vu G Sheen was just a host of players all at the top number one just an absolute brilliant chip the second shot into 18 is the most difficult shot under the best of conditions under the worst of conditions absolutely brutal this is a three-wood to a front left pin brings the Road Hole bunker into play what you want to do is hit a low punch draw with a a three-wood that's exactly what she did exactly how she drew it up great execution secured her par com into the 18th hole like great Champions do like Nicholas did like sebie did like Lena choa did like Daisy Lewis did they rise to the occasion the home hole she's hit so many unbelievable shots in her career but I doubt she's hit one more memorable than that and then Paige um you know gold at St Andrews and gold in Paris well and she's been the author of this and you go back to the beginning of her career where she won in the very last opportunity to become the youngest major champion in women's golf history this of course after writing the history books as the youngest to win multiple times then you go back when you talk about delivering in the moment she's trying to end a 2-year wind drought out here in a playoff on a par five she hits this shot to get Eagle there is a plaque there in Lake mered now to commemorate what she was able to do explain that this was more of a relief wind coming from the depths that sometimes this game takes you and then you fast forward to what we just witnessed a month ago she talks about it feels too good to be true so often in her career she was delivering in moments that were story book that felt like a fairy tale the difference is she was always the author it wasn't somebody else and I go back to 2016 when golf returned to the Olympic Games in R up and and I think everybody in the sport who was hoping that it would work there were some doubts they were looking for a leader and nobody on the men's side very frankly stepped up into that role Lydia Co stepped up in a huge way said all the right things and helped to elevate the Olympic Golf movement and here she is all these years later at St Andrews that's great Champion we're back more moment