The win lifted Bradbury inside the top 25 in the Race to Dubai for the 2025 season.
Dan Bradbury’s goal was to make the cut at the DP World Tour’s FedEx Open de France. He did a lot better than that.
On Sunday, Bradbury carded a 5-under 66 in the final round to win the title by one stroke at Le Golf National in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France. The 25-year-old Englishman reeled off four birdies on the back nine to finish at 16 under overall for his second career win. Trailing by two strokes heading into the final round, Bradbury recounted that he looked over at the trophy on the first tee and thought, “it’s one of the ones you want.”
Asked if he had a place for the trophy, he smiled and said, “I’ll find one.”
Bradbury emerged from a bunched up leaderboard as 11 different players held or shared the lead on Sunday. Swedish golfer Jesper Svensson surrendered a one-stroke overnight lead, ballooning to 5-over 76 and tumbling down to a share of 27th.
Bradbury caught a break at No. 15 when his ball managed to stay dry and he proceeded to sink a 15-foot birdie putt.
“Straight out pushed it,” he said of his approach. “Luckily it stayed on, and I hit a horrendous putt that went in. Sometimes you just need that. Once I’d done that it felt like ‘there’s definitely something going for me.’”
Bradbury staved off Denmark’s Jeff Winther, who closed with a bogey-free 64. The win lifted Bradbury from worrying about being keeping his card for next season to inside the top 25 in the Race to Dubai.
“The goal was to make the cut so I didn’t have to go to Korea to keep my card,” Bradbury said. “I guess I will be looking for flights to Dubai.”
Grinberg reached the Round of 16 at the U.S. Junior Amateur in July.
The succession of amazing golf courses hosting the DP World Tour this fall continues this week, with Le Golf National hosting the 2024 FedEx Open de France.
The historic venue has hosted the 2018 Ryder Cup and the 2024 Summer Olympics. This week, it’s the site of the oldest national open in continental Europe.
All this history hasn’t fazed 16-year-old Lev Grinberg, who shot a 5-under 66 on Thursday and is tied with four others for fourth, one shot back of a three-way tie for the lead held by Thorbjorn Olesen, Joe Dean and Jesper Svensson. Grinberg’s birdies came in bunches, as he birdied Nos. 6 through 8 and then Nos. 14 through 16.
“It’s definitely some experience,” he said. “I’ve worked really hard and I really had fun today. I stuck to my game plan. I had a very good mindset a couple of weeks before and a couple of days before going into this event.
“Playing on an Olympic golf course, playing any DP World Tour venues, it’s great, and you just play with the pros. I’m very fortunate.”
Grinberg reached the Round of 16 at the U.S. Junior Amateur before falling to Nguyen Anh Minh of Vietnam at Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, in July.
This week, he’s making sure he stays relaxed.
“I’m definitely going to have a good rest now. Do my normal routine. Play ping pong with my friends in the evening. Have a good sleep. Watch Netflix. Practice, eat and yeah, same game plan tomorrow and see what happens.”
It was a disappointing day for America’s best as Team USA was shut out of the podium in Paris. With the top two players in the world on the three-player U.S. squad – plus Rose Zhang! – odds were high that someone would clinch a medal.
Alas, it wasn’t to be.
Zhang, who began the day two back of the lead, played in the final group alongside Lydia Ko and Morgane Meatraux but struggled to a closing 74 that included a double-bogey on the ninth, a par 5. Zhang led the Americans with a T-8 finish.
“Takes a lot of resilience to get the job done or to even be in contention,” said Zhang of her Olympic debut. “Really proud of how hard I fought, and I think there’s just a lot more coming and pretty excited for what I can work on and what I can improve on.”
Aug 10, 2024; Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France; Rose Zhang (USA) on no. 2 in the final round of women’s individual stroke play during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games at Le Golf National. Mandatory Credit: Katie Goodale-USA TODAY Sports
Korda made two bogeys and a double over the last five holes to card a 75. The 2021 gold medalist plummeted to a share of a 22nd.
“I think recently what’s been happening to me is I make a mistake and then I make another mistake on top of it,” said Korda.
“Needing to control that bit of it where I don’t compile all the mistakes, which that’s what I’ve been kind of doing recently.”
World No. 2 Lilia Vu had it going early in the week but took a nosedive as the week wore on. The two-time major winner closed with a 74 to finish tied for 36th.
At 27 years old, Lydia Ko has put together one of the best careers in the history of the LPGA. In 2016, she won silver in Rio. Five years later, she earned the bronze medal in Toyko. And on Saturday, Ko captured the gold medal in Paris and a spot in the LPGA Hall of Fame, arguably the hardest hall to get into in sports.
Ko buried a birdie putt on the par-5 18th to cement her two-stoke victory over Esther Henseleit of Germany, who won the silver. Xiyu Lin of China took home bronze.
Earlier in her career, Ko stated she wanted to retire by 30. Will she play for a few more years, or will she call it quits now that she’s achieved a Hall-of-Fame resume?
Check out some photos of the emotional scene from the 2024 Olympics at Le Golf National below.
There’s something raw about the Olympic podium. Cameras get so close to the athletes that fans a world away can watch as a single tear spills out of the eye, rolls down the cheek and hangs at the bottom of a chin. That was the scene for Lydia Ko, who was overcome with emotion at the weight of the moment. The tears appeared to start before she’d even holed her final birdie putt.
Ko didn’t just win Olympic gold, she played her way into the LPGA Hall of Fame, arguably the toughest Hall in all of sports, accomplishing her ultimate goal.
Eight years ago, when she won silver in Rio, she wanted to cry, but then looked over at Inbee Park, who’d won gold, and didn’t see any tears. How could she cry if Inbee wasn’t crying?
Ah, but it was Ko’s party this time. Let it rain.
“I mean, Cinderella’s glass slippers are see-through and my podium shoes are also see-through,” noted Ko. “I guess that’s something that we have going for us. I feel like I’m part of this fairytale.”
When Ko won the U.S. Women’s Amateur a dozen years ago, she told the press that she wanted to play college golf. Her idols at the time were Michelle Wie and Lexi Thompson, but she didn’t want to follow their career paths.
Two weeks later, Ko won on the LPGA as a 15-year-old and that college golf dream went poof. She was far too talented for that route. Instead, golf fans watched the bespectacled Ko break records and wins hearts as a young teen, making the game look breathlessly easy.
So much life has transpired for Ko since she earned her first LPGA Hall of Fame point as a wunderkind. Now married and perhaps on the verge of retirement, Ko played her way into the LPGA Hall of Fame at age 27 in perhaps the coolest way possible.
While it looked for a while on Saturday at Le Golf National that it would be a runaway victory, the fight for Ko’s 27th Hall of Fame point went down to the wire on what she called the most difficult Olympic test yet. She won by two over Germany’s Esther Henseleit with a birdie on the 72nd hole.
Now a three-time Olympic medalist, having won silver in Rio and bronze in Tokyo, Ko’s podium sweep might not ever be repeated in the modern game.
Ko becomes the 35th player to qualify for the LPGA Hall of Fame and the first since Inbee Park in 2016. Lorena Ochoa got in two years ago after the tour removed the stipulation that required 10 years on tour, but she reached 27 points in 2008.
How tough is it to get into the LPGA Hall? Consider that legends like Laura Davies, Hollis Stacy, Sandra Palmer and Dottie Pepper aren’t in it.
JoAnne Carner, an eight-time USGA champion who won 43 times on the LPGA, remembers well the difficulty of playing her way into the LPGA Hall.
“I think I choked either three or four tournaments where I had the lead,” said Carner, who remembers one event in particular that she led by eight after 36 holes and couldn’t get it done.
“Then I finally got mad and said I’m going to get this over with.”
At 27 years, 3 months and 17 days, Ko is now the youngest to enter the Hall under its current criteria. Karrie Webb actually reached 27 points at age 25, but had to wait until 2005 (age 30) before she reached the 10-year requirement.
Prior to the final round in France Ko, who’d deleted her social media accounts for the week, re-watched the documentaries of Simone Biles and Mardy Fish. She’d written down a quote from Biles in her yardage book – “I get to write my own ending” – and repeated it throughout the round.
Lydia Ko of Team New Zealand reacts following victory on Day Four of the Women’s Individual Stroke Play on day fifteen of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Le Golf National on August 10, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
The fairytale in France won’t be the mic-drop ending it could’ve been. Ko still plans to compete in the Scottish Open next week followed by the AIG Women’s British Open at St. Andrews.
But then what? Ko has said from the start of her career that she won’t play past the age of 30. She told Golfweek last fall that she’d like to finish the psychology degree she started nearly a decade ago, perhaps at Stanford. Her sister and manager, Sura, has noted that Ko enjoys interior design.
Perhaps Ko doesn’t even know herself yet when she might end her career. What she does know is that this is her final Olympics and she doesn’t want to come to the end of her time on tour and ask herself, what’s next?
“I want to have my second chapter, whatever the career may be, like, ready before I retire from competitive golf,” she said last year, “so that I’m not lost.”
Ko hasn’t won as many majors as one might expect, two in all, but in addition to her 20 wins on the LPGA, she has amassed an incredible record of historic feats, including the youngest to win on the LPGA, the youngest woman to win a major, youngest to get to 10 LPGA victories and now the youngest to enter the Hall.
But more than that, players, fans and media will note that the way she has carried herself as she’s grown in the fish bowl is nothing short of remarkable. So much poise, humility and grace. She cheers for the competition no matter what’s on the line – even the Hall of Fame.
Earlier this year in Bradenton Florida, LPGA officials set some champagne and roses next to the grandstand on the 18th at the Drive On, ready to celebrate Ko’s entrance into the Hall. While Ko’s ball nestled down next to the bubbly, Ko never got the chance to imbibe. Nelly Korda spoiled that party for Ko in a playoff.
Several weeks later in China, it looked like Ko might enter the Hall while much of the world was sleeping, in front of a small contingent of fans. That didn’t seem quite right.
No, Ko needed to enter the Hall on such a grand stage, in front of some of the best crowds these players have ever seen. She deserved to have fans chanting her name as she walked up the 18th.
She was meant to have a golden moment that won’t likely be repeated. For there will likely never be another player quite like Ko.
“I think for her to have been so vulnerable, I think it inspires a lot of people and it inspired me.”
Lydia Ko deleted her Instagram account this week. That’s how much this event means to the two-time Olympic medalist. She doesn’t want any unnecessary distractions as she competes in what could be her last Olympics, trying to complete her medal set with gold in Paris and epically play her way into the LPGA Hall of Fame.
But what to do with the spare time?
The 27-year-old former prodigy downloaded the Simone Biles documentary and started taking notes. Literally writing inspirational quotes down in her yardage book, such as “I get to write my own ending.”
“I think as an outsider, we never know, like, what the person is going through,” said Ko of Biles, who has 11 Olympic medals and 30 World Championship medals. “I think for her to have been so vulnerable, I think it inspires a lot of people and it inspired me.”
For Ko, it’s always been important that she’s the one who determines her fate. That she decides how her round ends, her season, her career.
Simone Biles of the United States competes on the floor exercise on day three of the gymnastics event finals during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games. Mandatory Credit: Jack Gruber-USA TODAY Sports
Before she even started playing full time on the LPGA, Ko said she wouldn’t compete past the age of 30. Should the 27-year-old win gold tomorrow and qualify for the Hall of Fame, this might be her final season on the LPGA. She enters Saturday’s final round in a share of the lead with little-known Morgane Metraux, who is ranked well outside the top 100 and has never won on the LPGA.
Whatever the case, what comes next will be Ko’s decision, should she find herself with that long-awaited gold at Le Golf National. It’s worth noting that she watched Mardy Fish’s Netflix documentary earlier this year when she won the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions.
“I’m excited to embrace all of this,” she said of what could be an historic and inspirational Saturday.
She can get back to scrolling Instagram next week.
It’s natural to wonder what other perks come with being an Olympic champion.
The gold medal is priceless, of course. But the LPGA Hall of Fame point that comes with it might mean even more to Lydia Ko, who become just the 35th member of the prestigious Hall.
Ko also receives an exemption into the AIG Women’s British Open in two weeks, but she’s already in that field as well as the LPGA majors for 2025.
While this will not count as an official LPGA victory, all players in the field receive Rolex Rankings points.
On the podium, Ko received a long, slender box, which goes to all the medal winners in 2024. The box contains a commemorative poster.
World No. 1 Nelly Korda, the 2020 gold-medal winner, highlights the field along with France’s own Celine Boutier, a major champion and six-time winner on tour.
Rarely does a sporting event carry true-life implications like this tournament.
SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France — No matter your interest in Sunday’s final round of the Olympic men’s golf tournament, root for South Korea’s Tom Kim and Byeong Hun An to win medals.
It’d change their lives. Really.
We often talk about the pressure to win in sports, but rarely does a sporting event carry true-life implications like this tournament could for these two golfers.
In South Korea, able-bodied men between the ages of 18 and 35 are required to serve in the military for at least 18 months to as long as two years. Application of this is nearly universal, fame or not. Internationally famous boy band members, for instance, have been made to serve.
“I guess the other Koreans would say, ‘Everyone goes, so why do we get exempt from it?’” An told reporters this week at Le Golf National.
Exceptions are granted for special situations, though, and one of those is winning an Olympic medal. For South Korean golfers, winning no other tournament besides the Asian Games – even a major championship – meets these qualifications.
Kim, 22, and An, 32, are both within shouting distance of a medal entering Sunday. They’ll need to play well.
An (7 under) is seven strokes behind leaders Xander Schauffele and Jon Rahm after playing his way back into contention Saturday with a 66. An was 8 under through the first 11 holes, climbing within a couple shots of the lead, before finding the water on No. 13 and making double bogey.
Kim (10 under) opened with a 66 and a 68 to start Saturday’s round only three shots back. But he was unable to gain much ground on the leaders Saturday, finishing with a 69. He’ll start Saturday four shots off the lead, tied for sixth.
Byeong Hun An (KOR) putts on the 18th green in the third round of men’s golf stroke play during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games at Le Golf National. Mandatory Credit: Michael Madrid-USA TODAY Sports
One of the PGA Tour’s bright young stars, who was profiled on Netflix’s “Full Swing” golf series, Kim hasn’t wished to discuss the topic much this week. Asked after Friday’s second round how he can block out what it means for him to be in contention at the Olympics, Kim replied, “Good question.”
“I want me and Ben to be standing in that stadium not for exemption but for our country,” Kim told reporters before the tournament. “That’s the most important part. That’s the pride of being a South Korean. We have our services, and it is what it is.”
This topic has come up before in golf. Last year, Si Woo Kim and Sungjae Im earned an exemption from service by helping the South Korean team win a gold medal at the Asian Games.
Sang-Moon Bae is perhaps the most well-known example. He played and won on the PGA Tour before serving in the military, and after returning to golf, his performance dipped.
“It’s not easy,” An told reporters this week. “You don’t get to practice or play for a year and a half-ish. It’s very harsh for golfers.”
However, there is plenty of star power within shouting distance that could make the final round interesting.
England’s Tommy Fleetwood is one back, Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama is three back and Ireland’s Rory McIlroy, America’s Scottie Scheffler and Korea’s Tom Kim are four back.
Le Golf National is a par-71 track measuring 7,174 yards.
From tee times to TV and streaming information, here’s everything you need to know for Sunday’s final round of the 2024 Olympic men’s golf competition. All times ET.
