Anna Nordqvist Wins Women's British Open for 3rd Major Title

Nordqvist, the 2009 LPGA Champion and 2017 Evian Champion, won after Nanna Koerstz Madsen doubled the final hole at Carnoustie.

CARNOUSTIE, Scotland (AP) — Anna Nordqvist of Sweden won her third major title with a one-shot victory at the Women’s British Open at Carnoustie on Sunday.

Nordqvist tapped in for par at the last hole for a 3-under 69 to finish on 12-under par for the tournament.

Nanna Koerstz Madsen of Denmark was tied for the lead with Nordqvist heading down No. 18, but found a greenside bunker with her approach and made double bogey after shanking out.

Lizette Salas, Georgia Hall and Madelene Sagstrom were tied for second place on 11 under.

Nordqvist, who also won the 2009 LPGA Championship and the 2017 Evian Championship, was joined on the 18th green by her husband, Kevin, a former Scottish Amateur champion who is from Dundee, a city barely 20 minutes from Carnoustie. On Christmas trips back to Scotland, the couple play the storied links course that can be fearsome but was defenseless in mostly perfect conditions for the final round.

The putt to clinch @ANordqvist's third major title! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/ckeb2Ua2P3

— LPGA (@LPGA) August 22, 2021

At one stage, there were six players in a share of the lead on 9 under — including overnight leaders Nordqvist and Koerstz Madsen — in what had turned into a shootout.

In the end, what transpired on the 18th decided the championship. First, Minjee Lee (66), the recent Evian Championship winner who started five shots back but was briefly moved into outright first place, made bogey to drop to 10 under overall after nearly going into the Barry Burn that runs in front of the green.

Sagstrom (68), playing in the third-to-last group, also bogeyed the last to fall out of a three-way share of the lead. The Swede finished on 11 under.

Salas (69) missed a 15-foot birdie putt in the next-to-last group, leaving Nordqvist and Koerstz Madsen to duel it out.

On the 18th, Nordqvist found the center of the fairway and hit her approach to 20 feet, while Koerstz Madsen — seeking her first major title and the first for a Danish player, male or female — drove into light rough and pushed her second shot right and into the front of a bunker, giving her an awkward stance.

Her shot flew out almost sideways and nearly went out of bounds. She needed to hole her chip from the rough, but it came short.

Nordqvist’s birdie putt settled just a couple of inches from the cup, guaranteeing her a third major title 12 years after her first and a check of $870,000 — the biggest first prize in women’s golf.

Annika Sorenstam and Laura Davies are the only other European women to have won three or more majors.

The last 13 LPGA majors have been won by 13 different players.