Nordqvist, who also won the 2009 LPGA Championship and the 2017 Evian Championship, was joined on the 18th green by her husband, Kevin McAlpine, 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.
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 from the $5.8 million purse, the largest in women's golf.
Annika Sorenstam and Laura Davies are the only other European women to have won three or more majors.
