ROLEX Women’s World Golf Rankings No. 1 Nelly Korda collected her seventh LPGA title of the year in thrilling fashion on Sunday at The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican.
With a closing 67 for a 14-under-par 266 total (66-66-67-67) at the par-70 Pelican Golf Club in Florida, the American ace triumphed by three shots over 54-hole leader Charley Hull of England, China’s Weiwei Zhang and Korean Jin Hee Im. Korda became the first player since Yani Tseng in 2011 to win seven times in a single season on the LPGA Tour, and the first American to do so since Beth Daniel in 1990.
Korda began the final round in a tie for second with Zhang on 11-under-par, one shot behind Hull. With just one birdie and three bogeys on her front nine, Korda made the turn at nineunder-par and two shots back of Hull.
The par-four 11th hole was where things started to swing in Korda’s favour, as the 26-year-old made five birdies on the trot to move to 14-under-par and take a two-shot lead with three holes to play. She made a critical par save on the par-four 16th with a lengthy putt, with Hull matching that effort to remain two shots back and still very much in the conversation.
After the Englishwoman made a bogey on the par-four 17th hole to fall back to 11-under-par, Korda safely parred the difficult par-four 18th to claim her 15th career LPGA Tour title. Hull’s final round 71 placed her in joint second place on 11-under-par with Zhang and Im, who closed with 70 and 68 respectively.
“It’s so nice to play in front of friends and family so close to home. I think that’s what makes me so comfortable out here. I didn’t start the day the way I wanted to, but it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish,” said Korda, who clinched the LPGA Tour’s 2024 Rolex Player of the Year award following the conclusion of the TOTO Japan Classic two weeks ago.
Korda’s victory was made even more special by the fact that her younger brother, tennis professional Sebastian, was on-site to witness the moment.
“I didn’t know Sebastian was there on the last three. I saw him on 18 when I made that last putt,” Korda said. “Never won in front of him, but family is so important to me. We haven’t seen each other since the middle of summer, and to hug him, it was really, really nice.”
Hull’s joint second finish was her fourth top-10 result of the 2024 LPGA Tour season and her first since she finished solo fifth at the ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open. It was a confidence booster for the 28-year-old as the 2024 season comes to a close with next week’s US$11 million CME Group Tour Championship at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Florida, which Hull won in 2016 for the first of her two LPGA titles.
“I feel like I played pretty solid. I didn’t feel like I had the luck going my way, but Nelly played great, and it was a lot of fun out there,” said Hull.
Americans Linn Grant and Rose Zhang rounded out the top five in a tie for fifth on 10-under-par, while compatriot and defending champion Lilia Vu finished joint 34th on one-under-par.
