Korda earns record fifth win
Chevron champion overcomes illness to make LPGA history
Nelly Korda could not have imagined the incredible run she has put together this season while at home recovering from a blood clot that required surgery in 2022.
“Because obviously then I was just more scared for my health,” she said. “Competing was kind of on the back seat. I wasn’t thinking about competing at all. But all the sad times and health scares I’ve gone through have made me who I am today.”
Fully healthy now, Korda is seemingly unstoppable. The world No 1 hasn’t lost a tournament since January and is now a two-time major champion.
Korda etched her name in the LPGA Tour record books yesterday, winning her record-tying fifth straight tournament with a two-stroke victory in the Chevron Championship.
Korda joins Nancy Lopez (1978) and Annika Sorenstam (2004-05) as the only players to win five consecutive LPGA events. Her previous major victory was at the Women’s PGA Championship in 2021.
“It’s been an amazing feeling these past couple weeks knowing I can go on this stretch, and that if I stay in my bubble and I keep golf in a sense simple and let it flow, then I can have so much fun out here.”
Korda shot a three-under 69 in the final round to outlast Maja Stark of Sweden, who birdied her final two holes to shoot 69 and pull within one. Korda stayed aggressive on the parfive 18th, easily clearing the lake in front of the green and setting up an easy up-and-down birdie for a twoshot victory. She had a four-day total of 13-under 275 at Carlton Woods.
Kiwi Lydia Ko finished with her worst round of the tournament, a three-over 75 to finish 11 shots behind Korda in a tie for 17th, worth US$89,568
Korda nearly aced the par-three 17th, with her tee shot hitting the hole and hopping in the air before settling within 10 feet. She settled for par to maintain her two-shot lead.
Korda wowed the large crowd, which followed her throughout the day, by chipping into the wind for birdie on the par-four 10th hole to take a four-stroke lead. The 25-yearold raised her club above her head with one hand and pumped her fist after the ball rolled into the hole.
Her parents — former Australian Open tennis champion Petr Korda and Regina Rajchrtova — beamed as she was presented with the trophy.
“She had a difficult ’22 and ’23 in certain ways,” Petr Korda said. “She did not win a tournament in ’23 and some things probably made her humble and [she] put a lot of work into where she is right now. Without the work and commitment, she would not be here. So seeing that, I’m very happy.”
Korda’s older sister Jessica is a six-time LPGA winner who’s taking a break from golf after giving birth to her first child.
Korda took home US$1.2 million from a purse of US$7.9m, a significant increase from last year’s purse of US$5.2m. That brings her season earnings to $2,424,216 and her career earnings to $11,361,489.
Winners had been jumping into Poppie’s Pond off the 18th green at Mission Hills since 1988, and Korda became the second to do it in Texas by doing a cannonball off a small dock into brown-tinged water.