Korda keeps bid alive for 6th straight win
Nelly Korda has no intention of letting anyone run away with the Cognizant Founders Cup and end her bid to become the first player to win six straight LPGA Tour tournaments.
Hear that Rose Zhang and Madelene Sagstrom.
Faced with a 10-stroke deficit starting her second round on Friday in the event that honours the tour’s founding members, Korda shot a bogey-free 6-under 66 in cold, damp conditions to move into third place, four shots behind leaders Zhang and Sagstrom with 36 holes to play.
The round matched the best of the day, which Sagstrom established less than an hour earlier in the afternoon. Zhang, who tied Sagstrom’s tournament record with a 63 on Thursday, had a 68 playing in the morning.
The 20-year-old Zhang and the 31-year-old Swede — who are tied at 13-under 131 on the Upper Montclair Country Club — have each won once on the LPGA Tour. After failing to win in her first start, the 25-year-old Korda has done nothing but win, with her current run of five tying Hall of Famers Nancy Lopez and Annika Sorenstam for the tour record.
Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., is tied for 60th at 1-over.
Korda had six birdies, capped with a roughly six-footer at the par-4 18th. Her four-shot deficit at the halfway point isn’t bad. She trailed by five shots at the Seri Pak Championship, by four at the Ford Championship and six strokes in the T-Mobile Match Play where the field was cut after the third round.
“I putted really well today,” said Korda, who started when Zhang finished and didn’t know how much ground she had to make up. “Even when I didn’t hit it close my putts just scared the hole. Overall, very pleased with how I played today and, hopefully, I can take that into the next 36 holes.”
Zhang followed a tournament recordtying opening round of 63 with a morning-best 68 Friday. The two-time NCAA champion has not won since capturing the Mizuho Americas Open in her professional debut a year ago last year.
“It’s really just me trying to stay as composed as possible,” said Zhang, who had five birdies and her first bogey.
“I’m really enjoying it and for the most part I think there is always learning curves. So, no matter what happens, the next two days I’m going to take it all in.”