Sister act as Korda romps to Gainbridge crown
MIAMI: Nelly Korda produced a flawless final round to claim a three-shot victory at the Gainbridge Championship.
Korda – whose elder sister Jessica won the US LPGA Tour’s previous event, the season-opening Tournament of Champions in January – fired a three-under 69 to finish on 16-under.
The 22-year-old, whose father is former Czech tennis star Petr Korda, had opened up a one-shot lead on Saturday with a four-under 68.
On Sunday at Orlando’s Lake Nona Golf and Country Club, she picked up where she left off in the third round.
Three birdies in her opening six holes gave her a healthy cushion at the top of the leaderboard, leaving her five shots clear at one stage.
She then reeled off 12 consecutive pars to remain in control and close out the fourth LPGA Tour victory of her career with her parents and sister Jessica rushing to congratulate her on the 18th green. “Honestly I did not play very good golf today,” Korda told a television interviewer moments after clinching her first career win on US soil.
“I just stayed really solid. I honestly don’t know how I did it. It was definitely very stressful.
“Winning in front of my parents was a first too, so that was really nice.”
Korda’s 72-hole aggregate 272 left her three clear of Lexi Thompson and Lydia Ko who finished tied for second on 13-under.
Thompson had closed to within three of Korda with a brilliant eagle three at the par-five 11th, but a bogey on the following hole stymied her chances of mounting a charge down the stretch. Thompson finished with a four-under 68.
New Zealand’s former world No. 1 Ko stormed up the leaderboard at the start of the back nine with four consecutive birdies starting on the 12th hole, eventually carding a three-under 69.