Nelly Korda fired a 7-under 65 on Sunday to claim her third straight LPGA title at the Ford Championship.
The 25-year-old American entered the rainy and windy final round two off the pace of Spain’s Carlota Ciganda and after a three-birdie outward nine, she was just one back at 16 under.
“When I rolled that putt in on nine, I was one back, and my caddie – actually Jason told me I was one back. I didn’t know. That’s when we kind of dialed in a little bit more. Just made sure we went through the process of every shot,” said Korda, who now owns 11 LPGA titles. “Just played some really solid golf coming in it, too.”
After back-to-back birdies on Nos. 12 and 13, she was 18 under and alone atop the leaderboard. From there, the reigning Olympic Gold medalist never looked back: she made a crucial up-and-down on 14, then closed with birdies on Nos. 16 and 18 to settle on 20-under par.
“I think it was definitely one of my least stressful wins today. I just played really solid golf,” said Korda. “Didn’t make really too many mistakes, and if I did I just had a chip, kind of straightforward chip.”
Finishing two shots back, and alone in second place, was LPGA Tour rookie Hira Naveed (66).
“It’s an experience for me. It’s only my second tournament of the year, so just try to enjoy it as best as I can,” said the Australian. “My caddie was trying to, you know, keep me calm all day, so, yeah, it’s a great experience to compete against the best players in the world.”
Five players were tied for third on 17 under, including Spain’s Carlota Ciganda (70) and American star Lexi Thompson (68).
Ford Championship Leaderboard
Final Top 5
Pos-Player-Score (Final Rd)
1. Nelly Korda -20 (-7)
2. Hira Naveed -18 (-6)
2. Mi Hyang Lee -17 (-4)
4. Frida Kinhult -17 (-4)
4. Lexi Thompson -17 (-4)
4. Maja Stark -17 (-3)
4. Carlota Ciganda -17 (-2)
LPGA press release used to produce report.
