Sunday's golf: Nelly Korda ties LPGA Tour record with 5th straight victory
The Woodlands, Texas — Nelly Korda etched her name in the LPGA Tour record books Sunday, winning her record-tying fifth straight tournament with a two-stroke victory in the Chevron Championship for her second major title.
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 in 2021 at the Women's PGA Championship.
The top-ranked Korda shot a 3-under 69 in the final to outlast Maja Stark of Sweden, who birdied her final two holes to shoot 69 and pull within one. Korda stayed aggressive on the par-5 18th, easily clearing the lake in front of the green and setting up an easy up-and-down birdie for a two-shot victory.
Korda had a four-day total of 13-under 275 at Carlton Woods.
Korda entered the last round one shot off the lead after completing the last seven holes of the weather-delayed third round early Sunday morning on a windy and unseasonably cool day.
She birdied two of her first four holes to take the lead. Lauren Coughlin birdied Nos. 13 and 14 to get within two strokes, but bogeys on the 16th and 17th holes put her four behind. She shot a final-round 68 finish tied for third with Canadian Brooke Henderson.
Korda nearly aced the par-3 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-4 10th hole to take a four-stroke lead. The 25-year-old raised her club above her head with one hand and pumped her fist after the ball rolled into the hole.
Haeran Ryu of South Korea shot a bogey-free 67 to enter the final round leading Korda by one. But the 2023 Rookie of the Year bogeyed the first two holes in the fourth round to fall out of the lead. She closed with a 74 and finished fifth.
Henderson was tied with Korda for second to start the last round after she shot a 64 in the third round to set a scoring record for the tournament since its move from Mission Hills, California, to Texas last year. But the Canadian, who has 13 LPGA wins with two majors, also faltered early in the final round, with a bogey and a double bogey in the first four holes.
Korda took home $1.2 million from a purse of $7.9 million, a significant increase from last year’s purse of $5.2 million. 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 leaping off a small dock into brown-tinged water. World No. 2 Lilia Vu was first to jump into the pond here after her win last season. She withdrew from this year’s tournament before the first round after experiencing “severe discomfort” in her back during warmups.
Eighteen-year-old amateur Jasmine Koo provided an unlikely highlight on the 18th hole. Her second shot bounced off the advertising board in the water and back into play. She ended up with a birdie to shoot 71.
PGA Tour
Hilton Head Island, S.C. — Masters champion Scottie Scheffler holed a difficult pitch for eagle on his second hole Sunday and turned the RBC Heritage into another rout. A storm system with heavy rain stopped play for 2 1/2 hours, forcing a Monday finish.
Scheffler was 20 under and has a five-shot lead with three holes remaining when the final round resumes at 8 a.m. Monday. He was on the verge of winning for the fourth time in five tournaments, the exception a runner-up finish in the Houston Open.
He was trying to become the first player since Bernhard Langer in 1985 to win the week after slipping on the Masters green jacket.
U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark made a furious charge early in the round at 8 under through 11 holes, only to lose ground with a double bogey in the trees. He posted a 6-under 65 and finished at 15-under 269.
Patrick Cantlay was tied for second at 15 under when he hit his approach to the collar of the 18th green. He chose to mark his ball and return Monday to finish. J.T. Poston also was on the 18th hole and among the group at 15 under.
None had a chance of catching Scheffler unless the world’s No. 1 golfer made a series of blunders in the morning, and that looked improbable.
PGA Tour
Punta Cana, Dominican Republic — Billy Horschel went to the Dominican Republic for the first time in search of momentum and came away with a PGA Tour victory he sorely needed Sunday in the Corales Puntacana Championship.
Horschel ran off four straight birdies on the front nine to get in the mix, began to pull away with an eagle on the par-5 12th hole and closed with a 9-under 63 for a two-shot victory over Wesley Bryan.
Horschel, who started the final round three shots behind, all but sealed it with an 18-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole.
Bryan, trying to go wire-to-wire, was only one shot behind late in the round. But right after Horschel made his final birdie, Bryan missed a par par putt from just outside 2 feet and fell three behind. He birdied the 18th for a 68 and was runner-up.
Horschel finished at 23-under 265 and earned $720,000 for his eighth PGA Tour victory, and his first in nearly two years.
PGA Tour Champions
Irving, Texas — Paul Broadhurst closed with a 5-under 66, playing bogey-free over the final nine holes to hang on for a one-shot victory over David Toms in the Invited Celebrity Classic for his sixth PGA Tour Champions title.
The tournament was reduced to 36 holes because of heavy rain that washed out Saturday.
Toms shot a 65.
Broadhurst, who finished at 11-under 131, had not won on the PGA Tour Champions since 2018, the year he won three times and his second senior major. The victory moves the Englishman to No. 2 in the Charles Schwab Cup behind Steven Alker, who did not play.
Y.E. Yang (69) and Thomas Bjorn (70) tied for third, three shots behind. Bjorn was playing on a sponsor exemption.
Korn Ferry Tour
Lakewood, Fla. — Tim Widing of Sweden won his first Korn Ferry Tour event when he closed with a 5-under 66 and won a three-man playoff with a par on the second extra hole in the Lecom Suncoast Classic.
Widing birdied the par-3 17th and finished with a par to get into a playoff with Patrick Cover (69) and Steven Fisk, who lost the lead with two bogeys only to birdie the 18th for a 68.
Cover was eliminated with bogey on the first extra hole at No. 18. Fisk made bogey the second time around.
Miles Russell, the 15-year-old from Florida who became the youngest player in Korn Ferry Tour history to make the cut, shot a 66 to tie for 20th. The top 25 get into the next tournament.
Other tours
John Catlin won for the second straight time on the Asian Tour. He closed with a 5-under 66 on Saturday for a wire-to-wire victory by seven shots over Wade Ormsby in the Saudi Open. The 33-year-old Californian now has two wins and a tie for third on the Asian Tour this year. Peter Uihlein, who finished third, had a 66-63 weekend and still lost ground to Catlin. … Garrick Porteous won for the first time in seven years when he closed with a 7-under 63 for a one-shot victory over Alexander Levy in the Abu Dhabi Challenge. It was his second title on the Challenge Tour. … Chiara Tamburlini of Switzerland finished off a dominant Ladies European Tour victory with a 3-under 70, seven shots ahead of Aunchisa Utama in the Joburg Ladies Open. … Matthew Anderson of Canada birdied his last two holes on the Rio Olympic course for a 2-under 69 and a one-shot victory in the Brazil Open on the PGA Tour Americas. … Rio Takeda won her second straight tournament on the Japan LPGA, shooting a third straight round of 4-under 67 for a three-shot victory over Mitsuki Kobayashi in the Fujisankei Ladies Classic. … Eunwoo Choi closed with a 1-under 71 to successfully defend her title in the Nexen-SaintNine Masters on the Korea LPGA Tour.