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For the second time in this fall’s LPGA Asian swing, a defending champion has pulled off a repeat victory. First it was Danielle Kang who successfully defended her title in Shanghai. Then, last week, Nelly Korda returned to the country where she broke through as a first-time LPGA winner in 2018 and did it again, winning the Taiwan Swinging Skirts LPGA a second time and establishing herself as arguably the top American in the women’s game no matter where she sits in the Rolex Rankings.
A couple of things can lead you to that conclusion. Not only was Korda the American of the match at the Solheim Cup in September, the gutsy way she closed out the event in New Taipei City when her putter appeared to go AWOL on Sunday left little doubt the younger of the two Korda sisters is, indeed, the American to beat.
After carrying a three-shot lead into the final round at Miramar Golf Country Club, Korda didn’t have her best stuff on a blustery Sunday. Her frustrations on the greens were visible. Korda posted five bogeys in the final round, two more than she had in her first three rounds combined. She offset those with five birdies, none bigger than the one on the par-5 18th.
Bogeys at Nos. 14, 15 and 17 had dropped Korda out of the lead for the first time since early on Saturday. As she and Minjee Lee reached the 18th tee, Caroline Masson closed out a steady final round of 68 to post an 18-under total. Lee and Korda were at 17 under.
“My caddie gave me a great pep talk going from 17 to 18,” Korda said. “He kind of just told me to give it all I've got and to play from the heart.”
She did just that. Her tee shot found the rough but she blasted a hybrid to the upslope near the green. From there she almost chipped in for a walk-off eagle. The tap-in birdie put her in a playoff with Masson and Lee, who also birdied the last to also post 18 under.
Back at the 18th for the first extra hole, Korda smashed a drive and only had a 5-hybrid into the green. She found the middle of the putting surface and two-putted for the win.
“I definitely used my length to my advantage there,” she said. “The tee was up today but (the wind) was howling from left-to-right, and (in regulation) I was in the rough and I didn't really have a great lie.
“But I got it really close and actually almost made that chip. It was pretty close. I had just a tap-in birdie which was definitely crucial because I really – I definitely needed to make that birdie to force a playoff. Then I pumped my drive on the playoff hole so far. I guess I had an adrenaline rush there. I hit two really great shots.”
The victory was Korda’s third on the LPGA Tour to go with a Ladies European Tour victory at the Lacoste Ladies Open de France the week after the Solheim Cup. But the 21-year-old has yet to win in her home country. Her two victories in New Taipei City have bracketed her Women’s Australian Open triumph in February.
“I would love to win in the U.S., but I'll take a win anywhere, really,” she said. “To win on the LPGA Tour is so hard nowadays because so many girls are so good. When you get a chance to win, when you put yourself into contention, you know you're doing so much right.”
RESULTS | RACE TO THE CME GLOBE
Staff and Wire Reports