For the first 16 holes of the LPGA Drive On Championship on Sunday, Nelly Korda seemed to be determined to give it away.
Entering the final round with a four-stroke lead, Korda played the first 16 holes in 5-over, including a stretch of bogey, double bogey, bogey on Nos. 14-16 at Bradenton (Florida) Country Club, to fall three strokes behind with two holes remaining. Then, the Bradenton native, the younger of two LPGA-playing daughters of former tennis champion Petr Korda, found some of the magic that has led to eight previous victories and the No. 4 world ranking.
Korda holed an eagle putt at the par-5 17th and then had a kick-in birdie at the 18th to tie Lydia Ko, who had signed for a 2-under 69 earlier and set the clubhouse lead at 11-under 273, in a roller-coaster finish on the Gulf Coast.
After matching pars on the first replaying of the 380-yard par-4 18th, Ko three-putted the finale on the second playoff hole before Korda sank a 5-foot par putt to win.
“I honestly thought that the tournament was over going into 17, and I just kind of gave myself a chance,” the 25-year-old Korda said. “I knew that if I rolled that eagle in, I had to birdie the last hole. I seem to always make it dramatic and interesting. There is no better feeling than to do it in front of a home crowd. What a day.
“I can’t even believe it right now.”
Korda’s victory means that the LPGA Hall of Fame will have to wait for Ko. She needs one point to reach the 27 needed to qualify for the LPGA shrine. After having won a week earlier at the season-opening Tournament of Champions in Orlando, Ko appeared poised to meet the criteria for induction, but she took the loss in stride.
“It was nice to be in contention two weeks in a row,” said Ko, 26, a South Korea native who was raised in New Zealand and has won 20 times on the LPGA. She ranks ninth in the world.
Korda earned $262,500 from the $1.75 million purse.
Steve Harmon