Nelly Korda began her week with a stroll down the red carpet at the glitzy Met Gala in New York.
She ended it with an unceremonious stumble on the verge of smashing an LPGA record.
Korda, attempting to win a record sixth consecutive start on the LPGA, tied for seventh Sunday at the Cognizant Founders Cup, 17 strokes behind winner Rose Zhang.
“I think I’ve played really good golf the past couple months,” Korda said at Upper Montclair Country Club in Clifton, New Jersey, where she posted consecutive 73s on the weekend to fall from contention after sitting tied third at the midway point. “I’m human, so I’m going to have bad days. I’m not going to feel 100 percent out here mentally, physically, or whatever, but I’m going to give it my all.”
"I’m human, so I’m going to have bad days."
Nelly Korda
Twelve days before her 21st birthday, Zhang birdied four of her final five holes in a bogey-free 6-under 66 to pull away from runner-up Madelene Sagström for her second LPGA victory. Eleven months earlier, Zhang won in her professional debut, also in New Jersey, at the Mizuho Americas Open.
“I’m still shaking right now,” Zhang said in her post-round interview after finishing at 24-under 264, two strokes ahead of Sagström. “I never gave up. I always knew that I had something in me to just grind it out and enjoy the time. … It’s crazy that this happened.”
Sagstrõm, a 31-year-old Swede who also was seeking her second career title, held the 54-hole lead but fell even with Zhang with a bogey at the par-4 first hole. Sagström rallied nicely with four birdies over the next eight holes to turn in 3-under 33, one stroke in front. But an even-par back nine wasn’t enough to stay with Zhang, who put an exclamation point on the title with birdies on Nos. 14, 15, 17 and 18.
“It almost felt like match play,” said Zhang, who went 0-1-1 against Sagström in four-balls team matches in the 2023 Solheim Cup. “I knew she was a solid player. I had to really stay patient and find it in me to get it done.”
Steve Harmon