Nelly Korda shoots Sunday 65 to win third straight LPGA Tour title

Nelly Korda wasn’t about to let her feat go unnoticed. At a time when Scottie Scheffler was dominating the PGA Tour and nearly won for the third straight start on Sunday, it was actually Korda who checked off that box.

The 25-year-old pro fired a seven-under 65 to come from behind and win the Ford Championship at Seville Golf and Country Club in Gilbert, Ariz., on Sunday, successfully securing her third straight win.

Korda also won last week’s FIR HILLS SERI PAK Championship, as well as her start before that, the LPGA Drive On Championship, in late January.

She’s the first player on the LPGA to win three straight starts since Ariya Jutanugarn in 2016 and the first American to do it since Nancy Lopez won five straight in 1978.

“It honestly feels like a blur,” Korda said. “Taking it day by day and really trying to stay very present, and just played really good golf, really solid golf in tough conditions today, which I’m really happy about.”

Korda’s bucking a trend, too. Last week was just the first time in her career she won despite not holding the 54-hole lead. Now, she’s made it two in a row.

Sarah Schmelzel, Carlota Ciganda and Hyo Joo Kim held the 54-hole lead at 15 under, but there was a ton of firepower near the top of the leaderboard. Lexi Thompson, Lydia Ko and Korda were among a group of 10 players tied at 13 under, two off the lead.

On a rainy Sunday, Korda birdied 5, 6 and 9 to turn in three-under 33, and after birdies on 12 and 13 she got to 18 under to steal the solo lead away from a group that included Thompson, who is still looking for her first win since 2019. (Korda and Thompson now both have 11 career LPGA victories.)

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Thompson was four under through seven holes.

“It was crazy conditions,” Thompson said, “but it was almost just like it gets to where it’s mental when it comes to these kinds of conditions.”

Hira Naveed jumped into the mix with a four-under back nine, and her birdies on 16 and 17 got her to 18 under. It was right around that same time Thompson birdied 14 to make it again a three-way tie for the lead.

But that’s when Korda, who didn’t make a bogey on Sunday, pulled away.

With Naveed finishing her round, Korda made a birdie on 16 to be the first to get to 19 under. On the short par-4, she laid up to her ideal wedge yardage and nearly knocked it in for eagle. She said afterward they changed up her game plan on that hole, but other than that the plan was to be aggressive.

“I knew I had to shoot a low one to be in contention,” she said, “and I just played really smart golf out there today.”

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Behind her, Thompson seemed like the most likely player to catch Korda. But Thompson, one back at the time, rinsed one in the water from the tee on the short par-4 16th. She made bogey, and then another bogey on 17. A birdie on 18 wasn’t enough. She shot 68 and finished three back.

When Korda got to the par-5 18th, the math was already working in her favor. She got near the front of the green in two and then chipped close and made her birdie tap-in for 20 under. At that time, even with nine players who teed off behind her, it seemed like the win was hers. About 40 minutes later, it was. She won by two over Naveed.

In just four starts this season, Korda already has three wins. That’s one shy of her most in any season, when she won four times in 2021. As for if she can make it four in a row? We’ll find out next week, when she’s in the field at the T-Mobile Match Play in Las Vegas.

“It’s very hard mentally to be 100 percent, especially after a win and especially playing in tough conditions,” Korda said. “As boring as it sounds, I was just taking it shot by shot and seeing where I was going to end up, but to get three in a row, that’s just a dream come true.”