Rory’s tearful finale, Nelly’s surprise, a ‘ridiculous’ slow-play fix | Monday Finish

Welcome back to the Monday Finish, where Caitlin Clark just moved inside the top 20 in the PIP — and we’re intrigued to see how she handles her LIV offer. To the news…

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GOLF STUFF I LIKE

A meaningful road trip.

Nelly Korda‘s week at The Annika began with a star-studded pro-am pairing. This Caitlin Clark crossover event wasn’t just a publicity stunt — it was a win-win-win opportunity for the biggest superstar in women’s golf, the biggest superstar in women’s basketball and the greatest game in the world. It was a win for the LPGA, which drew what may have been its biggest pro-am crowd ever. It was a win for Clark, who admitted she’d had the round in mind for months and spent the day geeking out around Korda. And it was cool for Korda, who rarely plays with someone approaching her athletic equal and was impressed with Clark’s composure in front of big crowds in her secondary sport.

“Just chitchatting on the golf course, asking her questions, her asking me,” Korda said. “We just felt like two friends hanging out.”

Korda’s week proceeded like a dream. Even though she was coming off an injury, she and one of the game’s other biggest stars, Charley Hull, rose to the top of the leaderboard by the weekend, no doubt thrilling tournament organizers in the process. The two played in the last group off on Sunday; Hull began the final round with a one-shot lead over Korda.

“I always enjoy playing with Charley. She’s always a fun time. Hopefully we give a good show,” Korda said.

Korda’s week concluded in epic fashion; it proved a “good show” indeed. After three bogeys in her first eight holes, Korda flipped a switch at the turn and ripped off birdies on 11-12-13-14-15. Five in a row took her from chaser to chased; she seized the lead and never looked back. By the time she two-putted No. 18 for par she’d clinched a three-shot win, the seventh of her incredible season.

“There’s nothing like being in the hunt, the adrenaline feeling on the back nine, and being in contention. I love it so much,” she said.

But the moment that really stuck out came at the end of her winner’s interview. “We often see your mom and dad out walking,” Golf Channel’s Karen Stupples said. “But we see your brother is here.”

Nelly’s brother Sebastian Korda is among the best American professional tennis players; he reached a peak of World No. 15 this summer. Because he and his sisters are each constantly on the road they don’t often see each other in action, so this was a special afternoon; Seb had driven a couple hours to catch his sister’s final three holes.

“I did not know that,” Nelly said to Stupples, catching her brother’s eye in real time. “I just saw him.”

Stupples double-checked. “This is your first time seeing him?”

And with that, as we neared the conclusion of a year that had already included a half-dozen wins, a major, a horrifying 10, a series of shocking missed cuts, a Solheim Cup signature moment, a neck injury and even a literal dog bite, we saw a side of Korda we hadn’t.

“Yeah, and this is my first time winning in front of him,” Korda said, and now she was barely holding back tears. “I haven’t seen him in a couple months — so it’s nice to see him.”

And off she went to give her baby brother a champagne-soaked hug. Winning in front of the people who matter the most? That’s golf stuff I like.

WINNERS

Who won the week?

–Rory McIlroy won the DP World Tour Championship, finishing his rollercoaster 2024 season with an exclamation point. “I’ve been through a lot this year professionally, personally,” he said. “It feels like the fitting end to 2024.” While McIlroy acknowledged that even he will look back at this season with mixed feelings — the near-miss at the U.S. Open may never really leave him — this was a meaningful way to finish.

“I think I would have been miserable for a few weeks if I hadn’t won today,” McIlroy admitted. “It would have just added to the list of ones that I felt I let get away, and for one to not get away and to get over the line and be the final event of the year, it feels nice.”

He offered a fair appraisal of his year, too, in the context of the best players in the world.

“I know how people are going to view my year and I view my year similarly but at the same time, I still have to remember I won four times and I won a [sixth career] Race to Dubai. I accumulated a lot of big finishes and big performances, and the two guys that had better years than me have had career years. Xander [Schauffele] won two majors, and Scottie [Scheffler] won a Players and a Masters and an Olympic gold medal. They are the only two guys this year that I think that have had better years than me.”

This win was a testament to McIlroy’s longevity. It was also a reminder of what we have to look forward to next year.

-With her win, Nelly Korda became the first player since 2011 to win seven times in an LPGA season and the first American since 1990. She’ll have one more chance to add to her total at the CME Group Tour Championship next week.

–Rafael Campos won his first PGA Tour event in fairytale fashion. He entered the week a new father; his wife Stephanie gave birth to their daughter Paola on Monday. But he also entered the week at No. 147 in the FedEx Cup and on the brink of losing his card; only the top 125 after next week’s RSM Classic receive full status for 2025.

But Campos arrived in Bermuda on Wednesday and embraced everything the event had to offer, namely the island’s famously wild conditions and the challenges that come with it. He fired a Saturday 62, bounced back from a missed one-footer on Sunday and held steady down the stretch en route to a three-shot win.

“I just can’t believe this is actually happening to me after such a year,” Campos said. “I’m just grateful to be able to call myself a PGA Tour champion. It’s something I’ve dreamt about all my life — I just want to call my family.”

–Max McGreevy won the Dunlop Phoenix Tournament on the Japan Golf Tour, holding off a talented field that included Akshay Bhatia and Hideki Matsuyama, who finished T2.

-And two members of LIV Golf won in returns to their home tours; Dean Burmester won on the Sunshine Tour in South Africa while Lucas Herbert held off fellow LIV star Cameron Smith at the PGA Tour Australasia’s NSW Open.

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NOT-WINNERS

A few guys who didn’t win but still kinda won.

-On the PGA Tour, Andrew Novak threw down the best result of his career with a runner-up finish in Bermuda. Sam Ryder finished T5 to go from outside the magic number (No. 135 in the FedEx Cup) to inside (No. 122). Vince Whaley finished T5 in Bermuda, too, to move from the bubble (No. 123) to safety (No. 113). Wesley Bryan had a turbulent 61-74 weekend to finish T17; he’s up from No. 128 to No. 125 and will enter the RSM Classic directly on the bubble.

Adrien Dumont de Chassert didn’t finish better than T30 in a full-field PGA Tour event all year but showed out in a T3 finish in Bermuda. And Kevin Kisner finished T29, his best result since Nov. 2022.

-On the LPGA Tour, Charley Hull backed up her the LET win she’d earned in her most recent start with her fourth top-10 of the LPGA season. Weiwei Zhang finished T2 alongside her to secure her card for the 2025 season. And Rose Zhang finished T5, her best result since winning the Cognizant Founders Cup back in May.

SHORT HITTERS

10 pros who earned PGA Tour cards.

With the DP World Tour’s final event of the year came the final list of guys who earned PGA Tour status for next season. For the second consecutive season, the DPWT’s 10 best players earned dual membership — let’s buzz through ’em.

10. Tom McKibbin is a 21-year-old Northern Irishman who grew up in Belfast and played Holywood Golf Club — yes, Rory McIlroy‘s home course — growing up. He snagged the 10th and final spot thanks to a T11 finish in Dubai.

“He’s done amazingly well, and I think his game is going to be suited for America,” McIlroy said post-win.

9. Rikuya Hoshino is a 28-year-old from Japan who won his first DPWT title this season; he’s also a six-time winner on the Japan Golf Tour.

8. Antoine Rozner is a 31-year-old Frenchman who has won three times on the DPWT; he’ll hope to follow in the footsteps of countryman Matthieu Pavon, who rode this same exemption into a PGA Tour win earlier this year.

7. Thorbjorn Olesen is a 34-year-old Dane who is, strangely, earning his PGA Tour status through this category for the second consecutive season. Sitting in 157th in the FedEx Cup, Olesen chose to play the DPWT’s fall schedule instead of the FedEx Fall on the PGA Tour. It proved a wise choice: He finished T12-T2-T7-T3 to secure his spot.

6. Matteo Manassero is a 31-year-old Italian and onetime prodigy who is playing his best golf in a decade. You’ll remember Manassero as a 16-year-old playing alongside Tom Watson at the 2009 Open; you’ll also remember him as a teenage winner on the DPWT. Now he’ll get to make new PGA Tour memories.

5. Niklas Norgaard is a 32-year-old Dane whose best season yet included his first DPWT victory; he’s never played a stateside full-field PGA Tour event and has never been in a major championship, either.

4. Jesper Svensson is a 28-year-old Swede who won the Porsche Singapore Classic for his first DPWT victory and, at No. 96, currently slots in as the world’s third-ranked Swede behind Ludvig Aberg (No. 5) and Alex Noren (No. 53).

3. Paul Waring is a 39-year-old Englishman who has barely played in the U.S. as a pro but punched his ticket thanks to a gutsy win in Abu Dhabi last week. He and McKibbin are, interestingly, the only pros on this list from traditional golfing hotbeds in the U.K. and Ireland.

2. Thriston Lawrence is a 27-year-old South African who put together arguably the most consistent season on the DPWT in 2024; he started the season with a runner-up finish in Dubai and added four more second-place results over the course of the season. Short of winning, he did about as well as he could have and he should be a factor on Tour next year.

1. Rasmus Hojgaard is a 23-year-old Dane whose brother Nicolai earned his PGA Tour card through this pathway a year ago; Rasmus barely missed out and was relegated to Ryder Cup cart driver while his brother made his Team Europe debut. Now the title of best Hojgaard is back in question — Rasmus’ second-place finish in Dubai secured him the top exemption spot to the PGA Tour and he’s up to No. 45 in the world, the best number of his career. (Nicolai is currently No. 58.) Now we’ll be seeing double on the PGA Tour — and perhaps even at Bethpage next fall.

ONE SWING THOUGHT

Nelly Korda on fear.

“The middle of the season [golf] felt like the hardest thing in the world,” Nelly Korda said on Inside the LPGA this week, speaking about her rollercoaster summer. “And there’s all the criticism that you hear but you don’t want to look at — it’s tough to deal with.

“And then I was afraid to make mistakes, but to the point where, when I was afraid to make mistakes, I started making more mistakes, because I was so afraid of them. And I just had to tell myself look, I’m a human being, I’m going to have good days and I’m going to have really bad days and those doesn’t define me. I can’t be afraid of making mistakes because it’s just going to eat me alive.

Korda added that she’s “still madly in love” with golf. That may be her biggest asset of all.

ONE BIG QUESTION

What to do about slow play?

Charley Hull ripped the LPGA’s woeful pace of play after Saturday’s round had her finishing in the darkness despite no significant delays.

“It was crazy,” Hull said of the third round, which she said took five hours, 40 minutes to complete. “I’m quite ruthless but I said listen, if you get three bad timings, every time it’s a two-shot penalty [and] if you have three of them you lose your tour card instantly. I’m sure that would hurry a lot of people up and they won’t want to lose their tour card.

“That would kill the slow play, but they would never do that.”

Hull’s right — they never would. But slow play is one thing pro golf can’t continue to screw up. Yes, it’s always going to be a delicate balance. Yes, pros are playing for greater and greater prizes. Yes, greens are only getting faster and tricker as the years go on. But as every other sport doubles down on keeping the action going and keeping eyeballs on the screen, golf can’t get slower. Per Beth Ann Nichols of Golfweek, the Annika’s sponsor, Gainbridge, has requested they shrink the field from its current 120-player size. That’s probably a good call, but it’s treating the symptom rather than the root cause.

Is Hull’s solution the correct one? No, probably not. I’ll add another half-baked idea to the pile, though: after a certain amount of time (30 or 40 seconds, say), players will be zapped with some light doses of electric shock, just enough to screw ’em up on a full swing. Plenty of incentive to hit the ball in the allotted amount of time. Let’s try some stuff. That question, then: What stuff?

ONE MERGER UPDATE

Trump, Yasir and Jay.

On Friday, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan accepted an invitation to play golf with President-Elect Donald Trump at Trump International in West Palm Beach, Fla.

On Saturday night, Trump was spotted ringside at Madison Square Garden, where he was flanked by…Yasir Al-Rumayyan! The PIF governor and LIV chairman sat directly next to Trump throughout the evening.

What do these meetings, which were first reported by the Washington Post, actually mean? That remains to be seen, and perhaps not a whole lot. But it is a reminder that the next U.S. president is at the center of several Venn Diagrams involving professional golf, Saudi Arabia and U.S. politics.

ONE THING TO WATCH

Caitlin Clark plays 18.

How’d the 22-year-old look with a club in hand? Here’s her complete pro-am round:

NEWS FROM SEATTLE

Monday Finish HQ.

We haven’t gotten a Christmas tree yet but we’re officially making tentative plans to do so. Welcome to mid-November. The Leaf Rule is in full effect.

See you next week!

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Dylan Dethier welcomes your comments at dylan_dethier@golf.com.