Nelly Korda won the LPGA Drive on Championship at the end of January and retired to her winter quarters. Seven weeks without competing, dividing her time between holidays and her niece, the newly born first daughter of her sister Jessica. Nelly has returned to play this week at the Fir Hills Se Ri Pak Championship and has won again. Veni, Vidi, Vici. Two out of two. The victory also comes with a bonus, as she will once again be ranked as the world’s Number One ahead of Lilia Vu.
Nelly has prevailed at the Palos Verdes Golf Club after defeating Ryann O’Toole on the first playoff hole. She did it with a birdie, as the canons of the great champions dictate. Such is the youngest of the Kordas. There are her numbers. It’s her tenth victory on the LPGA Tour. Only Jin Young Ko has won more on the American circuit since 2018. She is also the first American since Stacy Lewis in 2013 to win two tournaments on the American circuit before the start of April.
She won in the playoff a tournament that she herself complicated. Let’s say she won it the second time. She had it in her hand without the need for a playoff, but a sudden end with two bogeys in the last two holes forced her to go to sudden death. Basically, what seemed inevitable was delayed. One stroke behind the two finished Gabriela Ruffels and Alison Lee.
Ana Peláez (+4) has said goodbye with a very bitter taste. She has handed in the worst card of the week and has lost many places in the ranking. She made 78 strokes and finished 51st. A bad day at the office. She was not able to get any birdies on the course and suffered with four bogeys and a triple bogey.
