There were two world Number Ones chasing their third consecutive victory this Sunday. One was Scottie Scheffler on the PGA Tour. The other was Nelly Korda (-20) on the LPGA. The former fell short, while the latter took the prize. Victory for the American in the Ford Championship, a newly created tournament that was held at the Seville Golf and Country Club in Arizona.
Korda prevailed with a fabulous final round of 65 strokes in very challenging conditions, with cold, wind and rain. The world Number One demonstrated her status as the best golfer on the planet with a bogey-free round and seven birdies in 14 holes. She made some very good putts, but above all she displayed an extraordinary collection of shots.
It was a come-from-behind victory. Interestingly, it’s her eleventh victory on the LPGA Tour. Well, she achieved the first nine leading on Sunday. Both the previous one and today’s have been comebacks. Nelly has learned another way to win tournaments and that makes her a more complete and dominant player. We’ll see if this isn’t the start of a hegemony that has been lacking in women’s golf for so many years.
These are three victories in the last three tournaments played, a streak not seen on the American circuit since 2016 with Ariya Jutanugarn. Likewise, she is the first to achieve three victories before April 1 since Yani Tseng in 2012. These are records that the younger of the Kordas is breaking. By the way, this latest victory came in the best LPGA tournament in 2024, beating players like Lydia Ko, Hyo Joo Kim, Brooke Henderson, Lexi Thompson, Maja Stark or Yuka Saso, to name just a few.
Nelly won with a two-stroke lead over Hira Naveed (-18) and three over a group of five players made up of Carlota Ciganda, Mi Hyang Lee, Frida Kinhult, Lexi Thompson and Maja Stark.
Carlota’s performance was notable. She couldn’t win due to the pressure exerted by the best golfer in the world right now, but she fought until the end. In fact, she is the only one who really had a chance in the final stretch to catch the American. She needed, however, to finish with birdie-birdie-albatross to force the tie. She fulfilled the first two premises, with two very good putts. A pity that she missed the recovery on the 18th to finish with birdie and in second place.
Ciganda signed 70 strokes, with four birdies and two bogeys. Today was not a day to shoot a very low round. It was about holding on and making as few mistakes as possible and the Navarrese did it. With this third place, her best result this year on the LPGA, she takes a giant leap in the Race to CME Globe. In some way, we could say that she is kick-starting the season.
Things didn’t go so well for Azahara Muñoz (-10). The golfer from Malaga finished with birdie on the 18th, but her round of 75 strokes, with five bogeys, made her lose many positions in the ranking. She started from the sixth place and finished in the 45th. In any case, it is a week to take positive things and especially to remember those first two rounds, the 64 on Thursday, her best start on the LPGA Tour in 14 years and her 132 strokes in 36 holes, her best ever mark on the American circuit.
