Nelly Korda has made a dramatic return to the top of the Rolex Women’s World Golf Ranking.
She won the Far Hills Seri Paku Championship. sudden death playoffdefeated American Ryan O’Toole with a birdie on the first hole of the playoff.
It was an eventful round for Korda, who scored his 10th career LPGA win and his second of the season. Her Korda defeated Lydia Ko in a playoff at the LPGA Drive-On Championship in January, but this was her last start.
After finishing the final round with a 2-under 69, Korda said, “It’s never easy coming back after such a long break. I’m not sure where my game will go.”
“We fought really hard the last three days. The weekend was tough, and today was tough too. That’s the beauty of this game. Playing in conditions like this, being a little more artistic here. It’s fun.”
Conditions at Southern California’s Palos Verdes Golf Club were less than desirable on Sunday. Winds of 30 mph and temperatures in the 50s created difficult conditions throughout the day.
No wonder Korda only made seven pars in the final round. He also made five birdies and five bogeys, including an eagle on the par-5 14th hole, which played an important role.
“Honestly, I didn’t start getting nervous until I made the eagle putt,” Korda explained afterward.
“I had no idea what was going on or what the group behind me was like. It was so windy that I had a hard time controlling the flight of the ball. After I made the eagle, I had a little bit of trouble controlling it. I got nervous, got a little ahead of myself and started making mistakes on the last few holes: eagle, bogey, birdie, bogey, bogey.”
Korda tends to make things interesting, but he still had a chance to win in regulation. She airmailed the 18th green, which led to a difficult up-and-down. Korda was unable to save par and bogeyed her third drop shot on her last four holes.
“I vented to my coach on the putting green and he asked me if I was ready to move on,” Korda said of his actions right before the playoffs.
“It took a little while, but I was ready. Then we talked a little and laughed a little. He’s really good at telling jokes, and sometimes I give him a rueful laugh. That’s usually pretty good. And yeah, when I just walked in at 18…I said [myself] I think we can still win, so please be careful. ”
The conversation calmed Korda, who stuck his approach to the first hole of the playoff (the 18th) a few feet away.
then corda exhausted for victory.
Although she is currently the top-ranked player in the world, she never fails to entertain. And that’s a good thing for the women’s game, which continues to grow exponentially.
Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through.Be sure to check it out @_PlayingThrough Cover more golf. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko In the same way.
