Nelly Korda sank a birdie on the first playoff hole Sunday to win a four-woman playoff and capture the Pelican Women’s Championship title in Belleair, Fla.
Korda and Lexi Thompson fell back to the pack in the late stages of their round. Korda suffered a triple bogey at the par-4 17th, but birdied No. 18 for a final-round 69 to finish at 17-under 263.
Thompson bogeyed her final two holes, shot 69 and headed to a playoff with Korda, New Zealand’s Lydia Ko (66) and South Korea’s Sei Young Kim (67). All four of them set a new 72-hole scoring record for the tournament at Pelican Golf Club.
The four women returned to the 18th tee and all made the green in two, but Ko and Kim were too far to convert their birdie putts. Korda, the world No. 1, rolled hers in and Thompson left a 6-footer short.
Korda said she “kind of lost faith” after her triple.
“I was like, OK, you know, time to focus on next week in a sense,” Korda said. “I just found myself probably the best putt (at No. 18), putted two times in a row, and rolled it in really nicely.”
Thompson also missed a 4-foot par putt short in regulation at No. 18, which would have won her the tournament.
“It was a great week,” Thompson said. “Played a lot of good golf, made a lot of good putts, and just wasn’t meant for me in the end.”
Korda became the second player to win four LPGA Tour events this season.
Ko went bogey-free for her final two rounds, making four birdies Sunday to ultimately give herself a chance in the playoff.
“I played really solid this week,” Ko said. “I think my ball striking overall was really good. I felt like I left a lot of putts out there, but this is a really tricky golf course, especially on the greens.”
Kim made a left-to-right breaking putt at the 18th for birdie to reach 17 under.
Canadian Brooke Henderson finished alone in fifth at 14 under following Sunday’s 65.
–Field Level Media
