Nelly Korda ripped off five straight birdies down the stretch and captured her third title at The Annika on Sunday in Belleair, Fla.
After starting the day one shot off the lead, that birdie run shot Korda up to 14 under par. She finished the day with three straight pars to record a final-round 67, a score of 266 for the week and a three-shot victory over 54-hole leader Charley Hull of England and two others.
Korda now owns three titles in the tournament’s five-year existence. She won in 2021 and 2022 when the event was called the Pelican Women’s Championship.
It also marks the World No. 1’s seventh win of the year, but her first since May. Korda recently withdrew from LPGA events in South Korea and Malaysia to recover from a minor neck injury.
“You should have felt the nerves that I was feeling on the back nine, and then just after taking some time off with an injury, it feels great to be back out here,” Korda said. “Nothing like being in the hunt, the adrenaline feeling on the back nine and being in contention. I love it so much.”
Two of Korda’s birdies between Nos. 11-15 at Pelican Golf Club came on par-3s. At No. 12, she landed her tee shot several feet from the hole and swept in her birdie putt to tie the lead at 11 under.
After making an uphill, right-to-left putt at the par-4 13th to take the outright lead and adding a birdie at the par-5 14th, Korda left herself just 3 or so feet for birdie after another outstanding tee shot at the par-3 15th.
“Not a lot of happy thoughts at the beginning,” said Korda, who had three bogeys and only one birdie on her front nine. “But, yeah, I mean, I have such a great teammate. (Jason McDede) and I’ve been together for I think next year going on our ninth year. Having him by my side obviously helps because he knows what to say when I do get down on myself.”
Hull led after the second and third rounds but struggled to a 1-over 71 to land at 11-under 269. In an uneven start, she made two birdies and three bogeys through six holes, and after settling in with a run of seven pars, Korda passed her by and she could only muster one birdie and one bogey coming home.
“I just didn’t feel like I had the luck going my way, say, but Nelly played great and it was a lot of fun out there,” Hull said.
Jin Hee Im of South Korea (68 Sunday) and Weiwei Zhang of China (70) tied with Hull for second. Rose Zhang (67) tied for fifth at 10 under with Sweden’s Linn Grant (66).
Zhang had five birdies and one blemish on her scorecard, a double-bogey 5 at No. 12.
“Honestly, 12 was just a little bit unlucky. I hit it on the green and it just rolled back into the water, so I honestly don’t have any regrets for that hole either,” Zhang said. “Today just in general I was very solid and felt the adrenaline. It’s good to be in contention again.”
The Annika was the final tournament before the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship, where only the top 60 players in the season-long Race to the CME Globe qualify. Spaniard Carlota Ciganda, who began the week No. 63 in points, was projected by the LPGA’s online leaderboard to move into the 60th and final qualifying place after shooting 6-under 274 and tying for 14th this week.
–Field Level Media
