Nelly Korda rallied to win her hometown LPGA Drive On Championship and delay Lydia Ko’s LPGA Hall of Fame entry, outlasting the New Zealander on the second hole of a playoff Sunday after overcoming a three-stroke deficit with an eagle-birdie finish.
In calmer conditions after wind gusts to 30 mph at Bradenton Country Club, Korda won with a 3-foot par putt on the par-4 18th after Ko’s 4-footer caught the lip and spun out.
“I seem to always make it very dramatic and interesting,” Korda said. “So, there is no better feeling than to do it in front of a home crowd. What a day!”
Ko won the season-opening Tournament of Champions last week at home in Orlando for her 20th tour victory to move within a point of qualifying for the Hall of Fame.
“It’s kind of like, `What can you do?’” Ko said. “We played our hearts out until the very end and we put ourself into the playoff. I tried my best out there.”
Four strokes ahead of Ko beginning play Sunday, Korda shot a 2-over 73 to match Ko at 11-under 273. Ko, playing in the group ahead of Korda, also eagled the par-5 17th in a 69.
Korda dropped four strokes in a three-hole stretch — making a bogey on the par-4 14th, a double bogey on the par-3 15th and a bogey on the par-4 16th — before rallying with the eagle putt across the green on 17 and an approach to a foot on 18.
