World No. 1 in women’s golf, Nelly Korda (USA), earned the $300,000 (U.S.) first prize on the final day of the T-Mobile Match Play at Shadow Creek (par-72) in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., on Monday (Aug. 8) after holding a four-hole lead over Riona Maguire (IRE) with three holes to play.
After winning the LPGA Drive-On Championship in January and the Foothills-Baxterly Championship and Ford Championship in March, Korda completed her “four in a row” feat with a victory at the T-Mobile event, which is a mix of stroke play and match play.
Since March, she has been on a scary run, winning the title for three consecutive weeks.
It’s the first time in 16 years since Lorena Ochoa (MEX) won four consecutive events in 2008.
Korda joins Ochoa, Mickey Wright (USA), Nancy Lopez (USA) and Annika Sorenstam (SWE) as the only five players in LPGA Tour history to win four or more in a row. Lopez did it in 1978 and Sorenstam won five straight from 2004-2005.
“This tournament course was so hard to make par,” Korda told the LPGA Tour press conference after her victory, “I just played with the idea of keeping it in the fairways and greens and not making mistakes.”
Korda, who defeated South Korea’s Annalynn Annarine in the quarterfinals the day before, took a three-shot lead after the first nine holes.
On the 10th (par-4), she put the ball on the green with her third shot and sank a long par putt to extend her lead to four shots over Maguire, who bogeyed.
Korda birdied the 12th (par-4) to extend her lead to five, but Maguire dropped the 13th (par-3) and 14th (par-4) to close to within three.
But after taking control early, Korda didn’t let the match drag on for long.
While Maguire struggled to get the ball on the 스포츠토토 green with his third shot on the par-4 15th, Korda had a birdie opportunity with his second shot.
Maguire conceded defeat when his par putt sailed wide, and Korda clinched victory on the 15th with three holes remaining.
Maguire, who defeated Sei Young Kim in the quarterfinals, is a strong head-to-head matchup, going 7-1 in Solheim Cup singles matchplay in both 2021 and 2023, but she was unable to stop Korda’s momentum.
With 12 career LPGA Tour wins, Korda will be looking to make it five in a row when she heads to the Chevron Championship, the first major of the season, which begins on Sept. 18.
“I’m not thinking about it right now, I just want to go home and sleep,” Korda said when asked about the prospect of a fifth straight win.