World No. 1 Nelly Korda won her seventh LPGA Tour title in 2024 with a five-hole birdie as 54-hole leader Charley Hull lost in the final round of ANNIKA in Florida.
Hull led Korda and China’s Weiwei Zhang by one shot heading into Sunday, but then shot a 1-over 71 (an uneven front nine that included three bogeys and two birdies) to finish at 11 under.
Korda, who won with 14 under par, also faltered with three bogeys and a lone gain, but recorded sizzling 11 to 15 strokes on the back nine, taking five strokes on the trot.
With hopes of a second title fading this month (after Riyadh in the Aramco Team Series on the Women’s European Tour), Hull recorded just one birdie in the period and also made bogey on the penultimate hole.
Korda shot a 3-under 67, three shots clear of Hull, Zhang and South Korea’s Jinhee Lim, while Sweden’s Linn Grant and Rose Zhang of the United States tied for fifth at 10 under.
Korda has won ANNIKA for the third time in four years after back-to-back wins in 2021 and 2022, and the 26-year-old now heads into next week’s season-ending CME Group Tour Championships (also held in Florida) full of confidence. After a dramatic year.
Korda (right) and Hull embrace after the American won ANNIKA for the third time in four years.
Korda is back to winning ways after a headline-grabbing season.
Korda earned six wins in seven starts from January to May, and won her second major trophy following the 2021 Women’s PGA Championship, winning the Chevron Championship and continuing her record-tying streak of five consecutive wins on the LPGA Tour. I went.
However, Korda failed to make the cut three times in a row at the U.S. Women’s Open and Women’s PGA Championship, scoring over 80 in both competitions.
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She has been off competition since September until this week after a neck injury triggered by severe migraines that can only be relieved by sleeping and being in the dark.
Korda said the following after winning THE ANNIKA: “It feels good to be back here and there’s nothing better than being involved in the hunt.
“There’s nothing like getting the adrenaline flowing and competing on the back nine. I love it.”
Hull was looking for her third LPGA Tour title and first since the Volunteers of America Classic in October 2022, but had to settle for a tie for second as Korda tasted her first tournament win since the Mizuho Americas Open six months ago.
Watch the first round of the CME Group Tour Championship live from Naples, Florida. Sky Sports Golf, Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports+ Coverage continues throughout the four days starting at 8pm on Thursday. Stream NOW.
