{"id":3149,"date":"2024-01-29T13:16:45","date_gmt":"2024-01-29T05:16:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.24hscore.com\/?p=3149"},"modified":"2024-01-29T13:16:49","modified_gmt":"2024-01-29T05:16:49","slug":"nelly-korda-tops-lydia-ko-in-lpga-drive-on-playoff-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/24hscore.net\/news\/uncategorized\/nelly-korda-tops-lydia-ko-in-lpga-drive-on-playoff-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Nelly Korda defeats Lydia Ko in the playoffs at LPGA Drive On with an eagle-birdie finish"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

24hscore news<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bradenton, Florida\u2014Nelly Korda staged a comeback to clinch victory at the LPGA Drive On Championship in her hometown, preventing Lydia Ko from entering the LPGA Hall of Fame. Korda overcame a three-stroke deficit by finishing with an eagle-birdie, ultimately securing the win on the second hole of a playoff. She sealed the victory with a 4-foot par putt on the par-4 18th, as Ko’s 5-footer hit the lip and spun out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I always manage to add drama and make it interesting,” Korda commented. “So, doing it in front of a home crowd is an unparalleled feeling. What an incredible day!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ko secured her 20th tour victory at the season-opening Tournament of Champions in Orlando last week, bringing her within a point of Hall of Fame qualification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It’s like, ‘What more can you do?'” Ko expressed. “We gave our all until the very end, earning our place in the playoff. I gave my utmost effort out there.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Starting Sunday’s play at Bradenton Country Club with a four-stroke lead over Ko, Korda posted a 2-over 73, bringing her to a total of 11-under 273, the same as Ko. Ko, who played in the group before Korda, also recorded an eagle on the par-5 17th with a score of 69.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Korda faced a setback, dropping four strokes in a span of three holes\u2014registering a bogey on the par-4 14th, a double bogey on the par-3 15th, and another bogey on the par-4 16th. However, she mounted a comeback with an eagle putt across the green on the 17th and a precise approach to within a foot on the 18th.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Wow, I thought the tournament was done by the time I reached the 17th,” Korda remarked. “I just gave myself an opportunity. I knew that if I made that eagle, I had to birdie the last hole.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the initial extra round on the 18th, Korda missed a 12-foot birdie attempt from the back fringe, while Ko managed to save par with an up-and-down from behind the green’s grandstand wall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the second playoff hole, Korda’s shot went long to the wall, and her chip set up the decisive putt for victory. Meanwhile, Ko, attempting a 30-foot birdie, ended up three-putting after leaving her initial putt short.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Sure, I had a three-putt on the second playoff hole, but apart from that, I don’t feel like I lost the tournament,” Ko stated. “I had a fantastic eagle on 17, a solid par on 18, and then Nelly matched with an eagle and birdie finish.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fueled by the support of the home crowd, 25-year-old Korda led from start to finish, achieving her first wire-to-wire victory in her career and securing her ninth LPGA Tour win, the first since the 2022 Pelican Women\u2019s Championship. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Even when I was trailing, the support from the crowd was incredibly positive, keeping me motivated,” Korda expressed. “It was a real struggle out there, with a lot of ups and downs. I never felt like I gained momentum. It’s hard to believe it right now.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Megan Khang secured the third spot at 8 under following a round of 72. Lucy Li (69) and Ayaka Furue (73) finished at 7 under.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

24hscore news Bradenton, Florida\u2014Nelly Korda staged a comeback to clinch victory at the LPGA Drive On Championship in her hometown, preventing Lydia Ko from entering the LPGA Hall of Fame. Korda overcame a three-stroke deficit by finishing with an eagle-birdie, ultimately securing the win on the second hole of a playoff. She sealed the victory…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":3157,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","rank_math_description":"Bradenton, Florida\u2014Nelly Korda staged a comeback to clinch victory at the LPGA Drive On Championship in her hometown.","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1512,1489,1509,112,1491],"class_list":["post-3149","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-25-year-old-korda-led-from-start-to-finish","tag-a-solid-par-on-18","tag-bradenton","tag-golf","tag-keeping-me-motivated"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/24hscore.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3149","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/24hscore.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/24hscore.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/24hscore.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/24hscore.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3149"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/24hscore.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3149\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/24hscore.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/24hscore.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/24hscore.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/24hscore.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}