Hometown hero Nelly Korda thrills with LPGA Drive On Champ play-off win after near disaster

At the start of Sunday, it looked like Nelly Korda had the LPGA Drive On Championship all but locked up, with a three-shot lead and having played at such a high level all week. Sure it had been over a year since the golf star had won an LPGA title, but the 25-year-old player was being cheered on as the hometown favorite and played with a confident swagger that was spellbinding to see.

All that unraveled as the wind picked up on Sunday, with the American golfer hitting her first bogey of the day on the fifth hole. This left the door open for Lydia Ko to capitalize, which she quickly did on the very same hole that proved problematic for Korda. Despite double bogeying on the previous hole, Ko sailed through the final day collecting more birdies along holes six, 10, and 11. She carded two bogeys, but a thrilling eagle on the 17th equalized those missteps.

Also gaining momentum was Megan Khang, who logged her first birdie right out of the gate and proceeded to add two more on the front nine. Ko and Khang were nipping at Korda’s heels while the leader’s game started to unravel. As the pressure mounted, so did the mistakes for Korda, who carded two more bogeys on the back nine, and even more disastrously, a head-scratching double bogey on the 15th that looked like she was throwing away the match.

But what Korda did in the penultimate holes of the fourth round gave us everything we love about her as a player. She rallied to do a thrillpeat (I just made that word up!) from the day before when she had eagled the 17th only to delight with a birdie finish on the 18th. She was one stroke behind Ko and she fired off the birdie putt to force the crucial playoff with the New Zealand player.

Meanwhile Khang had fallen behind with four disappointing bogeys on the back nine to stymie all the birdie progress she had made on the front nine. Khang finished in solo third at -8.

It had been a topsy-turvy day for Korda, who had gone from three strokes ahead, to one behind Ko, to an even three-way split with Ko and Khang, to trailing Ko again, only to match her in the end at -11, resulting in the playoff between the two.

They both held steady on the first playoff hole opportunity, but it was Korda who managed to save par from five feet on the second play-off hole while Ko bogeyed. The relief of winning her ninth title in front of the hometown crowd was palpable.

“I think even when I was down they were so, so positive and keeping me in it,” Korda said, according to WTOP News. “It was such a grind out there, so back and forth. I felt like I never really got anything going. I just can’t even believe it right now.”

It had been a year and two months since her last title win. Relief was mixed in with joy that the title draught was over for the Florida native.

"I thought that the tournament was over going into 17," Korda admitted, according to Sky Sports. "I just kind of gave myself a chance. I knew that if I rolled that eagle in, I had to birdie the last hole.

"I seem to always make it very dramatic and interesting, so there is no better feeling than to do it in front of a home crowd. It was such a grind out there, so back and forth. I felt like I never really got anything going, but I just can't even believe it right now!"

“Obviously, I three-putted the second playoff hole, but other than that I don’t feel like I lost the tournament,” Ko said via WTOP News. “I made a great eagle on 17, great par on 18, and then Nelly just went eagle as well and then birdied the last.

“It’s kind of like, 'What can you do?'” Ko added. “We played our hearts out until the very end and we put ourself into the playoff. I tried my best out there.”

The dramatic showdown between Korda and Ko was reminiscent of their rivalry during the last summer Olympics, with the American ending up on top as well and Ko going home with the Silver medal. With the next summer games around the corner, a renewed rivalry between Korda and Ko makes for an interesting potential rematch in Paris.

With Ko having won the last LPGA tournament last week in Orlando, both Ko and Korda have cinched the first two LPGA tournaments of the year, making this dynamic even more pronounced. They’re both heading into the pre-Olympic season in strong form. With the level of thrilling competitive play that we witnessed on Sunday, expect fireworks at the Paris Games.

Next up for the LPGA Tour is the Asia leg with the upcoming Honda LPGA Thailand beginning February 22. American Lilia Vu will be looking to defend her title there.