Red-hot Nelly Korda has achieved a 44-year first as Australian rookie Hira Naveed made a spectacular entrance to the big stage of women’s golf in Arizona.
Korda closed with seven-under-par 65 on Sunday to turn a two-shot third-round deficit into a two-stroke victory at the LPGA Tour’s Ford Championship. The rampant world No.1 is the first American since Joanne Carner in 1980 to win three times before April, and the first to notch three consecutive LPGA Tour victories since Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn in 2016. “It just honestly feels like a blur,” Korda said after finishing at 20 under for the championship. “(I was) taking it day by day really, trying to stay very present. I just played really good golf, really solid stuff in tough conditions today.” In just her second LPGA Tour start, Naveed’s final-round 66 left the 26-year-old alone in second spot.