Nelly Korda's attempt to make LPGA history by winning her sixth consecutive LPGA event this year fell short at Upper Montclair Country Club in Clifton, NJ, at the $3,000,000 Cognizant Founders Cup Championship.
20-year-old Rose Zhang, from Irvine, California, and Stanford University, won the tournament and $450,000. Zhang shot a -24 over the four-day tournament for her second LPGA title. Korda finished 14 strokes behind Zhang.
Korda, who attended the Met Gala in New York City last Monday night, dressed in an Oscar De La Renta gown, most recently winning the Chevron Championship in Houston to become a two-time major and five-time winner in 2024. With her win at The Chevron Championship, the 25-year-old tied the record for most wins in consecutive starts on the Tour held by Annika Sorenstam and Nancy Lopez.
American Lopez won in five straight starts in 1978, and Sweden's Sorenstam matched the feat in 2004-05. Both Lopez and Sorenstam finished outside the top 10 in their bid for a sixth consecutive victory in LPGA Tour starts. Lopez finished T13 at the 1978 Lady Keystone Open to end her win streak. Sorenstam finished T12 at the 2005 Michelob Open at Kingsmill.
Korda did a little better in her record attempt at the Cognizant Founders Cup. She finished her final round on Sunday, May 12, with a 1 over for -7, a tie for seventh (in 2023, Korda did not make the cut in Upper Montclair).
Korda began her domination winning streak in January at the LPGA Drive On Championship at Bradenton Country Club in her hometown of Bradenton, FL.
Following her first defeat in four months, Korda revealed she is still somewhat surprised about managing to win five pro golf tournaments in a row: “Yeah, gosh, hasn't even sunk in. Probably maybe now or maybe in like ten, fifteen years, it'll sink in. Hopefully, someone beats it one day. But just to do that with all the competition out here is super, super rewarding with how much work that I've put in. So I think to get a streak like that in any sport, in general, is amazing with the amount of talent that I feel like every athlete has in their sport. Just an amazing feeling, and hopefully, one day, it'll sink in.”
Later this week, Korda, still the world's top-ranked golfer, will return to competition at the next LGPA tournament, the Mizuho Americas Open, less than ten miles from Upper Montclair at Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City, NJ.
Liberty National Golf Club, established in 2006, cost $250,000,000 to construct and is one of the most expensive golf courses in the world.
