Nelly Korda Wins Playoff Thriller at Bradenton Country Club

BRADENTON — Nelly Korda was cruising to the championship at her hometown LPGA $1,750,000 Drive On Championship, leading through the first three days and nine holes. But then adversity struck, and her three-shot lead suddenly became a three-shot deficit after some missed putts and a shot into the lake. Superstar Lydia Ko capitalized on the opportunity,  making an eagle on hole 17 and par on 18 to lead by three strokes, setting up a dramatic grand finale.

Almost down and out, Korda picked herself up at the moment of truth—and showed her champion qualities. Korda eagled the 17th with a long putt and then birdied 18 with a stunning approach to within a foot of the hole, converting the putt, which set the stage for a playoff with Ko. Both tied on the first hole of the playoff and then Ko three-putted on the second playoff hole, which included a "lipper" that just spun out. Korda hit a chip onto the green from behind the hole and then converted the four-foot putt for the title. Both playoff holes were played on the par-4 18th.

“I honestly thought the tournament was over going into 17," the 25-year-old Korda admitted. "I knew if I rolled that eagle in, I had to birdie the last hole. Even when I was down, the crowd was so positive, keeping me in it. It was such a grind out there. I can't even believe it right now. I seem to always make it very dramatic and interesting. What a day!”

The 26-year-old Ko, from New Zealand, was a golf prodigy. She won her first pro title at age fourteen at the New South Wales Open. She won her first LPGA title at age fifteen at the Canadian Open. The leading money winner in 2022, Ko won the LPGA season-opening Tournament of Champions last week in her hometown of Orlando. It was her 20th tour victory, and it elevated her to within a point of qualifying for the Hall of Fame. A victory today would have automatically enshrined Ko into the LPGA Hall of Fame. But the golf gods had other ideas.

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

The stars were aligned for the hometown hero storyline. Korda started the final Sunday four strokes ahead of Ko on the breezy, cool afternoon at Bradenton Country Club. Both teed off just before noon in separate groups. Korda shot a 2-over 73 to equal Ko at 11-under 273.

Korda grew up in Bradenton and now lives in downtown Sarasota. The wire-to-wire win by Korda is her ninth LPGA Tour victory and her first since 2022 at the Pelican Women’s Championship.

"Every win has a story,” said Korda. “This one was definitely— just with the struggles of last year and just with today as well, I thought I completely lost it. Being in my hometown and having the hometown support was incredible. I didn't think this many people would show up. Even on the first day, Thursday, the amount of people that were out here supporting was incredible. I couldn't have done it without all their positive energy.”

The triumph earned Korda $262,500 and increased her career earnings to $9,223,989. The 2020 Olympic gold medalist in Tokyo, Japan, becomes the ninth American to earn over $9 million in prize money.

Known as "the happy golfer" and one of the nicest players on the LPGA Tour, Ko took the defeat in stride.

“I played solid," she said. "You know, obviously sucks to miss a three-footer on the last and get it out of my hands. I think that was kind of the goal, the whole goal today. Like whatever happened I want to be able to finish the job in my control. I missed that putt, but I actually made a really good stroke and I just misjudged the speed on the first one. And then, on the second one, I just under-read it. Other than that, I can't really complain when I've hit four decent shots. Just wasn't my time to be, and Nelly made a really good up and down on the last. Just wasn't my win.”

Oscar de la Hoya, the 11-time world champion boxer in six different weight divisions, and also an avid golfer, once said he actually found golf to be more challenging and difficult than boxing.

Korda and Ko exhibited the very best of professional golf at the Bradenton Country Club, two performances that were as comparably exciting as some of the modern boxing classics.