Nelly Korda’s quest for six consecutive victories has ended just one win short of history.
The 25-year-old LPGA star finished seven under par and in seventh place at the Cognizant Founders Cup in Montclair, New Jersey on Sunday, unable to pull off a massive comeback to secure what would have been her sixth consecutive win, something no LPGA player has ever done. American Rose Zhang took the trophy with her -24 finish, followed closely by Sweden’s Madelene Sagstrom in second at -22.
Korda’s chase for that history-making win was in jeopardy from early on. She made it through Round 1 at Upper Montclair Country Club with one bogey and four birdies, but that number was small compared to to the eventual first and second place finishers. Sagstrom finished Round 1 at -7 and Zhang at -9.
Korda was able to make up some ground in Round 2, but she fell apart in Round 3, finishing one over for the day with three birdies and four bogeys. She struggled particularly in the front nine, which is when she gave up all of her bogeys. Meanwhile, Sagstrom and Zhang continued to dominate the course. Sagstrom ended the day in first place at -19 with Zhang right behind at -18. Korda finished Round 3 in third place at -8.
As far as what went wrong during her disastrous round on Saturday, Korda chalked it up to the nature of the sport. Some days the ball finds the hole, and some days it doesn’t.
“Yeah, it’s just kind of poor in all aspects,” Korda said Saturday via Golf Channel. “Yesterday was good in everything and today was poor in everything, so that’s just pretty much golf for you. Yeah, just made too many kind of stupid, silly mistakes, which was unfortunate because [the leaders] were playing so well. So, now there is just a massive gap.”
The gap only got larger on Sunday. Korda’s two bogeys knocked her further down the leaderboard, while Zhang and Sagstrom continued to pull away and others made up ground — though no one finished within 10 strokes of the winner. The third place finisher, Australia’s Gabriela Ruffels, finished 13 strokes behind Zhang.
Korda may have missed out on history, but her five-tournament winning streak was incredibly impressive. Until she began to rack up tournament wins, no one knew the last time an LPGA player had won five in a row. That’s how long it had been. But thanks to Korda’s virtuosity, we know it’s been 70 years since a player had won so many in a row. It’s only May, but she’s shown the world that she’s a force to be reckoned with. It’s going to be a fun summer.
Source Agencies
