Nelly Korda claimed her fifth consecutive victory and second major title with a two-shot win in the Chevron Championship in Texas.
The 25-year-old Floridian went into the final round tied for second with Canada’s Brooke Henderson on 10-under-par, just one shot behind Korea’s Haeran Ryu at The Club at Carlton Woods in The Woodlands.
But as Ryu bogeyed three of her first five holes en route to a 74 that left her fifth on nine-under, Korda was in a class apart.
The world number one birdied the third, fifth, eighth and 10th to storm clear before bogeys at the 11th and 15th saw her lead reduced to just three shots over Henderson, Sweden’s Maja Stark and Lauren Coughlin.
But she held firm, parring the 16th before hitting the flag with her approach to the 17th.
After a par there, she went to the par-five 18th with a one-shot lead over Stark, who set the target at 11-under with a 69.
But she was equal to the task, finding the back fringe in two before two-putting for a 69 and a two-shot win on 13-under as Henderson shot 72 to tie for third with Coughlin (68) on 10-under.
It was Korda’s 13th career victory and second major title following her win in the 2021 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
She also became just the third player after Nancy Lopez and Annika Sorenstam to win in five consecutive LPGA Tour starts.
Asked how she managed to pull it off, Korda said: “I don’t know, but I can finally breathe now.
“That back nine felt like the longest back nine of my entire life.
“But yeah, I mean, it was a little bit of a grind on the back nine, but happy to get the win.”
She added: “I was definitely trying to feel it on the back nine, just the nerves setting in. It’s a major. I mean, it’s everything that I’ve always wanted as a little girl to lift that major trophy, and as I said, I can finally breathe out and just enjoy the moment because I was definitely really nervous. I feel sick to my stomach.”
Korda won the LPGA Drive on Championship in late January before returning from a seven-week break to win the Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship, the Ford Championship and the T-Mobile Match Play (over Leona Maguire).
Asked about the key to her remarkable run, she said: “I think there’s a key in the simplicity that I have when I play.
“I just take it a shot at a time and we pick a game plan when we get to the golf course and we work, and we stay in our own little bubble, and it’s been working so far.
“I feel like maybe sometimes golf can get overcomplicated and there’s a key to the simplicity of it.”
Stephanie Meadow recovered from a double bogey six at her first hole in the final round and carded a level par 72 to finish tied for 30th on level par.