Nelly Korda move to No. 1 in world and wins first Major
Korda nearly holed out with a 7-wood from 243 yards for a tap-in eagle, and the 22-year-old American seized control by using her length from that graceful swing for another eagle that sent her to victory in KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
Korda won for the second straight week on the LPGA Tour — her third this year — and it was enough to become the first American at No. 1 in the women’s world ranking since Stacy Lewis in 2014. Jin Young Ko had held the No. 1 spot for nearly two years.
First came the tears when Nelly Korda hugged her older sister and didn’t want to let go. That was followed by the spray of champagne on the 18th green to celebrate a day that will be hard for her to top even at age 22.
“Is this week even real?” Korda said. “It’s amazing.”
It was a big celebration for one of the top sporting families in the world. The Korda sisters each have six LPGA victories. Their younger brother, Sebastian, is at Wimbledon this week as the 50th-ranked player in men’s tennis and has a chance to join them in Tokyo for the Olympics. Their father is Petr Korda, who won the Australian Open in tennis in 1998.
“This is something I have worked for since I was 14, since I played in my first tournament I wanted to be a major champion and to get it done here, it’s really special. Lizette played really well as well, I just tried to keep a level head and take it one shot at a time.”
