ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Nelly Korda won for the first time in 14 months without having to hit a shot Sunday when the LPGA Tour reduced the season-opening Tournament of Champions to 54 holes because of wind and cold that led officials to deem Lake Nona unsuitable for a final round.
Korda won seven times in 2024 and was shut out in 2025. Now the American is a winner again with a most awkward start to the LPGA season.
She won with an 8-under 64 on Saturday, an astonishing round that was roughly nine shots better than the field average in bitter cold and gusts that approached 40 mph. Korda said it was among the best three rounds she ever played.
She finished just before the LPGA halted the third round when wind blew Youmin Hwang’s golf ball off the 17th green. The concern was because the final two holes were the most exposed on the course.
The LPGA planned on finishing the third round Sunday morning and playing the final round. But temperatures were below freezing in central Florida, with the wind chill in the teens. The wind remained strong and the ground brittle.
The LPGA said the forecast was just as bad for Monday and chose to make the event 54 holes.
Korda finished at 13-under 203 for her 16th career victory. She was on the putting green and the practice range even though her victory was all but assured when the LPGA decided to cancel the final round.
“Today was nerve-wracking,” Korda said. “Not knowing what the outcome was going to be and still trying to be in the mindset of going out for 18 holes and knowing it was going to be tough. I was always trying to be in that mindset.”
Amy Yang was at 10 under with two holes to play when the third round resumed, needing a birdie and to hole out with a full shot over the last two holes. She made par on the par-3 17th and the tournament was over. Yang went par-par for a 69 to finish second.
Brooke Henderson, who completed a 66 on Saturday, was alone in third.
It was the first time since the Hilton Grand Vacation Tournament of Champions returned to the LPGA schedule in 2019 that it was reduced to 54 holes. Weather is rarely an issue in Orlando, except for rain. This was an unexpected cold front with high wind.
The LPGA planned to start at 10 a.m., which was pushed back a couple of more times until the final round was canceled and the third round didn’t resume until about 2 p.m.
“We talked to several players warming up,” said Ricki Lasky, the tour’s chief business and operations officer. “The ground was hard and it was changing the trajectory of their shorts. We tried to take as much time as we could to get in all 72 holes. We did everything we could.”
The LPGA did allow the celebrity portion of the tournament to proceed but reduced to nine holes. The LPGA cited the fact it was an exhibition that used the modified Stableford scoring, where no one could make worse than double bogey. Former tennis star Mardy Fish won the celebrity side of the event.
Hwang hit an 18-foot putt on the 17th hole Saturday in which the right-to-left wind sent her ball toward a ridge and then off the green. She wound up making triple bogey. She finished with a par for 73 and tied for fifth.
Korda now will take six weeks off, saying she again will skip the entire Asia swing.
___
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
