Nelly Korda let the AIG Women’s Open slip away late
Nelly Korda entered Sunday’s final round of the AIG Women’s Open at St. Andrews in search of her third major title. Instead, it was Lydia Ko who won her third major, as Korda let a late lead slip away. The world’s top ranked player held a two shot lead with five holes to play. But an untimely stretch of poor shots ultimately cost her the title.
Korda double bogeyed the par-5 14th and suddenly found herself in a dog race with three others.
“I had 58-degree and it just shot on me. The wedge shot that I had over the green was kind of sitting a little bit in a hole with some of the — whatever you call it, the “hay” or whatever you call it behind it,” Korda said after her round.
“I just can’t catch it cleanly and then obviously didn’t make the putt for bogey.”
The field dealt with brutal conditions with wind gusts up to 40 miles per hour. But that is life when playing links golf, especially at the Old Course at St. Andrews.
Despite that, Korda still had a chance to win. But she sealed her fate on 17 when she dropped another shot.
“Listen, it’s golf. I’m going to mess up and unfortunately I messed up over the weekend twice in two penalizing ways coming down the stretch. Theoretically that’s what kind of cost me the tournament but I played well.”
Of course, tying for second in a major championship is nothing to scoff at.
Nelly Korda’s historic LPGA season coming to close
Nelly Korda is easily one of the best golfers on the planet, man or woman. That is undeniable. Korda won five consecutive events in 2024, becoming just the third woman in history to do so. Only Byron Nelson (11), Tiger Woods (7) and Ben Hogan (6) have surpassed that on the men’s side.
