A Lim Kim resisted stress from Nelly Korda to win the LPGA season opener on the Hilton Grand Holidays Match of Champions.
Kim responded to a late cost from Korda with three birdies on her last 4 holes for a 5-under 67 and a two-shot victory on Sunday in Orlando.
Korda, coming off a seven-win season, holed a three-foot birdie putt on the par-5 fifteenth to tie for the lead.
However Kim was within the last group behind her and matched that birdie to retake the lead.
Kim seized management with a 20-foot birdie putt on the sixteenth for a two-shot lead, and she or he capped off her wire-to-wire win with a 25-foot birdie putt on the 18th.
“So fun, so good. And then I’m hungry,” Kim mentioned when requested to explain how she was feeling.
Korda closed with a 65 at Lake Nona to begin her season with a runner-up end.
She had 5 birdies and a pair of bogeys on the entrance 9 to peck away on the lead, and at last pulled even along with her brief birdie on the fifteenth – however solely briefly.
“Not bad,” Korda mentioned. “I’m never going to complain finishing second in a tournament and giving it a run, especially on a Sunday.
“There are undoubtedly a pair putts I wish to have again, however general I believe I am very proud of this week and excited for subsequent week.”
Linn Grant of Sweden shot 69 and finished third, five shots behind. Minjee Lee shot 62 and tied for fourth with Jin Young Ko (65).
Nelly Korda completed runner-up after a final-round 65 (AP Picture/Kevin Kolczynski)
Kim, a 29-year-old South Korean finest recognized for her 2020 US Ladies’s Open title at Champions Golf Membership in Houston, now has three LPGA titles. This was her second straight win wherein she by no means trailed after any spherical, having carried out the identical in Hawaii final yr.
She completed at 20-under 268 and received $300,000.
Korda and defending champion Lydia Ko began the ultimate spherical 4 pictures behind. Lydia Ko fell off the tempo early with three bogeys in her opening six holes, and she or he by no means challenged once more.
She shot 70 and completed sixth.
What’s subsequent?
The LPGA Tour stays in Florida for the Founders Cup offered by the US Virgin Islands, the place Rose Zhang is defending champion. Reside protection begins on Thursday from 4pm on Sky Sports activities. Get Sky Sports activities or stream with no contract on NOW.
