Nelly Korda is in the form of her life right now, and she extended her prolific winning streak to four consecutive events with a victory at the T-Mobile Match Play in Las Vegas.
Leona maguire on Nelly Korda:it wasn’t mean to be, after korda wins fourth straight LPGA Tour event beating Leona Maguire at the T-Mobile Match Play
Korda, 25, defeated Ireland’s Leona Maguire 4&3 in the final of the match-play event.
Her route to the final included wins over American Angel Yin 3&2 in the last eight and South Korea’s Na-Rin An 4&3 in the semi-final.
Winning four of the first seven holes in the final, Korda built up a strong lead on the front nine.
Despite a spirited fightback from Maguire that saw her win the 9th, 13th and 14th holes, the match drew to a close, with a par from Korda enough to get the job done on the 15th.
The win marked Korda’s 12th win on the LPGA Tour
This year, the LPGA Tour tournament had a new format: 54 holes of stroke play, with the top eight players advancing to a knockout stage of match play.
Maguire finished first in the stroke play with a three-round total of six-under, earning her the top seed for the knockout stages
Korda finished five shots back in sixth place.
Speaking to the media after her win, Korda said:
“Going down the stretch, there is a different type of adrenaline. But I feel like with match play you have that from the first hole so it was a great day playing against Leona. Always such a great competitor. But happy to get my fourth.”
Ranked number one in the world, the American superstar is the first woman to win four straight tournaments on the LPGA Tour since Mexico’s Lorena Ochoa in 2008.
Nelly Nelly Nelly Nelly
Bet you can't say that four times fast 💪 pic.twitter.com/AGx36SYDwE
— LPGA (@LPGA) April 8, 2024
Korda’s winning streak has included victories at the LPGA Drive On Championship in late January, followed by wins at the Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship and the Ford Championship.
Korda will attempt to tie the record of five consecutive wins held by American Nancy Lopez and Sweden’s Annika Sorenstam when she tees it up at the first major of the season in two weeks at the Chevron Championship.