CHASKA, Minn. (AP) — Nelly Korda moved within three strokes of the lead as she made the turn in the final round of the Women's PGA Championship, before three sharp shots gave her a birdie on the 10th hole.
Winning a third straight major to start the season was within reach for Korda on this windy Sunday at Hazeltine National Golf Club, three weeks after she came back to secure her first U.S. Women's Open title.
“I was just trying to take it a shot at a time, really," Korda said. "I didn’t know where the leaders were at, so I was just trying to focus on myself.”
Soft greens from a morning deluge that delayed play by 3 1/2 hours and an unsteady putter got the best of her, as did the rest of the formidable pack at the top of the leaderboard. That's why the feat she was pursuing is so rare, a daunting prospect even for the runaway LPGA Tour leader.
Haeran Ryu finished at 13-under 275 to become the sixth South Korean to win the event over the last 12 editions, beating Ina Yoon by two strokes. Brooke Henderson and Dewi Weber tied for third at 10 under. Three Americans — Allisen Corpuz, Auston Kim and Alison Lee — tied for fifth place, six strokes behind Ryu.
Korda shot a 1-over 73 to finish seven shots back and fall into a four-way tie for eighth, failing to match what Inbee Park in 2013 and Babe Zaharias in 1950 pulled off as the only women to win the first three majors of the season.
For her part, that wasn't an accomplishment she'd been intentionally pursuing, even if her smashing success on the course this year has been fueling more fan interest in the sport, a following that was palpable to her wherever she went this week.
“You guys made that such a big thing. I didn’t think about that, no," Korda said. “I was just kind of disappointed in the way that I played this week, not that I came up short really. I was just thinking about the way that I played, not like the realistic big picture that everyone is talking about.”
Korda three-putted five times this week, after posting no more than three in any other tournament this year. Hazeltine’s signature lakeside hole dragged her down, too, with a double bogey in both the first and fourth rounds on the 16th. Her second shot from the right edge of the fairway on Sunday splashed in the water for a costly penalty stroke, and she two-putted the par-4 hole.
This was just the second time in nine official stroke play events this year that Korda didn't finish first or second. She also tied for eighth at the Queen City Championship in Cincinnati in May. Korda still needs two points to secure her spot in the LPGA Hall of Fame, a system that will grant her entry with one more major win or two more regular tour event victories. But with the Evian Championship and Women’s British Open waiting on the schedule next month, Korda has two more majors to play. Winning one of them would give her the career grand slam at age 27.
Next week, she'll rest and reset before traveling to Europe.
“Just chill for a few days,” Korda said, “and then practice.”
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