Jun 27, 2021 4 min read

Nelly Korda powered her way to her first major championship Sunday with a performance worthy of her new status as the No. 1 player in women’s golf.

Korda nearly holed out with a 7-wood from 243 yards for a tap-in eagle, and the 22-year-old American seized control by using her length from that graceful swing for another eagle that sent her to victory in KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.

“A major championship and No. 1 in the world,” she said. “Is this week even real? It’s amazing.”

She finished with a 15-foot par putt for a 4-under 68, giving her a three-shot victory over Lizette Salas at the Atlanta Athletic Club.

At 19-under 269, she tied the Women’s PGA record to par last matched by Inbee Park at Westchester Country Club in 2015.

Korda won for the second straight week on the LPGA Tour – her third this year – and it was enough to become the first American at No. 1 in the women’s world ranking since Stacy Lewis in 2014. Jin Young Ko had held the No. 1 spot for nearly two years.

“I put in a lot of work,” Korda said. “To get three wins under my belt and get a major, I don’t even have words.”

Her only mistake came when it didn’t matter.

Korda seized control with an iron into the par-5 12th for the 8-foot eagle putt, a three-shot swing when Salas – who had to lay up on the hole – hit wedge over the green into a bunker and made bogey.

“That was my favorite wedge, too,” Salas said. “The good thing is I was committed to that shot. This wind is pretty swirly. Maybe a little drop-kick, I don’t know. Got a few extra yards out of it.”

Korda made an 18-foot birdie putt on No. 14 to stretch her lead to five shots with four holes to play. She ended 49 consecutive holes without a bogey by hitting into the water on the par-3 15th for a double bogey.

Salas closed with a 71 in her bid to win a first major, and her first LPGA Tour title in seven year.

Korda is the first American to win a major since Angela Stanford three years ago in the Women’s British Open, and it extended a big year for U.S. women’s golf. Americans have won six times on the LPGA Tour this season. South Korea and Thailand each have two.

English wins on 8th hole of playoff:

Harris English birdied the eighth hole of sudden death to win the Travelers Championship, beating Kramer Hickok after both birdied the final hole of regulation to force the playoff.

It matched the second-longest sudden-death playoff in PGA Tour history.

English shot a 5-under 65 to finish the fourth round at 13 under, then made a 5-foot putt on the seventh trip down the 18th hole of the day. Hickok had missed a 36-foot birdie putt and finished the playoff with eight consecutive pars.

The tour record for a sudden death playoff is 11 holes in the 1949 Motor City Open, when Lloyd Mangrum and Cary Middlecoff were declared co-winners by mutual agreement due to darkness; four other events have reached an eighth playoff hole.

It was the second win this year and the fourth career victory for English, who finished third at the U.S. Open last week – and fourth in the pandemic-delayed U.S. Open in September. He won $1,368,000 and 500 FedEx Cup points, moving into second in the standings.

Stricker wins at Firestone:

Steve Stricker won the Bridgestone Seniors Players Championship at difficult Firestone for his second victory of the year and third major title.

Eight strokes ahead in the third round and four in front entering the final round, Stricker closed with an even-par 70 for a six-stroke victory over defending champion and Wisconsin friend Jerry Kelly.

Stricker finished at 7-under 273 on the South Course. The U.S. Ryder Cup captain opened with a 63, shot 68 in the second round and 70 in the third.

Kelly bogeyed four of the last five holes in a 72. He was coming off a victory two weeks ago in the American Family Insurance Championship, the tour event that Stricker runs in their hometown of Madison.