- Nelly Korda secures her third LET title
- Wins by four shots at Centurion Club
Nelly Korda produced a dominant display to win the Individual title at the Aramco Team Series presented by PIF – London.
The world number two had led from the first day and had a five-shot lead coming into the final round at Centurion Club.
And the Olympic champion began the day with a birdie on the first but soon dropped a shot on the sixth and was back to even par for the round.
However, she soon moved into the red once again with a birdie on the 12th before she rolled in a birdie at the last to seal a round of 71 (-2) and win with a total of 11-under-par.
“It was so much fun this week,” said Korda, who also won the Individual title at the 2022 Aramco Team Series – Sotogrande. “I got to play in some very interesting weather and got to hit shots that I don’t necessarily get to hit all the time. It was an amazing walk with my partners this week, my team and lastly Jason [McDede] as well.
“I am hoping that I can take this momentum into the next couple of weeks, I have Evian and the AIG Women’s Open coming up and hopefully I have learned a little bit about the weather this week and I can take that momentum into the next two big events.
“I knew Charley [Hull] was going to make a run for it, I think everyone was trying to. It’s tough to be the one out front and who everyone is trying to get. I just stuck to my game and took it one shot at a time. As boring as it sounds, it worked.
“I’m going to see my grandparents tomorrow; I have a couple of friends here right now, so we’ll celebrate after. I’ll be very full tomorrow.”
England’s Charley Hull finished in second place on seven-under-par after firing a round of 68 (-5) on the final day.
The three-time LET winner rolled in three birdies in four holes on the front nine but dropped a shot on the ninth to make the turn in 35 (-2).
Hull rolled in three further birdies on her back nine for a round of 68 and to seal her second consecutive second-place finish.
“I played pretty well today, I was pretty happy,” said the 27-year-old. “It was very windy out there. I just felt very tired this week after last week, it kind of hit me yesterday but I got a good night’s sleep last night. It was good fun out there and nice to be playing in front of the home crowds.
“I feel really good, I feel like my game is in good shape. Second last week and second this week, roll on Evian. It feels like a good week at the office, but at the same time it sucks because you just keep knocking on the door but hopefully, a win is around the corner.”
South Africa’s Nicole Garcia finished in third place on five-under-par after a final round of 72 (-1) which included three birdies and two bogeys.
Garcia explained: “I have been working hard on my technique, the last time I was in that position I didn’t feel so much nerves – obviously a little bit of anxiety and nerves – but not to the point that I should have had such mis-hits. It just came down to technique.
“I think I managed to hold it together. I hit a few shots out there I’m not really proud of but again it just feels like it’s a technique issue. I just need to grind it in a little, so it holds under pressure. I was aiming for at least top two this week, so I got pretty close and I’m pretty proud of that.”
Ireland’s Leona Maguire produced a final round of 70 (-3) to finish in outright fourth place on three-under-par with England’s Georgia Hall one shot further back in fifth place.
Six players finished in a share of sixth place on level par including Germany’s Sophie Witt, who fired the round of the week with a 67 (-6).
Team Hall were declared team champions earlier on Sunday once the second round was completed, after the quartet of Hall, Kylie Henry, Lea Anne Bramwell and amateur Michael Austick finished with a total of 24-under-par.
Captain Hall said: “I think most importantly when one of us was out of a hole then another player came in and managed to save that par or get that birdie. We all got on really well and had a nice fun group and I think that’s really important, and our amateur helped two or three times in the round which was really handy.”
In the 2023 Race to Costa del Sol, the standings in the top 10 have not changed with Spain’s Ana Peláez Triviño still leading the way ahead of India’s Aditi Ashok, Czechia’s Klara Davidson Spilkova and Sweden’s Linn Grant.
India’s Diksha Dagar is fifth with Sweden’s Johanna Gustavsson in sixth, England’s Lily May Humphreys in seventh, Germany’s Chiara Noja sits eighth, Spain’s Carmen Alonso is still ninth and France’s Celine Herbin round out the top 10.
The biggest movers are Hull, who jumped from 104th to 33rd place and now has 401 points from two events, while South Africa’s Garcia was 33rd and is now 17th with 591.93 points.
