Korda Continues to Chase History with Victory at The ANNIKA
By Jeff Babineau
BELLEAIR, Fla. – While her peers chase wins on the LPGA, Nelly Korda is chasing something even more meaningful: History. Hey, some play chess when others are playing checkers, right? That’s Korda.
On Sunday, a five-birdie dash (11-15) at the start of the back nine would stake her to a round of 3-under 67 and lead to her seventh victory of the season. Korda outdistanced her closest competitors by three shots, shooting 14-under 266 to capture The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican for the third time in four seasons.
The victory was the seventh for Korda in her magical 2024 campaign, one that had been top-heavy when it came to winning. Not since Beth Daniel (1990) had an American won as many as seven times in a season. There were six victories for Korda in the year’s first five months, and none since as she returned from a neck injury to play The Annika. This was Korda’s first trophy since May.
Another shiny ANNIKA trophy, she said, is going to look good in her study at her home less than an hour away in Bradenton. How long had it been since Korda had hoisted a trophy? To hear Korda put it, the last one came “a few lifetimes ago.”
Playing on a golf course (Pelican Golf Club) where she never has shot a round above par, Korda went 66-66-67-67 to finish at 14-under 266. She is as sure a thing at Pelican and The ANNIKA as death and taxes, having carried a robust scoring average of 66.5 here into the week.
Sorenstam was on hand to give out the trophy for the second year, as well as hand Korda a champion’s check for $487,500, pushing Korda’s earnings past $4 million on the season. Korda will be the favorite again this week at the CME Group Tour Championship in Naples, where the top 60 in CME Race to the Globe points following The ANNIKA earned the chance to play for first-prize money of $4 million. And history, of course.
Nelly Korda was as patient as she could be on Sunday, waiting her opening. Time seemed to be running short, and at the par-4 11th, Korda finally ran in a putt. Birdie. She was waiting to see that, and it got her going. She stuffed one tight at the par-3 12th, to 4 feet, to set up another birdie.
England’s Charley Hull, who had been steady all week, made par at 12 to keep at least a share of the lead, but Korda was a train just picking up steam, showing an extra gear that has elevated her to No. 1 in the world.
Three more birdies would follow for Korda. When she curled in a 15-footer at the 13th, Korda, for the first time all week, had the lead. She got up-and-down from just off the green at the par-5 14th for birdie, and at the par-3 15th, “pulled” a 6-iron that finished 3 feet from the hole. When you are on a roll ...
No one would catch her, either.
Before evening fell, Korda had victory No. 7 in a season that, though historic, was in need of one late spark to get her to the finish line. Winning for a third time in four years at The ANNIKA, and sitting elbow-to-elbow with a legend such as the tournament’s namesake, Annika Sorenstam, at the winner’s post-round conference can make a player feel pretty special about herself.
Korda’s parents, Petr and Regina, were there to watch the victory, as was Nelly’s brother, Sebastian, a professional tennis player who rarely gets to see Nelly play. Brother and sister had not seen one another since this summer’s U.S. Open (tennis) in New York. He made the near 2-hour drive from Boca Raton to catch the last three holes. Family means everything to the Kordas. It was all big sister Nelly could do not to cry when her brother approached her on the 18th green to give her a huge embrace.
“it's so nice to play in front of friends and family so close to home. I think that's what makes me so comfortable out here,” Nelly said after collecting her 15th LPGA title. “Didn't start the day the way I wanted to (2 over through 8), but it's not how you start, it's how you finish.
Hull had won a Ladies European Tour event in her last start two weeks earlier in Saudi Arabia, and closed with a round of 1-over 71. She tied for second alongside Weiwei Zhang (Republic of China), who started the week at 106th in the CME standings and needed a good showing to keep her card for 2025, and rookie Jin Hee Im (68) of Korea.
It was a whirlwind week for Korda, who said she “rushed” her rehab back from a neck injury to be back in time to finish the season with two starts near home. On Wednesday, she played the morning portion of The ANNIKA’s pro-am alongside Caitlin Clark, the WNBA 2024 Rookie of the Year who brought some new faces out to watch golf. Those who stuck around to watch Korda when the actual tourney began got a chance to see one of the absolute best.
As Sorenstam watched Korda start reeling off birdies on that back nine on Sunday, surely it had to make the 72-time LPGA champion think back to her dominant days of the past. Sorenstam, who retired in 2008, is one of only a few who knows the feeling of being on such a run.
“Yeah, that's what we work so hard for,” Sorenstam said. “Golf at those times seems simple, right? Big fairways, big greens, big cups, and we have a lot of confidence. I think the better you play (it) just kind of keeps on going, and you believe in yourself. You really don't think about bad shots. Don't think about bad bounces.
“Just the positive vibe that you have.”
At Pelican, nobody feels good vibes more than Korda. She is a tournament champion, again.
