Hyo Joo Kim tops Nelly Korda again, wins LPGA’s Ford Champ.
PHOENIX – Hyo Joo Kim beat Nelly Korda for the second straight week, pulling away on the turn Sunday and closing with a 3-under 69 for a two-shot victory in the Ford Championship.
Kim was on pace to break the LPGA Tour scoring record for 72 holes until an error led to a double bogey on the eighth hole and gave Korda hope.
Korda, who trailed by four at the start of the final round, was suddenly just one stroke behind. But the American missed a short par putt at the ninth, and that was followed by a two-shot swing at the 10th – Kim hit her approach to 18 inches for birdie, and Korda failed to get up and down for par.
Korda never got closer until the tournament was out of reach, finishing an eagle-birdie for a 67.
Kim, who also won the Ford Championship last year, now has back-to-back wins for the first time in his career, both against Korda. Last week at the Founders Cup, the 30-year-old South Korean held off a Sunday charge from Korda.
“I wanted to ask Nelly what it feels like to win back-to-back,” Kim said with a laugh, referring to Korda winning five straight starts during the 2024 season.
Kim finished at 28-under 260. With three early birdies — and a week in which she shot two rounds of 61 — it looked like she might break the LPGA record of 257 set by Sei Young Kim at the 2017 Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic.
Those hopes were dashed on the par-4 eighth hole when Kim hit his tee shot. She tried to hit a hybrid under the branches of a tree, but it ran hot across the sunny fairway, across the crusty green and didn’t stop rolling until it rolled down a slope and into the desert brush.
This led to a double bogey. Kim twice missed birdie opportunities from 5 feet, and she also made a three-putt bogey on the 16th.
But the putting woes belonged to Korda, who missed a 2-foot putt by the 15th — his second short miss of the round — that all but ended the affair.
“Where did it go wrong? There’s a few shots here and there that I’d like to get back, more like a few putts throughout the week,” Korda said. “I’m going to miss a bunch of these putts throughout my career, and I just can’t get down.”
Korda has won and been runner-up twice in three LPGA starts this year. It was the lowest she had reached under par (26 under) in her LPGA career. She has just met one of the most prominent players in women’s golf.
“I’m done playing with her,” Korda said jokingly.
It was the fifth consecutive time they were in the same group, and Korda got a good look at the remarkable game, especially Kim’s putting.
“Hyo Joo plays incredible golf,” Korda said. “She’s a phenomenal player and person. She definitely motivates me on the golf course.”
Minami Katsu of Japan shot 65 to finish alone in third place. Lydia Ko, who started the tournament with a score of 60, found herself fourth, eight shots behind.
