PHOENIX (AP) — Hyo Joo Kim beat Nelly Korda for the second straight week, pulling away around the turn Sunday and closing with a 3-under 69 for a two-shot victory in the Ford Championship.
Kim was poised to break the LPGA Tour's scoring record for 72 holes until one mistake 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, suddenly was only one shot behind. But the American missed a short par putt on the ninth, and that was followed by a two-shot swing on the 10th — Kim hit her approach to 18 inches for birdie, and Korda failed to get up-and-down for par.
Korda never got any closer until the tournament was out of reach, finishing 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 her career, both against Korda. Last week in the Founders Cup, the 30-year-old South Korean held off a Sunday charge by Korda.
“I wanted to ask Nelly how it feels 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 twice had posted rounds of 61 - it looked as though she could break the LPGA scoring record of 257 set by Sei Young Kim at the 2017 Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic.
Those hopes took a hit on the par-4 eighth hole, when Kim pulled her tee shot. She tried to punch a hybrid under tree branches, but it ran hot on the sunbaked fairway, through the crusty green and didn't stop rolling until it went down a slope and into the desert scrub.
That led to double bogey. Kim twice missed 5-foot birdie chances, and she also had a three-putt bogey on the 16th.
But the putting issues belonged to Korda, who missed a 2-foot par putt on the 15th - her second short miss of the round - that all but ended it.
“Where it went wrong? There's a couple shots here and there that I would like to get back, more like a couple putts throughout the week,” Korda said. “I'm going to miss a bunch of those putts throughout my entire career, and I just can’t get down on myself.”
Korda has won and twice been runner-up in three starts on the LPGA this year. It was the lowest she has been under par (26 under) in her LPGA career. She just ran into one of the hottest players in women's golf.
“I'm done playing with her,” Korda said, jokingly. This was the fifth straight time they were in the same group, and Korda has had a good view of remarkable play, particularly Kim's putting.
“Hyo Joo has been playing amazing golf,” Korda said. “She a phenomenal player, and person. She definitely motivates me on the golf course.”
Minami Katsu of Japan shot 65 to finish alone in third. Lydia Ko, who began the tournament with a 60, wound up in fourth, eight shots behind.
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