Nelly Korda once again showed her class at the LPGA Tournament of Champions season opener! Despite brutal conditions, she fired an 8-under-par 64 onto her scorecard, grabbing a three-shot lead on Saturday in the weather-suspended third round.
She carded seven birdies and an eagle but also had to contend with a bogey – all amidst cold and wind that truly demanded everything from the players. After 54 holes, she stood at 13-under-par, a total of 203 strokes, at Lake Nona Country Club in Orlando, Florida.
Korda herself commented: “The course just throws everything at you, but everyone is in the same boat. You really have to be incredibly precise with your targeting!”
Since the LPGA Annika Event in November 2024, her last of seven LPGA victories in 2024, the 27-year-old American had remained winless. In 2025, she managed nine top-10 finishes, but the breakthrough win was missing. Time to change that!
The wind became such a factor that putts were simply blown off the green at the par-3 17th hole! That was also the moment when play for the day had to be suspended – with six strong contenders still on the course.
South Korea's Amy Yang was in second place at 10-under-par at that time, having racked up birdies on the 13th, 15th, and 16th. She was three-under-par for the round – with two holes left to play.
And then this happened: The wind was such a force of nature that it simply blew an 18-foot putt from South Korea's Hwang You-min off the green at the 17th hole – just before the siren stopped play. She shared third place at 8-under-par with New Zealand's Lydia Ko.
Lydia Ko, still close to the lead after 36 holes, suffered a bogey on the 12th and even a double-bogey on the par-3 13th, which unfortunately set her back. But golf sometimes delivers drama: She immediately holed out from a bunker right after and then birdied the 14th hole!
Tokyo Olympic gold medalist and two-time Major winner Korda and her competitors battled winds of 25 mph and even stronger gusts out there.
Korda revealed: “I just focused extremely hard on my targets and punched those low shots into the wind.” The sudden drop in temperature was her biggest challenge, she added.
“It started to get really cold as early as the third hole,” Korda said. “I had a few layers on, but too many doesn't work either if you want to swing properly.”
Korda, who had teed off 90 minutes before the then-leaders and three shots back, immediately followed up two consecutive birdies with an eagle on the third hole. That's how you play!
“I really had a magnificent start,” Korda commented. “Holing the eagle on the third – you always welcome a start like that, it's a real bonus.”
She closed out the front nine with two consecutive birdies and then added birdies on the 12th, 14th, and d
