Major Nelly: Korda Wins PGA, Moves To World’s No. 1 Ranking

Nelly Korda has been the best player in women’s golf the past month or so and her impressive resume became even more spectacular on Sunday as she walked away from the Atlanta Athletic Club with the Women’s PGA Championship and the world’s No. 1 ranking.

It’s more than spectacular considering Nelly is just 22-years-old but she’s taken the world of women’s golf by storm, going back-to-back with wins last week then grabbing the big one on a steamy Atlanta Sunday afternoon in a grinding duel with determined Lizette Salas.

Korda simply wore Salas down with her superior firepower as she was 20, 30, 40, up to 50 yards longer off the tee than Salas.

The two were tied heading into the final round in this third major of the women’s season.  At 15-under at the start of the final 18, they pretty much pulled away from the rest of the field and made the final 18 a head-to-head contest.

Korda gave an indication of things to come early when she nearly made a two at the par five second hole.  Her second nearly went in the hole and she made a six-footer for eagle three that got her to 18-under, one ahead of Salas who hung in there with birdie on the par five.

It stayed that way at the turn and the pivotal hole proved to be the par five 12th, where once again, Korda’s power came into play, big-time.  She hit a gem of a second shot that stopped eight feet away.  Salas, meanwhile, had to lay-up then made a mistake and overshot the green with a wedge that settled in bunker over the green.  From there she made bogey and watched Korda hole her second eagle putt to get to 20-under as the three-shot swing stretched her lead to four.

Another birdie at the 14th and Korda reached 21-under and was five shots ahead with four holes to play.

Nelly’s only mistake of the day came at the par three 15th, where, after a long wait on the tee, she hit a miserable shot that found the middle of the lake.  She made double and saw her lead cut to three.  But she steadied herself, finished with three straight pars and a round of 68 that got her to 19-under, three better than Salas, who closed with 71.

Korda becomes the first American player to reach No. 1 since Stacy Lewis back in 2014.

Korda, younger sister of Jessica, was showered with champagne and got a big hug from her sis as she walked off the 72nd hole.

“I don’t even have the words, honestly” she said as she tried to think about becoming a major champion for the first time.  But after collecting her thoughts, she did.  “This is something I’ve worked for since I was 14 when I played in my first major,” she said.  “I played really well today and tried to keep a level head.”

It was a sweet comeback after she missed the cut at the U.S. Open.  “Nelly missed the cut at the U.S. Open, went home and regrouped,” said Jessica, who finished four-under and tied for 15th.  “It’s a lot of behind the scenes.  We know we can always lean on each other for the hard times.”

But there were no hard times this week for the younger Korda sister, only a lot of great golf shots as she put together rounds of 70-63-68-68 and after that 63, she basically sent a message to the rest of the field that this would be her major championship.

Salas was solo second at 16-under, six clear of third place.

Salas gave it all she had but in the end, it was a mismatch with the now world’s No. 1.

This major was Nelly Korda’s.

And hers alone.

Women’s PGA Scoreboard: