Not sure why it’s called The Swinging Skirts, a lot of the players on the LPGA Tour prefer to wear shorts.
Whatever they call the tournament in Taiwan, there is a new winner on the women’s tour now and it’s a proud day for former professional tennis player Peter Korda.
Oldest daughter Jessica has won five times. Now her younger sister, Nelly, has joined the Winning Korda Sisters Act.
Nelly prevailed on the other side of the world with a closing 68 at the Ta Shee Golf and Country Club and beat Australian Minjee Lee by two shots. Lee finished with 66 but came up just short. Korda’s win made it a great week for American players. Ryan O’Toole finished solo third at 10-under par.
“Truthfully, I cannot put it into words,” Korda said afterward. “It still hasn’t hit. It’s definitely one of the best days of my entire life. I can finally check that off of my list, winning an LPGA event, something that I dreamed of ever since I started playing.”
O’Toole carded seven birdies — including four of the last five holes — on her way to that closing 67. “I just put myself in position and made putts,” O’Toole said. “I bogeyed the first hole and I think the best thing I could have done was stay in the moment after that.”
Local fans showed up hoping their favorite, Wei-Ling Hsu, would come through for them. Hsu held a share of the lead with Korda after the third round, but suffered five bogeys over the final 18 and closed with a 74 to finish tied for sixth with Lydia Ko (72).
There were political overtones to this one, based on the bad blood that mainland China holds for Taiwan. One of the field’s big names — Shashan Feng — withdrew at the last moment with no explanation. You can bet she was basically told by the Chinese government to sit this one out. Simple as that.
