Nelly Korda’s emotions were clear after the women’s world No. 1 faded at the AIG Women’s Open at the iconic Old Course at St. Andrews.
The American, 26, looked poised to cap off a historic season – but a horror few holes in a brutal finish on Sunday dashed her chances.
Korda was pipped by Olympic gold medalist Lydia Ko of New Zealand, who closed with a three-under-par 69 to win her third major on seven under.
Korda’s victories in Paris and Scotland halted the momentum of Korda,
who won six of seven LPGA events, including her second-career major at the Chevron Championship in April.
Disaster at St. Andrews struck from the par-5 14th hole. A string of poor shots left her a devastating double-bogey. Korda fell two shots behind eventual winner Ko.
“Listen, it’s golf. I’m going to mess up and unfortunately, I messed up over the weekend twice in two penalizing ways coming down the stretch,” she admitted.
“Theoretically that’s what kind of cost me the tournament but I played well. I played solid. I even fought after that. I’m going to take that into the next coming events.”
Korda also addressed her double bogey on 14. “I had 58-degree and it just shot on me,” Korda said. “The wedge shot that I had over the green was kind of sitting a little bit in a hole with some of the — whatever you call it, the ‘hay’ or whatever you call it behind it. I just can’t catch it cleanly and then obviously didn’t make the putt for bogey.”
Korda also struggled on the 17th, and again, was highly critical of her performance. “I had to hit right of it. I was a little too close to like the back edge [of the bunker on 17] where I’ve had one of those where you think you can get it, but you swing and miss and you hit the top of the bunker,” Korda said.
“Instead of doing that, I took my medicine and went a little right. Hit the putt really good but just didn’t have enough speed.”
As for Ko, her fairytale this year has continued. “It’s surreal,” said the 27-year-old. “Winning the gold medal in Paris a few weeks ago was almost too good to be true.
“Heading into the weekend I thought ‘How is it possible for me to win The Open?’. It is the most Cinderella-like story, these past two weeks.”
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Source: USA Today
