In this edition of Forward Press, Golfweek’s David Dusek chats with Beth Ann Nichols about the wild finish at the LPGA Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions, what Lexi Thompson is working on to improve her short game, why golf in the Olympics are a bigger deal for women than men and much more.
Jessica Korda won her sixth career LPGA title and first since the 2018 Honda LPGA Thailand.
After firing a historic 60 in the third round of the LPGA’s Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions, Jessica Korda came back to Four Seasons Golf and Sports Club in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, on Sunday to finish off her first title since 2018.
Danielle Kang took the lead into the final round of the LPGA’s season-opener, but a few late stumbles on the back nine cleared the way for Korda to defeat her in sudden death.
Both finished regulation at 24 under. In fading daylight, the two headed back to the par-3 18th. Ultimately, Korda poured in a birdie bomb and Kang couldn’t match it.
With the TOC title, Korda claims her sixth career LPGA title. She has proved to be formidable in season-opening events, having won the first tournament on the schedule three times before, at the 2018 Honda LPGA Thailand, 2014 Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic and 2012 Handa Women’s Australian Open.
In regulation, Kang, who won back-to-back titles after the LPGA’s late-summer restart in 2020, had to go head-to-head with both Korda sisters. A formidable final group also included Nelly Korda, who finished third, two shots back.
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Kang and Jessica Korda were tied by the time they reached the 18th hole. Both had birdied the 17th hole. Korda picked up ground with birdies at Nos. 13, 14 and 16. Kang played that stretch in even par, logging a birdie at the par-3 14th but making bogey at No. 15 before salvaging a par from the pine straw right of the short par-4 16th.
On the final hole, as music blared from the loudspeakers (and Korda mouthed the words and danced on the back of the tee), Kang and Korda both left themselves with long birdie putts for the win and both left them short to force the playoff.
It was considerably more quiet by the time Kang and Korda circled back to the 18th – at least until Korda jarred one for victory.
Jessica Korda posted the fifth 60 in LPGA history on Saturday at the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions, where Danielle Kang leads by 2.
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Looking back, Jessica Korda couldn’t believe that her only par on the back nine came on a par 5. That’s especially significant considering that the elder Korda sister posted the fifth 60 in LPGA history on Saturday at the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions.
Korda said she wasn’t really doing the math out there until she dropped an 18-foot putt for eagle on the 17th hole to get to 10 under on the par-71 Tranquilo Golf Club. She then hit a 6-iron to 9 feet on the 18th to post her career-best round on her father Petr’s 53rd birthday. Her back-nine 28 included seven birdies and an eagle.
“Days like today don’t come often,” said Jessica, “so you really cherish them when they do. Everything has to come together to have a day like today.”
Even with that spectacular round, Korda still trails Danielle Kang by two strokes heading into the final round. Kang, who hasn’t made a bogey in her last 70 holes dating back to the CME Group Tour Championship, birdied the 18th to shoot 63 and tie her career low.
Her 21-under 192 total shattered the previous 54-hole tournament record by five strokes and ties the all-time total aggregate 54-hole score in tour history.
“I had a blast with Aaron Hicks and Mardy Fish,” said Kang. “They’re such good golfers, and Aaron kept outdriving by me about 150 yards, and Mardy a solid 80. Tried to just stay in my own game and make good shots.”
Danielle Kang plays a shot on the fourth hole during the third round of the Diamond Resorts Tournament Of Champions at Tranquilo Golf Course at the Four Seasons Golf and Sports Club on January 23, 2021 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
In a departure from how Sunday groupings are normally done at this event, the top three LPGA players will be together in the final group and the penultimate group will be made up of the top three celebrities. That means leader Danielle Kang will be joined by the Korda sisters.
“You guys finally get your wish,” said Jessica.
Nelly Korda birdied the first three holes of the day and pulled into a share of first with Kang early in the round. A pair of bogies on the 15th and 18th moved her down into a share of third, six strokes back at 15 under.
NFL wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald and Fox News Chief Political Anchor Brett Baier played alongside Jessica in Saturday’s round and tried to stay out of the way. Fitzgerald said he picked up on Nos. 16 and 18 to avoid messing up Korda’s flow.
“I just wanted her to be comfortable and stay in her routine,” said Fitzgerald, who watches more LPGA coverage than PGA Tour golf, “once we probably got about to 13 or 14 and saw her picking up steam, you just don’t talk to her unless she talks to you.”
60 🤯
With a lights out day, @Thejessicakorda cards only the 5th 60 in Tour history!
The trio took a photo together with Korda’s card after the round.
“I’ve played with Jessica a number of times and I’m like I don’t understand how this girl doesn’t win all the time,” said Angela Stanford. “She bombs it. Once she figures it out on the putting green, she’ll be unstoppable.”
Jessica, 27, is a five-time winner on the LPGA and has dealt with a number of health issues since turning professional. Her last victory came at the 2018 Honda LPGA Thailand event after she had major surgery to correct a severe overbite.
Kang, 28, also owns five LPGA titles and won the Vare Trophy last season for low scoring average on the LPGA. She won back-to-back tournaments in Toledo last season after the LPGA’s extended break for COVID-19.
“I think my mental game is pretty strong this week,” said Kang. “Just kind of chugging along. I know I’m being really repetitive, but that’s what I’m doing, is just focusing on what I need to hit and what I need to execute. That’s pretty much it.”
Fish, a retired tennis player who is quite familiar with the Korda family, leads the celebrity division with 117 points in the Modified Stableford format. Former NFL placekicker Josh Scobee sits in second at 111, while the Yankees’ Hicks is in third at 110 with girlfriend Cheyenne Woods on the bag.
World Golf Hall of Famer Judy Rankin, lead analyst for Golf Channel, caught up with Golfweek to talk about the upcoming LPGA season.
The 2021 LPGA season kicks off Jan. 21-24 at the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions, a mere four weeks after the 2020 season concluded in Naples, Florida. World Golf Hall of Famer Judy Rankin joined the LPGA as a teenager in 1962 and still keeps as close an eye on the tour as anyone as lead analyst for Golf Channel. Golfweek caught up with 75-year-old Rankin to talk about the upcoming season and her thoughts on some of the biggest names in golf.
Which player are you most curious about going into 2021?
I had had a hunch that we would see a real battle between Sei Young Kim and Jin Young Ko. Just seems fairly obvious to me. These are the two that play the hard courses well and they seem to have a tremendous consistency.
These are just hunches on my part. I think Brooke Henderson has been awfully quiet. I feel like she will come back with a vengeance. And I really don’t think we have seen how the good the Korda sisters are. I can’t say that we are going to immediately, but that’s what I think.
Obviously both (Nelly and Jessica) had some physical ailments, but what else is holding them back, do you think?
I don’t know. I think it’s getting in the mode that you really believe you can win every week.
Jin Young Ko poses with the CME Globe trophy after winning the CME Group Tour Championship. Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images
Jin Young Ko made quite the statement to end last year. What do you like most about her game and how high is her ceiling?
From what I can understand, in the last year and a half she decided that she wanted to hit the ball a little farther and she accomplished that. She seems to take little pieces of her game that she thinks she can improve on … she seems to take on that mission and do it. There’s a fine line between that and the player who says ‘I have to hit it farther to compete’ and destroys themselves. She seems to have an extremely measured way of considering what needs to be better and getting it done. I think that’s all a part of how we see her play under pressure and so on because there’s such a calmness about her.
Let me equate it to my television. I can remember way back in the very beginning when I was trying to memorize everything. At some point, I don’t know if it was divine intervention or what is was, but I quit trying to memorize things and I could think. When I could actually have my brain work a little bit and think, not only did I enjoy it more, but I’m told I got better.
To me, that’s a little bit how you see some people trying to play. They’re trying to think about all those things that are working or not working, they’re fixated with their golf swing. It takes up too much space, where they can’t just have the instinctual things, and the things they would see that help them to react to a shot or how they play it. That stuff doesn’t happen like it should.
With her, it looks like it’s always happening the way it should.
She seems to have a maturity that’s beyond her years.
To some degree, that’s what I’m saying. It’s a maturity. When you say that about somebody, you’re saying that they play as though they’ve had a lot of experience, yet we know they haven’t had those experiences.
Inbee Park in the final round of women’s golf during the Rio 2016 Summer Olympic Games. Mandatory Credit: Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports
Where would a gold medal rank for you in the scope of a career?
Huge. A gold medal is every bit of a major championship if not a grand slam. Now, if you look at it in a more rational sense, the people you have to beat and the test and all that, it isn’t anywhere near as hard as a grand slam. That’s our perception of the Olympics and a gold medal, which clearly over all these years has been built over all sports.
Will Lydia Ko ever be No. 1 again?
I don’t think so. I think she can be a significant player and certainly a winner again. But I think that was a gift and a moment in time. It’s not that I don’t think she’ll ever be good again, because I do think she will be. But I don’t think she can be a dominant player. And one reason is when she played with the skills she had – and she was so skilled – that it didn’t matter that she wasn’t knock-your-socks off long. And that’s hard to get back again.
Lydia Ko of New Zealand tees off on the 17th hole during the first round of the LPGA Drive Championship golf tournament at Inverness Club. Photo credit: Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports
You said a moment in time, do you think everything was going so perfectly for her at that time that without the advantage of length, she can’t get back there?
I don’t mean to use fantastical words, but she was young. She really didn’t know any defeat. She didn’t know about not trusting herself. And she had perfected what she did to a great degree where the consistency was unbelievable. She was also a very good putter.
It’s funny that this not very big girl, became a little bit of an intimidating factor to young women on the tour.
Who is your favorite player to watch right now?
Well, I tell you, I like when I talk with her and spend a little time with her, I very much like Sei Young Kim. I don’t know if people grasp that watching her play. She has a bit of a sense of humor. It’s a fun conversation.
As far as beauty of the game, I like to watch Nelly.
Nelly Korda plays a shot on the second hole during the third round of the CME Group Tour Championship at Tiburon Golf Club on November 23, 2019 in Naples, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
What do you admire the most about Nelly’s game?
Her golf swing. The taller people tend to have golf swings that are more graceful. To me, it’s very powerfully graceful. … I think when Michelle Wie was 14 and 15, she might have had the swing that Nelly has now. Then her swing changed so many times and got so different. Nelly’s is the swing we would all have if we could all be 5-foot-11, long-limbed and all these things.
Who is underachieving the most right now?
Ariya Jutanugarn, there is no doubt as far as talent-wise. I don’t know why. I don’t know what’s gotten into her head.
How would you fix Lexi Thompson?
I really do think a big part of it is in her head. I think if she could play more relaxed, if she could play and not worry about putts. And believe me, I’ve had plenty of moments of my own that I wish I could have, so I don’t know how to tell her. But I think there’s a terrible stress in her game, that sometimes she doesn’t acknowledge. … I don’t know, you just can see it. … I think she just needs to play with a little reckless abandon, and I don’t think she can do that. With the people around her and this and that, that’s pretty hard to do.
While Sebastian Korda is enjoying a career week at the French Open, his sisters Nelly and Jessica are rolling at the ShopRite LPGA Classic.
Sisters Nelly Korda and Jessica Korda shot matching 68s in the opening round of the ShopRite LPGA Classic and will now turn their attention to younger brother Sebastian, who has advanced to the third round of the French Open.
Sebastian, a qualifier in Paris who made his Grand Slam debut this summer at the U.S. Open, takes on Pedro Martinez Friday at 6:30 a.m. ET.
“Honestly, it’s been awesome,” said Nelly. “Jess and I have been waking up early for every single one of his matches.”
Sebastian, 20, earned his first career tour level match victory at Roland Garros, matching his father’s feat at the same venue in 1988 at the same age. Sebastian, known as Sebi, became the youngest American to reach the third round in Paris since 18-year-old Andy Roddick in 2001.
“I’m over the moon,” the 213th-ranked Sebastian told the Herald Tribune after defeating veteran John Isner in the second round.
Both Nelly and Jessica are gearing up for their own major, with the KPMG Women’s PGA scheduled for next week just outside Philadelphia. Their parents didn’t travel to France, planning instead to attend the KPMG.
“But little did we know we can’t have guests,” said Nelly of next week’s COVID-19 restrictions. It was the same policy for the year’s first major at Royal Troon back in August.
Nelly started out with bogeys on three of the first hour holes Thursday but turned things around with a hole-out for eagle on the eighth hole followed by a birdie. She played the last 14 holes in 6 under.
“Coming from Florida, I’m not used (Poa annua), said Nelly. “I have a lot of wedges in and I have to play for a longer shot because it just rips back with spin. Like honestly, on one hole I had 20 yard of rip-back.”
Nelly, currently No. 2 in the world, came close to winning her first major title last month at the ANA Inspiration, where she lost in a playoff to Mirim Lee.
When asked if the family text thread is getting a lot of action this week watching Sebi’s career week, Nelly smiled.
“Oh yeah,” she said, “it’s a lot of LFG, LFG, LFG.”
Unrelated to the COVID-19 pandemic, Jessica Korda withdrew from AIG Women’s British Open early Thursday.
Jessica Korda will have to wait a little longer for her first major championship victory.
The 27-year-old announced early Thursday morning via her Twitter account that she would withdraw from the AIG Women’s British Open, the first women’s major championship of the year. The tournament begins Thursday at Royal Troon Golf Club in Scotland.
“Unfortunately, due to medical reasons that are not Covid-19 related, I’ve had to withdraw from the AIG Women’s Open. I’m hopeful to tee it up soon,” said Korda, who has been replaced in the field by Slovenia’s Katja Pogacar.
Korda has five LPGA wins to her name but is still seeking that elusive first major title. She’s yet to win since February 2018 at the Honda LPGA Thailand. Entering the week Korda sat at No. 20 in the Golfweek/Sagarin women’s professional rankings.
Nelly and Jessica. Korda sister kick off the LPGA eTour Live series, a match-play competition streamed on LPGA and Topgolf digital platforms
It’s not traditional tournament golf, but it’s a chance to watch some of your favorite LPGA stars (and perhaps a future star) take part in head-to-head competition.
The first match is a doozie.
On Wednesday, sisters Jessica and Nelly Korda will launch the start of the LPGA eTour Live, a match-play competition in partnership with World Golf Tour (WGT) by Topgolf. The Kordas will kick off a series of seven nine-hole online matches twice a week, with the final match taking place June 3. Each match will take place at 2 p.m. ET and will stream live on LPGA and Topgolf digital platforms.
Lucy Li is the only Symetra Tour player in the field. The Kordas will compete on Congressional Country Club’s Blue Course, host of the 2022 and 2027 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. Other familiar tracks players can choose from include the Old Course at St Andrews (host of the 2007 and 2013 AIG Women’s British Open), Oakmont Country Club (1992 and 2010 U.S. Women’s Open) and Pinehurst No. 2 (2014 U.S. Women’s Open), as well as future U.S. Women’s Open venues Erin Hills (2025), the Lake Course at The Olympic Club (2021) and Pebble Beach Golf Links (2023).
GOLFTV’s Henni Zuel and Golf Channel’s Tom Abbott will add commentary during Wednesday matches, with Golf Channel’s Karen Stupples commentating on Fridays.
• • •
Here’s the lineup:
Wednesday, May 13: Match 1 – Jessica Korda vs. Nelly Korda
Friday, May 15: Match 2 – Angel Yin vs. Lizette Salas
Wednesday, May 20: Match 3 – Tiffany Joh vs. Jenny Shin
Friday, May 22: Match 4 – Jane Park vs. Lucy Li
Wednesday, May 27: Match 5 – Semifinal: winners of Matches 1 and 2
Friday, May 29: Match 6 – Semifinal: winners of Matches 3 and 4
Wednesday, June 3: Match 7 – Championship: winners of Matches 5 and 6
The postponement of the 2020 Olympic Games gives Inbee Park, 2016 gold medalist in women’s golf, a better chance of qualifying for Tokyo.
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To make the Olympic Team in Tokyo, 2016 gold-medal winner Inbee Park figured she needed to win twice before the June qualifying deadline. Park won the last tournament the LPGA held, the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open, in mid-February before a global pandemic halted the sports world. It would’ve been a tall order to secure a second title with the tour not set to restart until mid-May at the earliest.
But now, with the IOC making the announcement on Tuesday that the Olympic Games will be postponed, Park actually has time on her side.
“No matter how I say it, it’s definitely an important year for me,” said Park at the start of 2020. “Even whether I get an opportunity or whether I don’t, I think I just want to have a season that I won’t regret. I just want to give myself a lot of opportunities.”
Opportunities are in short supply these days, with only mini-tour tournaments in Central Florida and Phoenix, Arizona, now taking place amidst the coronavirus outbreak.
If the Olympics were held today, Park would be the first alternate on the South Korean team, despite being No. 11 in the world. World No. 1 Jin Young Ko, Sung Hyun Park, Sei Young Kim and Jeong Eun Lee6 would be the four players representing South Korea. Neither Ko nor Sung Hyun Park have competed on the LPGA in 2020.
The top 15 players in the Olympic Golf Rankings are automatically eligible, with a maximum of four players per country.
Added time also bodes well for the Americans, who right now only have three players inside the top 15 (Nelly Korda, Danielle Kang and Lexi Thompson).
Nelly’s older sister, Jessica, is currently ranked 16th in the world. Neither of the Korda sisters competed in Rio.
In 2016, Stacy Lewis was the top American on the board, finishing just outside the medals in a share of fourth place. Gerina Piller tied for 11th and Thompson tied for 19th.
New Zealand’s Lydia Ko took the silver medal and China’s Shanshan Feng claimed bronze.
The host country currently has three players on the qualifying list: Nasa Hataoka, Hinako Shibuno and Ai Suzuki.
Lexi Thompson, the Korda sisters and a handful of athletes and artists highlight the field at the 2020 LPGA season opener.
A preliminary field list is out for the LPGA’s kickoff event, the Diamond Resort Tournament of Champions. Lexi Thompson and sisters Jessica and Nelly Korda highlight the event, along with Brittany Lincicome, who will make her first start on the LPGA since giving birth to daughter Emery Reign.
The event, held Jan. 16-19 at Four Seasons Golf and Sports Club Orlando, features LPGA players competing alongside celebrities like MLB Hall of Famers John Smoltz, Ivan Rodriguez, celebrity chef Bobby Flay, Larry the Cable Guy and country music star Jake Owen.
There’s never a shortage of fun at the LPGA’s opener. The entertainment lineup at the TOC includes Counting Crows, Sister Hazel, Boyz II Men, Colt Ford, Easton Corbin and Owen.
Among the recent LPGA winners not on the preliminary list: World No. 1 Jin Young Ko, Michelle Wie, Lydia Ko, Brooke Henderson, Inbee Park, Sung Hyun Park and 2019 majors winners Hannah Green and Jeongeun Lee6.
The deadline for players to commit is Jan. 3 at 5 p.m. Eastern.
Neither Jutanugarn sisters, Ariya and Moriya, nor Minjee Lee will be teeing it up, an agent confirmed.
Woods and Suzann Pettersen made headlines in 2019 for their dramatic victories in golf’s biggest events, but here are 8 other big comebacks.
As the decade winds down, we have time to reminisce over some of the best storylines in golf — most notably being the comebacks.
Whether we’re talking about the resurgence of Tiger Woods the most recent comeback of Brendon Todd winning back-to-back PGA Tour events after seriously considering retirement, we rank them all.
With not much time to catch our breath, Golfweek’s Steve DiMeglio takes a look back at the top 10 comeback stories in golf over the last decade.
Brendon Todd after winning 2019 Bermuda Championship at Port Royal Golf Course in Southampton, Bermuda. (Rob Carr/Getty Images)
10. Todd’s pizza plans on hold
Brendon Todd won the 2014 HP Byron Nelson Classic and then got the full-blown driver yips. From 2016-18, he missed 37 of 41 cuts and contemplated quitting the game and buying a pizza franchise. Then, after starting the 2019-20 season with four missed cuts, he won the Bermuda Championship and Mayakoba Golf Classic in back-to-back starts.
