Nelly Korda and Lydia Ko made valiant charges for the CP Women’s Open trophy during Sunday’s final round at Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club. Ko, who last held the Rolex Rankings World No. 1 title in 2016, shot an outstanding 8-under 63 to jump six spots up the leaderboard and finish in solo fourth. The Kiwi made more birdies than anyone else in the field, carding 10 on the final day and 24 overall. She closed out her final round with four birdies in a row to put herself just two shots out of the lead.
“I played the par-3s really well. Birdied all of them, and there are five out here, so to make five twos was definitely helpful for the scorecard,” Ko said. “I think it was a lot of things were clicking (on the back nine). Hit it close on 10 and… then I holed a really good birdie on 13. Those holes coming in I chipped in (on 16), hit it close (on 17), and then obviously hit two good shots to be on the green in two on the last (18). When I was out of position, I was able to get a good drop or get lucky and still manage to have a birdie putt. Yeah, it was that kind of back nine.”
Korda also had an impressive back nine after staying Even through the turn. The highlight of the day came on No. 12 when she holed out for an eagle from the fairway. But an unlucky lip-out for birdie on 13, and three bogeys throughout the round, kept the major champion from ever gaining or tying the lead.
“I had a lot of chances out there. I had one shot after the eagle that completely 360ed on me, but that's golf,” she laughed. “You hole out and then you get a really nasty lip-out and it makes you really humble out there.”
Korda’s T2 finish is her second of the year – she earned her first at the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give after losing in a playoff to Jennifer Kupcho – and is projected to move to second in the Rolex Rankings, overtaking Minjee Lee. Though leaving without a win is disappointing for the seven-time LPGA Tour champion, she is grateful for every chance she gets to play after a blood clot in her left arm took her out of the game earlier this season.
“I'm just grateful that I am playing golf and I'm out here, and I'm enjoying every second of it,” Korda said. “Game is trending in the right direction. Still need to tighten up some loose ends I feel like, maybe improve on a couple different areas, but that's golf. That's what I love about it. I feel like you can constantly improve.”
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