HOUSTON (AP) — Nelly Korda won The Chevron Championship on Sunday with a performance worthy of her return to No. 1 in women’s golf.
Staked to a five-shot lead at the start, Korda was efficient as ever and no one could get closer than four shots all afternoon at Memorial Park. She closed with a 2-under 70 for a five-shot victory to capture the third major of her career.
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The victory was her 17th on the LPGA and 21st worldwide, and it was enough for the 27-year-old American star to move back to the top of the women’s world ranking for the first time since August.
Korda not only won wire-to-wire, it was never really a contest. She hit 5-iron to 5 feet for birdie on her 16th hole of the opening round Thursday to take the lead and never trailed again.
She celebrated in the best manner possible — a cannon ball into the 4 1/2-foot pool built to the right of the 18th green to keep with the tradition at this major that dates to 1988 when the winner jumped into Poppie’s Pond at Mission Hills in the California desert.
Korda finished at 18-under 270, one short of Dottie Pepper’s 1999 tournament record at Mission Hills. Ruoning Yin (69) and Patty Tavatanakit (70) tied for second.
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PGA Tour
AVONDALE, La. (AP) — Matt Fitzpatrick and younger brother Alex combined for a 1-under 71 in alternate- shot play on Sunday, to pull out a drama-filled, single-stroke victory in the Zurich Classic and usher the younger Fitzpatrick onto the PGA Tour through 2028.
After the Englishmen had lost a four-stroke lead on the back nine, Matt Fitzpatrick, the third-ranked player in the world, stuck a bunker shot on the par-5 18th a foot from the hole.
The 27-year-old Alex Fitzpatrick, a European tour regular, smiled and put his hand on his head as he went to mark the ball, knowing a chance to alter the course of his golf career would be in his own hand.
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He made the putt, crouched and put one hand over his face, and then rose to embrace his older brother.
Watching from the clubhouse were the teams tied at 30-under: Alex Smalley and Hayden Springer; and Kristoffer Reitan and Kris Ventura. As the Fitzpatricks celebrated, their bids for a first PGA Tour victory ended.
European tour
SHANGHAI (AP) — Bernd Wiesberger of Austria played bogey-free Sunday and closed with a 4-under 67 to overcome Adrian Otaegui of Spain and win the China Open, his first victory since returning two years ago from Saudi-backed LIV Golf.
Wiesberger, who qualified for the 2021 Ryder Cup, avoided the mistakes that cost Otaegui. The Spaniard had a three-shot lead on the back nine only to drop shots on both par 3s at Shanghai Enhance Anting Golf Club.
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Otaegui came to the par-5 18th needing birdie to force a playoff and hit his tee shot into a bush to the right. He wound up with a double bogey for a 71 to finish three shots behind.
Wiesberger finished on 19-under 265 for his ninth career European title, and first since winning in Denmark in 2021 that helped him make the Ryder Cup team that year. He was among the first players to join Saudi-backed LIV Golf in 2022 and played two seasons before his contract ended.
PGA Tour Champions
DULUTH, Ga. (AP) — Retief Goosen won the PGA Tour Champion’s Mitsubishi Electric Classic on Sunday at TPC Sugarloaf, 24 years after he took the PGA Tour’s BellSouth Classic on the course.
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Goosen closed with a 14-point round under the modified Stableford scoring system to beat Stephen Ames by two points. The 57-year-old South African won for the fifth time in 150 starts on the senior tour.
Goosen birdied the par-5 18th to finish with 39 points. Players received eight points for an albatross, five for eagle and two for birdie. They lost a point for bogey and three for double bogey or worse.
Ames had 19 points in the final round. Second-round leader Zach Johnson was third at 36 after an eight-point day.
Local favorite Stewart Cink, the Senior PGA winner last week for his third victory of the year, was fourth at 35 after a 19-point round.
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Other tours
Jeongwoo Ham closed with a 3-under 68 for a two-shot victory over Cameron John of Australia in the Singapore Open on the Asian Tour. Both earned a spot in the British Open this summer at Royal Birkdale. … Ren Yonezawa closed with a 5-under 67 and birdied the first playoff hole to defeat Younghan Song in the Maezawa Cup on the Japan Golf Tour. … Esme Hamilton of England played bogey-free on the back nine for a 2-under 71 to win the Investec South African Women’s Open by two shots over Cara Gainer on the Ladies European Tour. … Patrick Flavin closed with a 4-under 67 for a two-shot victory in the 94 Abierto del Centro Zurich on the PGA Tour Americas. … Amari Avery made only two birdies but was bogey-free in the final round for a 2-under 70. She won the IOA Classic in Beaumont, California, for her first Epson Tour victory when Nika Ito had two bogeys and two double bogeys over the final five holes.
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