Report: Nelly Korda wins by three shots
Nelly Korda won her first major title by taking the Women’s PGA Championship by three shots at the Atlanta Athletic Club.
The American, whose victory will see her become world No 1, went into the final day tied for the lead with Lizette Salas but clinched the title with a four-under round of 68.
The 22-year-old, daughter of Australian Open winner Petr Korda, had an eagle and birdie on both the front and back nine, with a run of nearly 50 holes without a dropped shot coming to an end as she found the water on the par-three 15th.
Salas, who had shot 67-67-67, carded a final round of 71 to finish on 16 under, six shots ahead of Hyo Joo Kim and Giulia Molinaro, who were tied for third.
Nelly’s sister Jessica finished tied for 15th on four under alongside Ireland’s Leona Maguire, a shot ahead of England’s Charley Hull and Georgia Hall who were tied for 21st. PA Media
Two seemingly effortless eagles won the day for Nelly Korda. The first one, the result of an outrageous 250-yard fairway wood on 5 that nearly rolled in for albatross, coaxed a response out of Lizette Salas ... but Salas couldn’t respond a second time when Korda’s aggressive line at 12 paid a big dividend. Formerly the best player on Tour without a major to her name, Korda is now a PGA champion and world number one. Congratulations to her, commiserations to Salas, and thanks for reading this live blog. Nighty night!
-19: N Korda
-16: Salas
-10: HJ Kim, Molinaro
-8: Kang, Tavatanakit
-7: Ernst, Boutier
-6: Yang, Clanton, Lin
-5: SY Kim, Meechai, Ardina
-4: J Korda, Madsen, Maguire, Noh, Sagstrom, Henseleit
Nelly Korda, major champion, speaks. “I just played really well this week. I had a great week last week, and carried the momentum through to this week. I’ve put in a lot of work. To finally get three wins under my belt and to get a major, I don’t even have words, honestly. This is something I’ve worked for since I was 14. To finally get it done here in Atlanta with such an amazing crowd, it’s really special. I have an amazing caddy, so shout out to Jason. I tried to keep a level head, and keep it one shot at a time.”
That’s some performance by Nelly Korda, the 2021 Women’s PGA champion, and new world number one. It’s her first major, and her sixth career win. She’s the first American woman to land a major since Angela Stanford won the Evian in 2018. She’s also the first American woman to top the world rankings since Stacy Lewis in 2014. She lifts the trophy, waves it about, and pops it down on the plinth again. Interview ahoy!
Nelly Korda wins the 2021 Women's PGA!
Korda finishes in style, rolling a left-to-right slider into the cup for par. She raises both hands in triumph, quietly and modestly, before crumbling into tears of joy. She’s embraced by sister Jessica, her mum and partner, then sprayed with some tasty champagne. What a performance! A seize-the-day 68 featuring two of the finest eagles you’ll ever see. Her second into 5 - nearly holing out from 250 yards for albatross - will go down in legend.
-19: Korda (F)
-16: Salas (F)
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Whoa Nelly! She sends an excitable putt 15 feet past the hole. It’s not going to matter, though. Salas takes two putts for a par and a final round of 71. Second place it is, and she smiles warmly. She’s done very little wrong today; she just came up against a force of nature on top of her game.
... but Salas doesn’t hole out. She finds the middle of the green, a strangely meek shot selection seeing she needed something absurdly dramatic to keep her faint hopes alive. So both women make their way to the green, receiving the ovation they deserve for putting on one hell of a show. They’ve both been magnificent in their own very different ways.
From 121 yards, Nelly Korda sends a big pitching wedge to the back of 18. Better long than short and wet. The right decision ... unless Salas holes out, of course ...
Salas and Korda both lay up, as expected. Up on the green, it’s a birdie for Molinaro, who salvages a share of third place. That’s by far her best finish at a major; in fact, it’s her career best finish. She’s -9. Par meanwhile for the ever-entertaining Tavatanakit, who hooked her drive into the water, dropped, bashed a 3-wood into the green, and nearly drained a long birdie putt. She ends the week at -8.
“A great way to end it.” Salas responds sarcastically as she sends her final drive into a bunker down the right. Korda plays it safe with hybrid off the tee. No point taking any chances down 18 with a three-shot lead. She sends her ball straight down the middle and gives the club a good twirl. The nerves will be jangling, but life will feel pretty fine right now.
Salas and Korda take turns to barely touch their putts, only to watch their balls keep rolling past the hole. They’re both missable; they’re both made. A pair of pars, and Nelly Korda is one hole away from her first major championship ... and becoming the number-one golfer in the world!
The sun’s out. Salas has to go for it at 17, the pin tucked away near the water. She sends a fine shot over the flag to 15 feet. She really needs to sink that birdie putt ... and hope that Korda sends her ball into the briny again. But not for the first time today, Korda takes dead aim, goes for the aggressive line, and comes up with the goods. She’ll have a look at birdie from similar distance, and her first major championship is well within her reach now!
Another hole, another three-putt bogey for Molinaro. She slips out of a share of third. She’s -9. Third place solo looked a shoo-in 30 minutes ago; now she needs a birdie up the last for a tie.
Salas makes her par putt. Korda’s birdie effort slips by, but the lead is still three. At which point the heavens briefly open, just to add a little windswept drama.
-19: N Korda (16)
-16: Salas (15)
-10: HJ Kim (F), Molinaro (16)
-8: Kang (F), Tavatanakit (16)
Salas’s second into 16 only just holds the back of the green. She’ll have a long look at birdie from the fringe. Korda ramps up the pressure by sticking her approach to 15 feet. Salas gets good pace on her putt, but it’s always staying out to the left. A testing par saver coming up. Meanwhile on 18, Kim Hyo-joo makes her birdie putt, and she ends the day with a 68, and the week at -10. She’s the new clubhouse leader.
It’s all going wrong for Giulia Molinaro at the wrong time. She follows her double at 15 with a three-putt bogey at 16. All of a sudden, the cushion protecting her third place is all but gone ... and Kim Hyo-joo has a birdie putt coming up on 18!
-19: N Korda (15)
-16: Salas (15)
-10: Molinaro (16)
-9: HJ Kim (17)
Austin Ernst is in with a 70. A round that promised more. She ends the week at -7. Back on 16, Salas and Korda take turns to split the fairway. Nelly’s drive has gone miles; it’s a fine response to that double, her caddy having done his bit with a paean to positivity just before the tee shot.
Korda doesn’t quite hit her bogey putt. It stays out on the right lip, and she wanders off quietly effing and jeffing. A double bogey, and her first dropped shots since her opening hole on Friday. A two-putt par for Salas, and there’s a spring in her step again, the lead now only - only! - three.
-19: N Korda (15)
-16: Salas (15)
-11: Molinaro (15)
Molinaro takes two putts for a double-bogey five, slipping to -11. She exits the green, allowing Korda to hit her third from the drop zone. And what a shot she hits! Grasping the nettle, she aims straight for the flag, taking on the water again. Fearless, and the lack of conservatism pays off when her ball lands six feet shy of the flag. She’ll have a great chance to escape with just a bogey. That’s one heck of a shot in the circumstances.
Before Molinaro putts out, Korda and Salas are invited to play up. An attempt to get things moving a little. The wait appears to have ruined Korda’s rhythm, as she makes a heavy contact, the ball slicing to the right and dunking in the water, well short of dry land! This isn’t over quite yet. Salas finds the centre of the green with her 7-wood. A big few minutes coming up!
A bit of a lull, the result of a logjam at the par-three 15th. Molinaro doesn’t help matters by sending her tee shot into the drink to the right. She sends her third from the dropzone into the heart of the green, but she’ll have a long two putts for double bogey.
In goes Nelly Korda’s birdie putt! She’s now six under for her round ... and 21 under par for the tournament. If she pars her way home, she’ll equal the record low score to par at a women’s major, set by Chun In-gee at the 2016 Evian Championship.
-21: N Korda (14)
-16: Salas (14)
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Salas fires a 4-hybrid into the front of 14. A fine shot that leaves a long birdie putt. Only problem is, Korda is hitting 9-iron in from the bunker, and she twirls the club after sending her second pin high, leaving a ten-foot look at birdie.
Korda finds yet another bunker with her driver, this time at 14. Salas splits the fairway. Up on the green, Molinaro nearly sinks a 15-footer from the fringe at the back, but it stays on the left lip. Just a par, when birdie was necessary. She remains seven off the lead at -13.
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She can’t make one here. Just a par, and she walks off the green shaking her head sadly. Two putts for Korda as well, and Nelly is one hole closer to her maiden major. Meanwhile a double bogey for Tavatanakit on 13. Plenty thought the ANA champ would launch an attack today, but she’s not got going at all. She’s -8.
-20: N Korda (13)
-16: Salas (13)
-13: Molinaro (13)
-8: Kang (F), HJ Kim (15), Boutier (14), Tavatanakit (13)
-7: Ernst (15)
Austin Ernst ended up with a triple-bogey six on the par-three 15th. That sends her crashing down the leader board to -7, and should serve Lizette Salas with a reminder that the jig isn’t necessarily up yet. She calms down quickly and finds the 13th green in regulation. Probably a good time to sink a big birdie putt.
The Chattahoochee River runs past the Highlands Course. En route to the 13th tee, the normally placid Lizette Salas whistled her ball into it. The sort of scenario Bobbie Gentry would write a song about.
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Salas can’t make her putt, and while it’s only her second bogey of the week, it’s come at exactly the wrong time. Korda steers in her downhill eagle putt from six feet, her second of the day, and suddenly she’s in complete control of this championship!
-20: N Korda (12)
-16: Salas (12)
-13: Molinaro (12)
That approach only just squeaked over the water. The shot was pretty much perfectly judged, but it wouldn’t have required too much taken off it to get wet. A modicum of luck, but then you make your own. Salas can only splash out to 15 feet, and has a job on to salvage her par. A three-shot swing could be coming up here. Speaking of wet and splash, Ernst has just thinned one out of a bunker and into the drink at 15.
Molinaro is this close to draining a 50-foot eagle putt on 12. Birdie will do, and the Italian, who has previously made no impression in the majors, moves a little closer to the leaders. Back down the hole, Salas lays up with her second. Korda plans to seize the day, though, and cracks her approach, a 6-iron from 170 yards, over the water - just! - to six feet! That’s wonderful, and were she to make eagle here, it could potentially be the rapier thrust that secures this tournament. Especially as Salas sends her third into sand at the back.
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Ernst does extremely well to get up and down for her par on 14. A sensational bump into the bank and up onto the green, rolling out to kick-in distance. So close to perfection. One of the shots of the week. She remains at -10. Meanwhile a fine two-putt par for Korda at 11, having pulled her 9-iron 40 feet wide of the hole. A near-perfect lag followed by a tap in. Par for Salas, too, after she leaves a 20-foot birdie effort four feet short, but steers in the missable left-to-right breaker she’d left herself.
-18: N Korda (11)
-17: Salas (11)
Tavatanakit misses another short par putt, this time at 11, and that’s pretty much her race run. She walks off steaming, the putter taking some more punishment. Par for Molinaro, who is still hanging about on the periphery. Austin Ernst is going along nicely, by the way: birdie at 12 and 13 take her up to -10, though she’s just hit a hot one over the back of 14, and she’s down the bottom of a swale, shortsided.
-18: N Korda (10)
-17: Salas (10)
-12: Molinaro (11)
-10: Ernst (13), Tavatanakit (11)
-9: HJ Kim (13)
-8: Kang (F), Boutier (11)
A huge break for Nelly on 11! She pulls her drive miles left. The ball looks like stopping on the side of a steep rough-covered bank, only to somehow whistle through before picking up speed again down a bare patch and into the first cut! To be fair, that outcome’s partly down to her power, but that’s still a lucky bounce. Salas is, as usual, on the short stuff, a good bit further back.
Two-putt pars for both Nelly Korda and Lizette Salas. Korda remains one in the lead. Meanwhile we have a new clubhouse leader: Danielle Kang, who won this title in 2017 at Olympia Fields, signs for her second 67 of the week. They go along with a pair of 73s, and she ends up at -8.
Salas, in the first cut down the left of 10, takes an age over her club selection. She finally plumps for the hybrid she wants, and it was worth the wait. She sweetly strikes to ten feet. Korda, who is a much quicker player, doesn’t hang about before whipcracking her iron to a similar distance. Meanwhile up on 18, sister Jessica signs for a 71, ending the week at -4.
Patty Tavatanakit pulls a short par putt wide on 10. She hammers the head of her putter into the ground in wild frustration, knowing full well that’s surely any outside chance of catching the leaders gone. She slips to -11.
Korda chips up the bank. She’s a little heavy handed again, the ball rolling six feet past. That’ll be a big one coming back. Salas walks off muttering after not quite hitting her ten-foot birdie effort. Korda rolls in her par saver, and having stared a two-shot swing in the face, only to get out of Dodge unscathed, she’ll be much the happier of the two after that.
-18: N Korda (9)
-17: Salas (9)
Now then. From the centre of the 9th fairway, Salas sends her second to 12 feet. Lovely shot. Nelly, having found yet another fairway bunker, flies a hot one over the back of the green. She’s at the bottom of a swale with not a great deal of green to play with. A two-shot swing is quite possible here.
Giulia Molinaro hits the turn in 34 after knocking in an eight-foot par saver at 9. Her playing partner Patty Tavatanakit also turns in 34, making birdie. Both are just about still in with a chance of winning, though they’ll probably need the leading duo to start flapping. There’s been no sign of that yet, though of course the tournament doesn’t start until the final pairing reach the back nine. Yep, that old saw.
-18: N Korda (8)
-17: Salas (8)
-12: Molinaro (9), Tavatanakit (9)
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Kim Hyo-joo, who shot 61 en route to winning the Evian in 2014, is in the middle of a nice run. Having birdied 6, 7 and 8, she’s made another at 10 to move into fifth place. Meanwhile the leading duo both par 8 in fairly undramatic fashion.
-18: N Korda (8)
-17: Salas (8)
-12: Molinaro (8)
-11: Tavatanakit (8)
-9: HJ Kim (10)
Both women take aggressive lines at the 8th, showing no fear of the water on the left. Both find prime position on the fairway. Korda is way out in front, needless to say; she’s averaged 263 yards with the driver this week, while Salas only reaches 231. It’s a significant difference. Korda is often approaching with wedge while Salas takes hybrid. It illustrates how well Salas has been hitting that club this week. Her putter has been red hot too.
Salas finds the centre of the green at the par-three 7th. She’s left with a long birdie putt, and nearly drains it, but the 30-foot effort stops a dimple away on the left. Korda also pars, having anxiously followed her tee shot as it only just got over the water.
-18: N Korda (7)
-17: Salas (7)
Salas lobs up with Mickelsonian grace to a couple of feet. A fine birdie. Korda however is a bit heavy handed with her chip up, the ball scooting 12 feet past the flag. She can’t make the putt coming back, and all of a sudden the lead is just one. This is a wonderfully tenacious display by Salas, who could have been forgiven for letting her shoulders slump when Korda made that effortless eagle. A brilliant birdie-birdie response. This is shaping up to be a fine battle.
-18: N Korda (6)
-17: Salas (6)
-12: Molinaro (7)
-11: Tavatanakit (7)
Last year’s champion Kim Sei-young finishes her title defence with birdie and a highly respectable 68. She ends the week at -5. Meanwhile on the short par-four 6th, Patty Tavatanakit makes birdie to rise to -11, then when she vacates the hole, Nelly Korda bangs her drive through the green, and Lizette Salas sends her tee shot to the right of the putting surface. Both women will have delicate chip shots back onto the green.
This is such a staunch up and down by Lizette Salas. Having just seen her partner nearly hole out for albatross, tapping in for an eagle that takes her three clear at the top, she wedges from 75 yards to ten feet, then rolls in an unerring birdie putt. What moxie! She’s flatly refusing to buckle, despite Korda throwing everything at her.
-18: N Korda (5)
-16: Salas (5)
-12: Molinaro (6)
A stroke of luck for Salas on 6. She’s unable to reach the par-five in two, so lays up with a 7-wood. She slices into a tree on the right-hand edge of the fairway, but the ball manages to make it through the branches and out the other side. She’s still in the semi-rough, but at least no overhanging foliage will block her route to the green. And she’ll need to find something special, because Nelly hits her second, another 7-wood, straight at the flag. For a second, it looks as though the ball’s tracking in for an albatross, but it stops 12 inches short. She tidies up, the easiest eagle putt she’ll ever make, to move three clear of Salas, who is still 75 yards back up the hole. A huge moment. That was one hell of a shot!
-18: N Korda (5)
-15: Salas (4)
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Another birdie for Austin Ernst! The 29-year-old from South Carolina - who finished a shot behind Angela Stanford at the 2018 Evian - drains a 40-footer on 8 to move to -9. Two-putt pars for both Korda and Salas at 4. And Molinaro rolls in her eagle putt on 5 without fuss, to move into third spot on her own.
-16: N Korda (4)
-15: Salas (4)
-12: Molinaro (5)
-10: Tavatanakit (5)
Korda fires her tee shot at 4 straight at the flag, only for her ball to topple off the back of the green. Just off the back; she’ll have a putt. Salas certainly will, sending her ball ten feet past the flag. Meanwhile up on 5, Molinaro, coming off that superb birdie at 4, hits one of the shots of the week at the par-five 5th. From the middle of the fairway, 250 yards out, she wallops her second arrow-straight towards the flag, the ball coming to a stop ten feet short. She’ll have a great look for an eagle that would bring the 30-year-old Italian - who doesn’t have any record to speak of at the majors - right into the mix!
Salas can’t make her 20-foot birdie effort. Korda steers her 12-footer in, though, and the first move is made by the best player on Tour yet to win a major. Meanwhile up on 4, Tavatanakit’s birdie putt doesn’t drop ... but her playing partner Molinaro tidies up from a couple of feet after a sensational tee shot nearly slam-dunks into the cup. She’s back to -10.
-16: N Korda (3)
-15: Salas (3)
-10: Molinaro (4), Tavatanakit (4)
Tavatanakit looks to have found her range now. She clips a 9-iron at the par-three 4th pin high, leaving herself a five-foot look at birdie. Back on 3, both Salas and Korda send their second shots pin high, left and right respectively. The crowd are definitely four-square behind Nelly, who is enjoying plenty of vocal support. Poor Salas has been in this position before, with the gallery at Woburn at the 2019 British Open cheering predominantly for Hinako Shibuno.
Tavatanakit repairs the damage of that bogey on 2. She sends her approach to 3 over the flag, spinning back to four feet. It’s not a long putt, but it’s a delicate downhill dribbler. She reads it perfectly, the ball serenely rolling towards the cup, a modicum of left-to-right movement, before disappearing into the centre. The birdie brings her back to -10. Meanwhile back on the tee, Salas splits the fairway while Korda finds another bunker.
-15: N Korda (2), Salas (2)
-10: Tavatanakit (3)
Salas sends a delicate wedge high into the air, landing her ball eight feet from the flag. Chance to escape with a par. Nelly meanwhile fluffs her chip, leaving a 12-foot birdie chance. Her putt always stays high on the left, so it’s just a par. Then Salas rattles in her par saver, arrow straight, at confident pace, and gives the air a small punch in celebration. That’s a super scramble, and she’ll be much the happier walking off the green.
-15: N Korda (2), Salas (2)
The difference in power between Nelly Korda and Lizette Salas is illustrated on the par-five 2nd. Korda can reach easily in two; in fact, she’s over the back of the green. Salas by contrast hits driver and fairway wood, both flush, yet still has 80 yards to the green. The first bit of serious matchplay-style pressure applied, Salas chunks her third into thick stuff 20 yards short of the dancefloor. Advantage Nelly.
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Patty Tavatanakit makes an awful mess of the par-five 2nd. She sends a 3-wood off the tee into trees, then fails to punch back out. A second attempt finds a fairway bunker, from which she whistles her ball over the back of the green. She does well to get up and down to limit the damage to bogey, but this isn’t the start the ANA Inspiration champion was looking for. She slips to -9.
A word on the new US Open champion Yuka Saso. She ends a previously average week in style, with a five-under 67. She finishes -3, currently in the top 25 on her PGA debut. Meanwhile Austin Ernst, who started her round birdie-birdie, adds a third at 5, though not with any great pleasure, having seriously underhit a very makeable 15-foot eagle effort.
Salas sends a hybrid over the back of 1. She does extremely well to chip back up from the bottom of the swale to five feet, then strokes in the par saver. A par for Nelly, too, having found the centre of the green in regulation, and narrowly missing her long birdie effort. In differing ways, both women will take heart from the way that opening hole panned out.
-15: N Korda (1), Salas (1)
Up on the 1st green, Patty Tavatanakit grimaces slightly as a 15-foot birdie effort shaves the hole. No super-fast start for the ANA Inspiration champ, but it’s better than bogey, which is what Giulia Molinaro cards. Meanwhile Danielle Kang, who won this tournament back in 2017, hits the turn in 32 after birdie at 9. She’s -7 overall.
-15: N Korda, Salas
-10: Tavatanakit (1)
-9: Boutier (1), Molinaro (1)
-7: Kang (9), Ernst (4), Sagstrom (2), Ardina (1)
-6: Yang (F), Koerstz Madsen (8), Lin (3), Henseleit (2)
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Here come the leaders! Lizette Salas sends her opening drive into the semi-rough down the right. Nelly Korda wallops hers into a bunker further down the hole to the left. Just before teeing off, sister Jessica came over for a hug, wishing Nelly good luck as she made her way from the 9th green to the 10th tee. Perfect timing.
Two members of the chasing pack have already started going backwards. Bogeys for Celine Boutier and Dottie Ardina at the opening hole, and they slip to -9 and -7 respectively. Meanwhile Amy Yang birdies the last, and she signs for a final round of 64 that’ll make a huge difference to her pay check. All of a sudden, she’s launched herself into the top ten. She’s the early clubhouse leader at -6.
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Nelly Korda’s older sister is also involved today. Jessica is two under for her round today, having just drained a 25-footer for birdie at 9, and -4 overall. This is a big week for the Kordas, then, with their younger brother Sebastian preparing to make his debut at Wimbledon tomorrow. Dad is 1998 Australian Open champion Petr Korda, while mum Regina Rajchrtova reached the second round in SW17 back in 1990. A sporting dynasty, it’s fair to say.
If someone’s going to make ground on the leaders, they’ll need to get a wriggle on. Conditions are favourable: it’s warm and sunny now, but there were a few showers earlier on, softening the Highland Course a little, making the greens more receptive. Advantage has been taken, most notably by Amy Yang. The 31-year-old Korean has 17 top-ten finishes at the majors, though is yet to win one. She won’t be breaking her duck this week, but she played the front nine this morning in 30 strokes. She’s currently seven under for her round through 17, and -5 overall. Proof that it’s perfectly possible to close the gap, should Korda and Salas somehow drag each other down.
Preamble
Chances are, the 67th Women’s PGA Championship will come down to a shootout between two of the biggest names in golf yet to win a major title. Nelly Korda and Lizette Salas have both come close before – respectively, at the 2020 ANA Inspiration and the 2019 British Open – and it looks likely that one of them will make the next step today. Because here’s what the top of the leader board looked like after three rounds:
-15: Nelly Korda, Lizette Salas
-10: Celine Boutier, Giulia Molinaro, Patty Tavatanakit
-8: Dottie Ardina
-7: Esther Henseleit, Madelene Sagstrom
-6: Kim Hyo-joo, Lin Xiyu
Korda is on a roll, having won the Meijer Classic last week. She carded a 63 on Friday. She’s currently number three in the world. She hits the ball miles. Salas by contrast is world number 45, and is usually hitting hybrids into greens while Korda is hitting her wedge. But she’s been hitting those hybrids close, and yesterday matched Korda birdie for birdie as the pair took turns at the top of the leader board. Salas has been the model of consistency this week, carding three 67s. A fourth today could well be enough.
The chasing pack will need to shoot low if they’re to apply pressure to the leading duo. Patty Tavatanakit had a five-shot lead going into the final round at this year’s ANA Inspiration, and was nearly hunted down by Lydia Ko, who shot 62 on Sunday … so she’ll know nothing is decided until the final putt drops. She made five birdies in the last seven holes yesterday for a 65; a fast start today would give the leaders something to think about. Celine Boutier and Giulia Molinaro lead the European charge.
So with Korda and Salas about to tee off, things are about to get interesting on the Highlands Course at Atlanta Athletic Club in Johns Creek, Georgia. Stay with us; you can watch the football on a second screen. Here we go!
