After a three-shot lead heading into Sunday's round, Nelly Korda followed in her sister's footsteps and claimed a two-shot victory at the Women's Australian Open.
After a three-shot lead heading into Sunday's round, Nelly Korda followed in her sister's footsteps and claimed a two-shot victory at the Women's Australian Open.
Korda carded three consecutive birdies at the start of the back nine to help her on her way to a 5-under 67 on Sunday. She finished at 17-under par for the tournament, two shots ahead of defending champion Jin Young Ko.
Her victory at this week's ISPS Handa Women's Australian Open has also sealed the deal on a family grand slam Down Under. Not only did her sister Jessica win the same tournament seven years ago, but her dad and brother are championships in Australia too. Her father won the Australian Open men's tennis championship in 1998 and her brother won the Australian Open boys' tennis championship last year.
"I just got off the phone with my dad and he's like 'well, congratulations, you're part of the Korda Slam now'."
After looking like she may have played herself way out of contention on Saturday's round, Wei-Ling Hsu finished with four back-nine birdies for a round of 4-under. She finished in third place in the tournament at 12-under par. Just one shot behind her was American Angel Yin and Hara Nomura from Japan.
Day one leader Jodi Ewart-Shadoff closed her tournament with a round of 71 and a tie for 8th at 9-under.
England's Bronte Law finished in a tie for 15th at 7-under and compatriot Meghan MacLaren was just behind here at 6-under. MacLaren's tournament becomes much more impressive when you consider how she got there. On the first hole of the third round, she made a nine - enough to leave most golfers on a dangerous downward spiral, but a string of impressive birdies saw her claw that round back to just one over par. Then came the real magic on Sunday. MacLaren made her first career hole in one at the par-3 8th. For her hole-in-one, CME Group will donate $20,000 to St. Jude Children’s Hospital as part of the CME Group Cares Challenge program. That news made MacLaren’s post-round smile even bigger.
Image credit: Brenton EDWARDS / AFP / Gettyimages
