Nelly Korda Writes History with Sister Slam

After a bogey-free final round, Nelly Korda has added her family name in the history books by winning the Swinging Skirts LPGA Taiwan Championship and joining her sister in the list of LPGA winners.

At the start of this year, Jessica Norda claimed her fifth tour victory at the Honda LPGA Thailand, and just 8 months later, her sister Nelly has joined her in the winners’ circle – a feat that had previously only been accomplished twice.

In 68 seasons of the LPGA Tour, only Annika and Charlotte Sorenstam had managed to complete the sister slam, but this year, it has happened twice. Moriya Jutanugarn joined her sister and former World Number One Ariya Jutanugarn in the winners’ circle after victory in April, and now the Korda sisters have done the same.

Twenty-year-old Nelly Korda started the final round of the Swinging Skirts Championships tied for the lead with home-favourite Wei-Ling Hsu, but only two shots separated them from the rest of the field.

An early birdie at the 4th gave Korda the momentum that she needed, but an eagle at 6 proved that she’d really put her foot down. Her final birdie at the 10th was all she needed to break away from the pack, and a flawless stretch of pars later saw her card a 4-under 68 to win by two clear strokes.

Minjee Lee made a surge in the closing round with a score of 66 after back-to-back birdies at 17 and 18. It was a case of too little too late though and Lee finished in 2nd place at 277, two behind Korda. She was closely followed by Ryann O’Toole at 278 and Carlota Ciganda, Megan Khang, Lydia Ko and Hsu at 280.

England’s Bronte Law had another good week in Asia having finished tied 8th. Law opened the championship with rounds of 70, 70, 69, but a few late bogeys on Sunday saw her card a 1-over par 73 to finish with a tournament score of 282.

Image credit: Kevin Lee/Getty Images