Hyo Joo Kim won for the second straight week on the LPGA Tour — and for the second straight week, she fended off Nelly Korda to do so.
The native of South Korea posted a final-round, 3-under-par 69 to finish 28-under 260 and successfully defend her title at the Ford Championship on Sunday in Chandler, Ariz.
Kim alternated 61s and 69s over the four days at Whirlwind Golf Club’s Cattail Course. A double-bogey 6 on the eighth hole and a bogey at the par-4 16th weren’t enough to stop Kim, who posted three birdies on each side of her card.
“It’s super hard as a player to become a defending champion,” Kim said through a translator. “But I took the great energy from last week and the course and all of that into this place here and I want to carry that on to next week.”
Kim set the LPGA’s 54-hole scoring record on Saturday but came up three shots shy of tying the tour’s 72-hole scoring record of 257 (Sei Young Kim, 2017).
World No. 2 Korda made two eagles in her round of 67 — at the par-5 second and 17th holes — but settled for runner-up again at 26 under. Last week, Kim edged Korda by one shot at the Fortinet Founders Cup.
Korda followed her second eagle with a birdie at No. 18 for a late push, but Kim made her par to cement the two-stroke win.
Kim, 30, has called Korda her favorite player and praised her playing partner after the battle.
“Just loved and felt great playing with Nelly,” Kim said. “She has such a beautiful swing and this whole time it was just wire to wire, just so tight. Just watching her getting that eagle and finishing, the birdie at the end, I think she is just a fantastic player.”
For her part, Korda said Kim’s play had been “inspiring” and she was reflective after coming up short two weeks running.
“There’s times when I’m going to get frustrated. I’m a human being, so I’m going to get down and I’m going to get a little frustrated,” said Korda, who opened the season with a victory at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions. “But I’m trying to get over that as fast as possible.
“I’m just very grateful. If you’d have told me this time last year the finishes that I would have right now, I would be super happy with the game that is trending. Last year I just felt so weird with my game. Nothing was kind of going my way.
“I’m really happy. I’ve put in a lot of work, and that’s the best thing about golf is that you can always improve and you can have someone like Hyo Joo that’s going to test you and push your buttons but in a really good way to improve.”
Minami Katsu of Japan posted a 65 and placed third at 23 under. New Zealand’s Lydia Ko, who opened the tournament with a 60, shot 68 Sunday and settled for fourth at 20 under.
In Gee Chun of South Korea (68) rounded out the top five at 19 under.
