LOS ANGELES — Nelly Korda has done it again.
The top-ranked golfer in the world, thanks to a late clutch birdie at Riviera Country Club, claimed a one-shot win over the field at the U.S. Women’s Open on Sunday afternoon in Los Angeles. Korda posted a 2-under 69 in her final round, which dropped her to 8-under on the week.
Korda has now won four times this season, including at both major championships that have taken place.
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The win also earned Korda a $2.5 million check, which was part of a record $12.5 million purse offered this week. That made it the richest tournament in women’s golf, and is more than what was offered at the Charles Schwab Challenge last week on the PGA Tour.
Korda rallies after slow start at Riviera
After what she said were a great three days leading up to the major, Korda struggled Thursday. She posted a 2-over 73 in the opening round with four bogeys on the day. She was struggling to control her shot repeatedly throughout the round, too, which left her surprised. Korda was uncomfortable to start the day, and even had to switch back to her usual Nike shoes on the sixth hole after trying to wear custom LeBron’s. The spacing in them, she said, was “a little different.”
“Honestly just hit it really poorly off the tee,” she said Thursday afternoon. “Found myself in a lot of trouble on the wrong sides of a lot of these pins. I just felt like I was kind of grinding to make safe pars.
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“It wasn’t a great day. I hit it really good Monday through Wednesday, so I have honestly no idea where this came from.”
Korda started slowly recovering from that rough start. She posted back-to-back 67s to get to 6-under on the week, which was good enough for a share of the lead Saturday night. She made three straight birdies to end the third round.
That put Korda into the final group with Sei Young Kim, which marked the 30th time that she has played her way into the last tee time since her rookie season on the LPGA Tour in 2017. That is seven more times than anyone else on Tour in that span.
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Whatever frustrations Korda had Thursday were long gone.
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“I play my best golf when I’m happy, free Nelly, and I’m kind of joking around out there,” she said Saturday. “So that’s kind of the attitude that I’m going to have tomorrow.”
Korda’s final round wasn’t anything special. In fact, she struggled to make a move for most of the afternoon while barely missing several makeable putts that would have sent her out in front of the field. At one point, she even fell behind by two strokes after In Gee Chun surged ahead, though Chun eventually made back-to-back bogies to give Korda a share of the lead again.
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As others started falling back, Korda held strong and repeatedly saved pars — including with a clutch up-and-down from the bunker at the par-3 14th.
Charlie Hull opened her round with an eagle at the first, and ended up closing her 4-under round with a long par save at the 18th. That sent her into the clubhouse at 7-under ahead of both Korda and Chun with a share of the lead at the time. Gaby Lopez joined them later with a birdie at the last hole. At that point, it was just the third birdie of the day.
Their strong finishes didn’t matter. Korda, despite landing her second shot in the rough, finally got a birdie to fall at the 17th. She went up-and-down on the reachable par-5 to end her nine-hole par streak and take the solo lead. From there, she just had to secure a par at the 18th to end the round and claim her first U.S. Women’s Open title.
Korda is again on a dominant run through golf. The 27-year-old entered the week with three wins under her belt, including a major championship title at The Chevron Championship. In the four events she didn’t win, Korda finished second in three of them. Her worst finish was a T8 outing. It was similar to what Korda pulled off in 2024 when she won seven times, six in a seven-tournament stretch.
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Korda has now won four major championships in her career. Her first was at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in 2021. She’s also claimed The Chevron Championship twice. With her U.S. Women’s Open victory, Korda is now a major championship away from claiming the career Grand Slam. As there are five majors in women’s golf, one needs to win only four to actually earn that recognition. That’s something that’s been done seven times in the sport’s history, most recently by Inbee Park in 2015.
Only one golfer, Karie Webb, has won all five in her career. That gave her what’s called the Super Career Grand Slam. With both the Evian Championship and the Women’s British Open still ahead, Korda is in great position to pull off the Career Grand Slam by the end of the season.
Regardless of what comes next, Korda, after she looked almost out of it just 18 holes into the tournament, is leaving Los Angeles with another major title in hand. Her run continues.
