Nelly Korda Holds Off Charley Hull For Seventh LPGA Tour Title Of Year

The final round of the Annika Driven by Gainbridge at Pelican offered the tantalising prospect of World No.1 Nelly Korda going head to head with Charley Hull, who was looking for a wire-to-wire victory in Florida.

Overnight, Hull led by one over Korda and Weiwei Zhang following a two-under 68 on Saturday.

The Englishwoman had an inconsistent start to the day. She followed a birdie on the first with successive bogeys before her second birdie of the day came on the fourth. Another bogey came on the sixth meaning she made the turn one over for the day.

Meanwhile, Korda got off to an even more shaky start, with three bogeys offset by just one birdie on the seventh, while it was a similar story for Zhang, whose bogeys on the third and fourth were countered by a birdie on the ninth to stay in touch.

At that point, the likes of Thailand’s Wichanee Meechai and Swedish star Lynn Grant were also in contention as Hull held onto her slender lead.

However, just when Korda’s one birdie of the day was beginning to feel like a long time ago, she stepped up another gear, rattling off five in a row between the 11^th and 15^th to bring back memories of her glorious start to the year, where she was imperious winning six times in her first eight starts.

In fact, that run of birdies was the longest Korda had put together all year as she began to impose her authority on proceedings, moving to 14 under, with Hull by now two behind after just one birdie, at the 14th, between the 10th and 15th.

It was beginning to look like Hull would need something special to stop Korda’s charge, and she nearly produced it on the 16^th, when her long birdie putt narrowly missed right. There was still hope for Hull after Korda faced a sizeable putt of her own to save par, but once again she made no mistake to retain her lead of two with two to play.

Meanwhile, ahead of the pair, Jin Hee Im made her own late claim for the title after a birdie on the 17^th to draw level with Hull.

If Korda's form seemed ominous, there was also the fact that, heading to the 17^th, she had made birdie on the par 4 on each of the previous three occasions this week. She very nearly made it four from four but her putt fell agonizingly short. Soon after, Hull missed her par putt left to leave Im in solo second, two behind Korda.

Im eventually finished with bogey to leave Korda three clear of Hull, Zhang and Im coming down the fairway as she closed in on her seventh win of the year.

Despite a brief moment where it looked like her approach shot the green might roll back into the water, there were no other scares as she eased to a three-shot victory.

Korda's win was even more remarkable given it came after a spell out with injury, with her most recent appearance before the event coming at the Korger Queen City Championship in September.

With just the CME Group Tour Championship left to play in the LPGA Tour season, few would bet against Korda closing out the title to add to her unassailable lead in the season-long Race to CME Globe.