WASHINGTON – World No. 1 Nelly Korda matched an LPGA record with her fifth consecutive victory on April 21, winning the Chevron Championship for her second Major crown and 13th career tour triumph after “the longest back nine of my entire life”.

The two-stroke triumph over Sweden’s Maja Stark stretched Korda’s season winning streak to five titles in five starts to equal the LPGA record set by American Nancy Lopez in 1978 and matched by Sweden’s Annika Sorenstam in 2004-05.

Korda withstood a tension-packed back nine, but never lost her lead in holding off rivals over the closing holes at Carlton Woods in suburban Houston to claim the US$1.2 million (S$1.6 million) top prize in the first women’s Major tournament of the season.

“I can finally breathe now. That back nine felt like the longest back nine of my entire life,” Korda said.

“It was a little bit of a grind on the back nine but happy to get the win.”

The American, 25, fired a three-under 69 in the final round to finish on 13-under 275 after 72 holes.

Stark was second on 277 after a closing 69, followed by American Lauren Coughlin (68) and Canada’s Brooke Henderson (72) sharing third on 278. South Korean Ryu Hae-ran was fifth on 279 after closing on 74.

Said Henderson: “Definitely not my best stuff, which is a little disappointing, but Nelly played amazing, and what she’s doing is pretty incredible. Congratulations to her, and I feel like I learnt a lot.”

Korda, the daughter of former Czech tennis star Petr Korda, won her only other Major crown at the 2021 Women’s PGA Championship while also capturing a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics.

In 2024, she also won January’s Drive On Championship, March’s Se-ri Pak and Ford championships and the LPGA Match Play earlier in April.

“There’s a key in the simplicity that I have. I honestly take it a shot at a time,” Korda said. “It has been working so far. I feel like sometimes golf can get overcomplicated.”

There were plenty of late complications.

At No. 10, Korda missed the green with her approach but chipped in for birdie to reach 14 under and lead by four.

She went way right off the 11th tee on the way to her first bogey, trimming her lead to three over Ryu and Coughlin, who both closed the front nine with back-to-back birdies.

“I was definitely starting to feel it on the back nine, the nerves setting in,” Korda said. “It’s a Major. It’s everything I’ve always wanted as a little girl, to lift that major trophy.

“I can finally breathe now and enjoy the moment because I was definitely really nervous. I feel sick to my stomach.”

Coughlin closed within two strokes with a birdie at the par-four 14th and Korda missed a five-foot birdie putt at the par-five 13th as tension built.

Coughlin, however, bogeyed at Nos. 16 and 17 and Henderson took a bogey at the 14th, leaving Korda with a four-stroke lead.

Korda, however, stumbled with a bogey at No. 15 and, when Coughlin closed with a birdie and Stark birdied the par-three 17th, her lead was again down to two.

After clutch pars at Nos. 16 and 17, Korda watched from the fairway at the par-five 18th as Stark came up a foot short on an eagle chip then tapped in for birdie, cutting Korda’s lead to a single stroke.

Korda sent her second shot just over the green, missed an eagle putt but sank a short comeback birdie putt for the victory.

After a storm on April 20 halted play and dumped 1.5 inches of overnight rain on the course, Korda made seven pars to close out her third round on 69 and share second with Henderson, one stroke behind Ryu, 2023’s LPGA Rookie of the Year.

The three went out in the last group for the final round on April 21 and Korda quickly grabbed the lead.

Ryu opened with back-to-back bogeys to tumble from the top. Henderson answered a bogey at the second with a birdie at the third to stand on 10-under but Korda birdied the par-three third from 15 feet and escaped a bunker to birdie the par-five fourth for a two-stroke lead at 12-under.

Henderson answered a double bogey at the fourth with birdies at five and six, while Korda sank a 14-foot birdie putt at the eighth, reaching 13-under and stretching her lead to three strokes at the turn.

On the PGA Tour, world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler returned to complete his final round of the RBC Heritage on April 22 and resumed his dominance with his fourth victory in five tournaments.

His final-round 68 saw him finish at 19-under 265, three clear of Sahith Theegala (68) and four better than Wyndham Clark (65) and Patrick Cantlay (68).

Scheffler owned the lead on April 21 when the event was halted due to darkness. Theegala and Cantlay were back on the course with Scheffler the next morning.

“I talked about it at the beginning of the week; I didn’t show up here just to have some sort of ceremony and have people tell me congratulations,” Scheffler said, of becoming the first player since 1985 to back up a US Masters triumph with a win at RBC Heritage.

“I came here with a purpose. Got off to a slow start but after that played some really nice golf.”

He has already tied a season-best win total of four and pushed his career victories to 10. He also became the first to win 10 (or more) times on the PGA Tour in a three-season span since Dustin Johnson won 10 titles between 2015-16 and 2017-18. AFP, REUTERS