Leader since the first round, Danielle Kang finally lost on the first hole of the playoff against Jessica Korda. Céline Boutier took the eleventh final place of the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions signing a final card under the par (69, -2).

LPGA: Jessica Korda beats Kang in the playoff, Céline Boutier finishes 11th

Jessica Korda - © LPGA via Twitter

With three strokes behind the nine back at Four Seasons Golf and Sports Club Orlando on Sunday, Jessica Korda masterful, first caught Danielle Kang with a late flurry of four birdies for a total of 66 (-5), then she won with a 9-meter putt for birdie on the first playoff hole.

Danielle Kang recorded a card of 68. Leader after three laps, she had the opportunity to extend the playoff, but she missed her putt by 5,5 meters on the 18th.

It was Jessica Korda's sixth victory on the LPGA Tour, the last having come almost three years ago.

Korda and Kang finished at 260 (-24) to eclipse the previous tournament record by 10 strokes. the daughter of the famous tennis player, 23rd in the Rolex ranking, also had to push back her younger sister, Nelly Korda, 22, to 4th place in the world ranking.

"I knew I had to score low today", said Jessica Korda. Half of his six victories have come in the season opener. “It was a crazy day… two crazy days. A week of madness! "

Nelly Korda started her round 6 strokes behind on Sunday and made a 64, which left her two strokes from the playoff.

On Saturday, Jessica Korda became the sixth player in LPGA history to reach 60 or better with her sparkling 60 (-11). A day later she was slow to gain momentum, playing her first 12 holes in 1 under par. At one point, early in the go-nines, Kang put in a two-yard putt to extend her lead to five strokes, threatening to leave the competition far behind.

 

Jessica Korda dominated the return nine all week (-21 despite her three bogeys on Friday). Two strokes behind as she stood relaxed on the 13th par-5 tee, she knew she needed to be more aggressive - especially because Kang hadn't done a single bogey all week yet.

"When you chase, you have to keep the pedal to the floor," Korda said, “And that's not what I was doing. "

Kang has played 68 holes in the tournament without a scratch (and 84 holes in total, since the CME Group Championship in December). Her streak ended when she had to hit three putts for Bogey on the 15.

Danielle Kang, who was also aiming for her sixth LPGA win, had been talking all week about not being able to prepare for the event like she normally would. It caught up with her at the end. Although she never tested positive for COVID-19, she was exposed twice and underwent six tests before boarding a plane from Las Vegas to Orlando, which landed late Monday night. Yet she had played flawlessly. But when she had to do some tight shots at the end, she found she was missing a little something.

"I'm not disappointed not to have won"said Kang. “It's not about winning and losing for me. It's about being able to execute the right moves when I want to - and feeling like I can't do something, which I don't like. "

In Diamond Resorts' celebrity division, which featured 53 players, tennis player Mardy Fish, captain of the U.S. Davis Cup team, finished first with 158 points, beating Chad Pfiefer, an inspiring former military competitor. with a prosthetic leg. With his victory, Fish became the first three-time winner of the event. He also won the American Century Championship at Lake Tahoe in July.

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DRToC LPGA: Kang dominates the Korda sisters, Céline Boutier 12th