Nelly Korda - © LPGA

Nelly Korda started the day with a three-stroke lead over Minjee Lee and a four-stroke lead over Caroline Masson, finishing her with a birdie on the first playoff hole for her third victory on the LPGA Tour.

Nelly Korda failed to widen the lead on the going nine with two birdies and two bogeys, and instead saw Lee and Masson put pressure on him. Lee crashed after a buggy, before settling in and birdie-par, eagle-par-birdie on holes 4-8 catching Korda's lead on the turn.

After finding the water with her second strike at the 9th par-4, Nelly Korda put in a long putt to recover from her Bogey and to keep her chances of defending her title. Nelly Korda widened the lead with a three-stroke birdie lead on holes 10 and 12, but that's where things got interesting. Nelly Korda made 3 par putts and then 3 putts which turned into three bogeys on the 14th, 15th and 17th holes to lose the lead for the first time of the day against Masson with only one hole left to play.

Masson managed to par-5 at the 18th hole in regulation while Korda and Lee managed a birdie to force a playoff to three. Nelly Korda was the only one to find the fairway in the playoff and managed a perfect second strike to create an opportunity to make an eagle. She missed the eagle putt, but a birdie was enough to win her third career LPGA title and her second straight title in Chinese Taipei.

"I kept saying to myself, 'heart, heart, heart, heart', because I was very nervous because it was my first playoff," said Nelly Korda. “I had a pair of holes in 3 putts on the return 9. Caroline put in a few putts and was one step ahead of me on the 17th hole. I was like, "Damn, I have to birdie now." Jason [McDede] encouraged me with a little speech: “17th to 18th, win or participate in the playoff”. He was really great that day. "

Masson fought all day with just one bug on his card to qualify for the first playoff of his career, and said he learned a lot from that experience.

"I think that if you had told me at the start of the day to finish in the playoff, I would have accepted it"said Masson. “This is obviously not a bad thing. I had a few chances to have maybe two strokes ahead of the 17th and birdie on the 18th, and I didn't use them, but I think in general I held onto them all day. I'm super proud of the way we play and match each other. Nelly had a good drive. It's probably a little better for her to be in the par-5 than it is for me. She hit a bit longer than me from the tee. "

Jessica Korda, the big sister of five-time LPGA Tour champion Nelly Korda, saw her younger sister for the first time hoist a trophy and was the first to give her a hug to congratulate her on the 18th.

"Seeing her come out of 18 in regulation, I saw that she had fire in her eyes - I felt really good and I was just praying that it would work for her", commented Jessica Korda. “At the end of the day, a playoff… it's totally out of your control. She sent him straight down the fairway with such a good shot. It was great to be here. "

Céline Boutier unable to break the 70 mark for 54 holes, found the formula in the fourth round completed in 66 (-8), without any bogey. The 25-year-old Francilienne finishes 19th.

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Taiwan Swinging Skirts LPGA: all you need to know