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A busy Thursday in golf and tennis awaits the Korda family
MIAMI โ Nelly Korda keeps asking her parents if she can book their flight to watch her and her sister play in the LPGAโs first major of the year this week. โProbably theyโre going to change their schedule a little bit and hopefully stay with me,โ Sebastian Korda said. 18 in the world; Nelly Korda, 22, is ranked No. Sebastian Korda is the little brother, at least in terms of age โ heโs 20, but at 6-foot-5, heโs certainly not little. โHe loves to pump up,โ Nelly Korda said.
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Ernst wins Drive On Championship for 3rd LPGA Tour title
Albane Valenzuela misses a putt during the final round of the LPGA Drive On Championship at Golden Ocala in Ocala, Florida on Sunday, March 7, 2020. [Alan Youngblood/Special to the Ocala Star-Banner]OCALA, Fla. โ Austin Ernst won the Drive On Championship on Sunday for her third LPGA Tour title, pulling away to beat fellow former NCAA champion Jennifer Kupcho by five strokes at Golden Ocala. She won the NCAA title in 2011. Itโs just unfortunate thatโs when mine came for the week.โWinless on the tour, the former 23-year-old former Wake Forest star from Colorado won the NCAA title in 2018 and the inaugural Augusta National Womenโs Amateur in 2019. Nelly Korda, tied with Ernst and Kupcho for the first-round lead, had weekend rounds of 76 and 75 to tie for 28th at even par.
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Trevor Simsby gets unusual shot at WGC and holds his own
Trevor Simsby took that to another level last week at the Workday Championship. Simsby finished his college career at Washington and tried the Korn Ferry Tour and the PGA Tour Latinoamerica without any success. However, a few hours before Collin Morikawa won the Workday Championship, Branden Grace won the Puerto Rico Open. ... International players had won five consecutive PGA Tour events in Florida until Collin Morikawa won the World Golf Championship at The Concession. STAT OF THE WEEKAmericans have won nine of the last 11 majors and 10 of the last 11 World Golf Championships.
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Whoa, Nelly! Korda makes it 2 straight wins for her family
Nelly Korda followed in big sister's footsteps with a three-shot victory that looked easier than it felt. โYeah, Jess' win, I was like, โOK, I got to get one now,โ" Korda said. But it's nice to get back-to-back Korda wins now.โMore than just matching her sister, Korda won for the first time on American soil. Sorenstam finished 29 shots behind Korda, who won by three over Lexi Thompson and Lydia Ko. Korda made sure of that with a steady diet of pars and picking up enough birdies when she needed them.
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Love appointed captain again, this time for Presidents Cup
The PGA Tour has selected Love to be U.S. captain for the Presidents Cup in 2022 at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina. He was captain when Europe rallied from a 10-6 deficit to beat the Americans in the 2012 Ryder Cup at Medinah, and he was Ryder Cup captain for a rare U.S. victory four years later at Hazeltine. He also was an assistant captain in the Ryder Cup under Corey Pavin in 2010 and Jim Furyk in 2018 and is on the staff of Steve Stricker this year. The Presidents Cup was supposed to be played this year until the COVID-19 pandemic led to the Ryder Cup being postponed one year to this September. ... Tony Finau has 35 finishes in the top 10 since the start of the 2016-17 season on the PGA Tour without winning.
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Jessica Korda rallies to beat Kang in playoff at LPGA opener
It was the sixth LPGA victory for the 27-year-old Korda, her last one coming nearly three years ago. โI knew I was going to have to go low today,โ said Jessica Korda. Saturday, Jessica Korda became the sixth player in LPGA history to shoot 60 or better with her sparkling 11-under 60. Jessica Korda had owned the back nine all week (she would play it in 21-under par despite her three closing bogeys Friday). Kang, also seeking her sixth LPGA victory, had spoken all week about not being able to prepare for the event as she normally would.
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Sophia Popov shoots 64 to lead Pelican Womenโs Championship
Haley Moore tees off on the first hole during the first round of the LPGA Pelican Women's Championship golf tournament Thursday, Nov. 19, 2020, in Belleair, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)BELLEAIR, Fla. โ Women's British Open winner Sophia Popov left top-ranked playing partner Jin Young Ko and everyone else behind Thursday in the Pelican Womenโs Championship. Popov shot a 6-under 64 in windy conditions to take a two-stroke lead over Ashleigh Buhai, with Ko eight shots behind after a 72 in her first LPGA Tour start of the year. Ally McDonald, playing alongside Popov and Ko in an afternoon threesome, was at 67 with Womenโs PGA champion Sei Young Kim, the No. U.S. Womenโs Open champion Jeongeun Lee6, also making her return to the LPGA Tour, had a double bogey and two bogeys in a 73. She last played the Womenโs Australian Open in February before the tour began shutting down its Asia swing because of the pandemic.