Nelly Korda – Photo by Max Bechtoldt/Women’s Golf Daily News
Nelly Korda became the youngest American since Nancy Lopez in 1980 to reach 18 career wins as she cruised to a blowout victory for the second week in a row.
While Korda, the No. 1 ranked player in the world, was the only player in the Riviera Maya Open field ranked in the top 15 in the world, it wasn’t a blowout in the early stages. No. 345 ranked player Brianna Do got off to an early lead and stayed close for much of the first three rounds. Late Saturday, Korda began imposing her will. That continued in the final round.
On a tough course like this, Korda probably just needed to make a lot of pars to keep her lead, which she started the day by doing. Around the middle portion of the front nine though, Korda made her move, and it would be enough to sustain her lead and never let anyone get close.
Korda made an eagle on the par 5 fifth hole, then made two birdies in a row to open up a six-stroke, insurmountable lead. There was just one significant stumble on the day, when she lost control of her drive on the par 5 13, getting bailed out by hitting a golf cart, keeping the ball playable. While she made par, she was seen shaking her wrist after hitting a shot close to a tree root.
Korda was close to becoming the first player in almost 20 years to win two weeks in a row by five or more strokes on the LPGA Tour, but had a late bogey on 18 that made it four strokes over Arpichaya Yubol, whose -13 score would have been enough to win this event in 2025.
This is the third win on the season for Korda, who now has more LPGA Player of the Year points than Miyu Yamashita, the runner-up for the award in 2025, had all of last season. She has a lead in the CME Standings by over 1000 points, almost doubling up anyone else on the LPGA Tour. To this point, in six events, only two players, Hyo Joo Kim and Lauren Coughlin, have beaten Korda in a tournament.
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