Hyo Joo Kim tops Nelly Korda again
and wins on LPGA for 2nd straight week
[March 30, 2026]
PHOENIX (AP) Hyo Joo Kim beat Nelly Korda for the second
straight week, pulling away around the turn Sunday and closing with
a 3-under 69 for a two-shot victory in the Ford Championship.
Kim was poised to break the LPGA Tour's scoring record for 72 holes
until one mistake led to a double bogey on the eighth hole and gave
Korda hope.
Korda, who trailed by four at the start of the final round, suddenly
was only one shot behind. But the American missed a short par putt
on the ninth, and that was followed by a two-shot swing on the 10th
Kim hit her approach to 18 inches for birdie, and Korda failed to
get up-and-down for par.
Korda never got any closer until the tournament was out of reach,
finishing eagle-birdie for a 67.
Kim, who also won the Ford Championship last year, now has
back-to-back wins for the first time in her career, both against
Korda. Last week in the Founders Cup, the 30-year-old South Korean
held off a Sunday charge by Korda.
I wanted to ask Nelly how it feels to win back-to-back, Kim said
with a laugh, referring to Korda winning five straight starts during
the 2024 season.
Kim finished at 28-under 260. With three early birdies and a week
in which she twice had posted rounds of 61 it looked as though she
could break the LPGA scoring record of 257 set by Sei Young Kim at
the 2017 Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic.
Those hopes took a hit on the par-4 eighth hole, when Kim pulled her
tee shot. She tried to punch a hybrid under tree branches, but it
ran hot on the sunbaked fairway, through the crusty green and didn't
stop rolling until it went down a slope and into the desert scrub.
That led to double bogey. Kim twice missed 5-foot birdie chances,
and she also had a three-putt bogey on the 16th.
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Hyo Joo Kim, of South Korea, hits her tee shot at the third hole
during the final round of the LPGA Ford Championship golf
tournament, Sunday, March 29, 2026, in Chandler, Ariz. (AP
Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
But the putting issues belonged to Korda, who
missed a 2-foot par putt on the 15th her second short miss of the
round that all but ended it.
Where it went wrong? There's a couple shots here and there that I
would like to get back, more like a couple putts throughout the
week, Korda said. I'm going to miss a bunch of those putts
throughout my entire career, and I just cant get down on myself.
Korda has won and twice been runner-up in three starts on the LPGA
this year. It was the lowest she has been under par (26 under) in
her LPGA career. She just ran into one of the hottest players in
women's golf.
I'm done playing with her, Korda said, jokingly. This was the
fifth straight time they were in the same group, and Korda has had a
good view of remarkable play, particularly Kim's putting.
Hyo Joo has been playing amazing golf, Korda said. She a
phenomenal player, and person. She definitely motivates me on the
golf course.
Minami Katsu of Japan shot 65 to finish alone in third. Lydia Ko,
who began the tournament with a 60, wound up in fourth, eight shots
behind.
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