Korda wins third LPGA title with fantastic finish

Jessica Korda poses with the trophy after winning the Airbus LPGA Classic at the Crossings Course at the Robert Trent Jones Trail at Magnolia Grove on Sunday in Mobile, Alabama.

 AFP/Mobile, Alabama

Jessica Korda, the 21-year-old daughter of retired tennis star Petr Korda, birdied four of the last five holes Sunday to win the Airbus LPGA Classic.

Korda fired a bogey-free seven-under par 65, playing the last nine holes in six-under 30, to finish 72 holes on 20-under par 268 and defeat Sweden’s Anna Nordqvist by one stroke.

It was the third career LPGA victory for Korda, who won the 2012 Australian Women’s Open and this year’s season opener in the Bahamas.

The American gave much of the credit to how well the Robert Trent Jones Trail Crossings course matched up with her skills. “It just sets up great for my game. I can be aggressive,” Korda said. “I hadn’t been playing well coming in. Once I got playing, my confidence just kept rising every single day. I just love this course.”

Korda birdied the par-4 seventh but was still well off the pace until the back nine, when her putts began to fall.

She began the back nine with a birdie, added another at 12 and sank a curvy 12-footer at the 14th to begin a run of three in a row, including a tense 15-footer at 15 and a tap-in at the par-5 16th to seize a two-stroke lead.

“They started dropping on the back nine,” Korda said. “I was frustrated but I was able to stay patient and make some shots.”

At 18, Korda curled in a birdie putt that forced Nordqvist to make an eagle to match her. The Swede dropped a long birdie putt but it only trimmed Korda’s victory margin.

Korda became the third multi-event winner on the LPGA Tour this season, joining Nordqvist and Australian Karrie Webb.