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Yahoo
05-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Korda won't defend Match Play title on the weekend after a rough day for the world's top players
Nelly Korda tees off during the third round of the LPGA T-Mobile Match Play golf tournament at Shadow Creek Golf Course, Friday, April 4, 2025, in North Las Vegas. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP) Nelly Korda hits from a fairway during the third round of the LPGA T-Mobile Match Play golf tournament at Shadow Creek Golf Course, Friday, April 4, 2025, in North Las Vegas. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP) Nelly Korda reacts as she watches her fairway shot during the third round of the LPGA T-Mobile Match Play golf tournament at Shadow Creek Golf Course, Friday, April 4, 2025, in North Las Vegas. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP) Nelly Korda, right, watches her tee shot as Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand takes her turn during the third round of the LPGA T-Mobile Match Play golf tournament at Shadow Creek Golf Course, Friday, April 4, 2025, in North Las Vegas. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP) Nelly Korda, right, watches her tee shot as Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand takes her turn during the third round of the LPGA T-Mobile Match Play golf tournament at Shadow Creek Golf Course, Friday, April 4, 2025, in North Las Vegas. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP) Nelly Korda tees off during the third round of the LPGA T-Mobile Match Play golf tournament at Shadow Creek Golf Course, Friday, April 4, 2025, in North Las Vegas. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP) Nelly Korda hits from a fairway during the third round of the LPGA T-Mobile Match Play golf tournament at Shadow Creek Golf Course, Friday, April 4, 2025, in North Las Vegas. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP) Nelly Korda reacts as she watches her fairway shot during the third round of the LPGA T-Mobile Match Play golf tournament at Shadow Creek Golf Course, Friday, April 4, 2025, in North Las Vegas. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP) Nelly Korda, right, watches her tee shot as Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand takes her turn during the third round of the LPGA T-Mobile Match Play golf tournament at Shadow Creek Golf Course, Friday, April 4, 2025, in North Las Vegas. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP) NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. (AP) — Nelly Korda, the world's top-ranked player, won't be around this weekend to defend her T-Mobile Match Play championship. She needed to defeat Ariya Jutanugarn, but lost 1-up Friday on the final day of round-robin play and failed to qualify for the round of 16. Advertisement Korda's struggles typified the week for the world's top 10 players. Eight played in this tournament, but only second-ranked Jeeno Thitikul advanced to the knockout stage. She will play Nataliya Guseva. 'I don't think it's because of the top players not playing well, but I think because it's not a matter of the ranking here,' said Thitikul, who described her approach this week as 'pretty chill.' 'Maybe the top players are playing well, but other players just play a little better, which is like hold the win.' The winners of the 16 groups in round-robin play qualified for the beginning of elimination play Saturday morning. The quarterfinals will be in the afternoon, which will narrow the field to four for Sunday for the semifinals and championship. Korda appeared poised to put herself in that company, taking the lead on the par-3 13th despite missing the green. She got up-and-down and Jutanugarn bogeyed. Advertisement The advantage didn't last long. The roles reversed on the par-4 15th when Jutanugarn got up and down with a 40-foot putt to within two feet. 'That putt to me is quite hard because of the slope and it's like downhill and it's slope left to right pretty good,' said Jutanugarn, who will face Narin An in the next round. 'I just told myself I just need to get the speed right, and that's all I focus on.' Korda had a similar shot, but delivered an overaggressive chip that went five past the cup and then missed the comebacker. The match was tied, which was the equivalent of a loss for Korda. Then it became an outright loss when she missed another short putt on No. 16 and failed to make up the difference over the final two holes. Advertisement Korda is still searching for his first victory this season, quite a contrast from a year ago when her victory in the Match Play was her fourth start in a row with a win, the first player in 16 years to accomplish that. She extended the streak to five two weeks later at The Chevron Championship to tie the tour record. Thitikul rolled into the elimination format, defeating Hye-Jin Choi 5 and 3. Thitikul, who is from Thailand, won all three round-robin matches. She will play Guseva, who advanced out of the same group with Rose Zhang, who has been battling a neck injury. Zhang conceded her match to Meghan Khang a day after doing the same with Albane Valenzuela with three holes left. The decision by Zhang, who lives in Las Vegas, to pull out wound up not affecting that group. Guseva would have advanced anyway, securing the 1-up victory over Valenzuela by making a 55-foot putt on the 18th green. 'I knew that I needed some magic, and that's when I holed that putt,' Guseva said. 'At that moment I thought that I'm going to win this match. I was just fighting until the end. I never gave up.' Advertisement Brooke Henderson won first two matches in routs and then advanced when her third-round round opponent, Jin Young Ko, conceded after nine holes. Henderson, who was 2-up at the time, said Ko did not feel well. Henderson, who along with Sei Young Kim were the only players who never trailed in a match, will face Maja Stark. Kim will go against Lauren Coughlin. Rounding out the schedule are Stephanie Kyriacou against A Lim Kim, Mao Saigo against Angel Yin, Carlota Ciganda against Madelene Sagstrom ,and Ashleigh Buhai against Celine Boutier. ___ AP golf:
Boston Globe
03-04-2025
- Sport
- Boston Globe
Nelly Korda settles for a halve, while Megan Khang survives roller-coaster Day One at LPGA Match Play
Advertisement . — LPGA T-Mobile Match Play Presented by MGM Rewards (@LPGAMatchPlay) The format has returned to round-robin play among the 16 groups of four players, so Korda still has a path to the knockout stage of the weekend. But it was a typically wild day in this once-a-year format. Albane Valenzuela was 5 down at the turn to Megan Khang before she stormed back to square the match through 16 holes. The pride of Rockland had to get up-and-down from behind the 17th green to avoid falling behind, and then the closing hole flipped. Megan Khang, the pride of Rockland, survived blowing a 5-up lead to Albane Valenzuela before taking a 1-up victory Wednesday on the first day of the LPGA Match Play tournament in Las Vegas. John Locher/Associated Press Khang was still in the fairway playing her third shot and judged it perfectly off a backstop, the ball rolling out to 4 feet for a chance at par. Valenzuela went from a bunker to the back of the green, facing a 60-foot putt with a steep ridge halfway to the hole. Advertisement Her putt was an inch from catching the ridge. Her par putt had no chance and rolled out 12 feet, and she missed the bogey putt and conceded the match. Khang never had to putt. 'Happy to get the win, but in stressful fashion,' Khang said. Megan Khang grinded it out for an opening win in Vegas 💪 — LPGA (@LPGA) Hyo Joo Kim, coming off a playoff win last week in Phoenix, made short work of Bailey Tardy with an 8-and-7 victory, and Brooke Henderson also had an easy time, 6 and 5, over Leona Maguire of Ireland. Jenny Shin had a tough loss, and not just because she had a 3-up lead. She was 1 up until A Lim Kim won the 17th with a birdie. On the final hole, Shin had a sharp-breaking putt from about 20 feet for birdie to win the match. She ran that 5 feet by and missed the par putt to lose. Charley Hull of England was all square with Westborough's Alexa Pano until winning five straight holes on the back nine for a 5-and-3 victory. Westborough native Alexa Pano watches her tee shot on the sixth hole during her loss to Charley Hull of England Wednesday in Las Vegas. David Becker/Getty Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand, the No. 2 player in the women's world ranking, had a 6-and-5 win over Danielle Kang, who lives in Las Vegas and received a sponsor exemption. Kang, battling back from injury, has fallen to No. 375 in the world. Four of the top eight seeds lost their opening matches, including third-seeded Lydia Ko, 6 and 4, to Hira Naveed, who was first alternate two days ago. 'Having Lydia as the first girl to play, I knew I had the task at hand,' Naveed said. 'Just went out there and played fearless golf and hit some great shots and made putts, so that was good.' Advertisement The others to lose were Haeran Ryu, Ruoning Yin and Jin Young Ko.
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
LPGA Tour takes center stage in Las Vegas as PGA Tour plots future return
FILE - Nelly Korda hits out of a bunker at the fourth green during the final round of the LPGA T-Mobile Match Play golf tournament Sunday, April 7, 2024, in North Las Vegas, Nev. (AP Photo/John Locher, File) FILE - Nelly Korda hits out of a bunker at the fourth green during the final round of the LPGA T-Mobile Match Play golf tournament Sunday, April 7, 2024, in North Las Vegas, Nev. (AP Photo/John Locher, File) LAS VEGAS (AP) — Reigning Player of the Year and world No. 1 Nelly Korda is back in the Las Vegas area this week to defend her T-Mobile Match Play title. The LPGA Tour event is Las Vegas' star professional golf attraction of the year, especially since the PGA Tour won't host a tournament in the city for the first time in more than four decades. Advertisement Dropping Las Vegas from the schedule — which occurred after Shriners Children's Hospital ended its 18-year sponsorship in October — was a big blow to a city known as a golf destination for hackers and scratch players alike. But it might not be a permanent setback. The PGA Tour, in fact, hopes to return to the city with an early year event that attracts the sport's top names. When that happens is unknown, and it won't occur until at least 2027. 'Vegas is a market for big events,' said John Norris, senior vice president of PGA Tour tournaments. 'They don't do anything small. You got the major sports leagues there now. You've got the entertainers, world-class building in the Sphere. So what we thought was we want to be back in Vegas, but we want to do it with a big event.' Advertisement What that entails is uncertain. Patrick Lindsey, the former Shriners Children's Open executive director who last month became senior vice president and general manager of Las Vegas Motor Speedway, said some kind of all-star event would be one idea. Like Norris, Lindsey said he expects the PGA Tour to do all it can to return to Las Vegas. 'I think that all options are going to be on the table for them when they look at what they want to do in this market,' Lindsey said. 'This is kind of a niche market for us to do something fun and exciting and different. I think that's how they need to look at this market, to take advantage of everything that is loud and colorful about Las Vegas.' Advertisement The calendar is a major impediment, however, and a top reason the PGA Tour is taking its time. Shriners was played in the fall after the weather cooled in Las Vegas, but the major tournaments had been played by then and the NFL and college football seasons were in full swing. The tournament caught a break when the tour changed the schedule in 2013 to begin the season with the fall events, but the arrival of LIV Golf prompted the PGA Tour to overhaul the schedule two years ago. That included a return to starting the season in January. Lindsey said top players routinely passed on fall events because they didn't want to take away opportunities from those who needed the points for their tour card. Shriners was then left with less-than-desirable fields, and the charitable organization also began to pivot to sponsoring more college events. That meant a reset for Las Vegas and the PGA Tour, and Norris said there is no appetite to play in the fall again. Playing in the summer when temperatures often top 110 degrees and even higher also is no option. Advertisement So that means trying to play earlier in the season, but there are plenty of tournaments that aren't coming off schedule, such as the Masters, PGA Championship, The Players Championship and the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. 'That's the tricky part,' Norris said. The LPGA Tour is in Las Vegas for the fifth year with the Match Play, playing at the exclusive and remote Shadow Creek Golf Course that isn't built for spectators because of its narrow walking paths. But Shadow Creek, with its lush green fairways, is a world-class course that draws players and celebrities from around the world. 'I feel like just the drive in is so unique and so beautiful,' Korda said Tuesday morning. 'The property is really, really pretty. When you just stand on what was originally 18 tee — we're playing it as 9 this week — it's really breathtaking. It's very demanding off the tee into the greens and even on the greens, so you have to be on 24/7. It tests every part of your game.' Advertisement The LPGA Tour didn't make anyone available for a comment on its future with Las Vegas, but released a statement that said its sponsors were 'all great advocates for the LPGA Tour.' Korda hopes to repeat her tournament victory when the Match Play begins Wednesday, and the current face of women's golf likely would bring more attention to the event if she wins. The PGA Tour has had its bright moments in Las Vegas, none greater than in 1996 when a 20-year-old Tiger Woods won his first professional tournament. The city was at the center of the golf world on that Sunday. Woods' victory even took attention away from the NFL games being played that day. Maybe the PGA Tour will eventually be back with more such moments. Advertisement 'I just believe that this city, the market, people who live here deserve a professional golf event here,' Lindsey said. 'They deserve to be something maybe different than what's going on in other markets.' ___ AP golf:
