Lincicome wins LPGA opener in playoff; Nelly Korda ties for fifth
Brittany Lincicome won the LPGA Tour’s Pure Silk Bahamas Classic on Sunday in wind and some late rain, beating U.S. Solheim Cup teammate Lexi Thompson with a birdie on the first hole of a playoff.
Playing a group ahead of Thompson, Lincicome birdied the par-5 18th — after dropping strokes on 14 and 17 — for a 5-under 68 and 26-under 266 total — one off the tour record for relation to par to by Annika Sorenstam on a par-72 course in the 2001 Standard Register Ping.
With Lincicome looking on from a tent, Thompson played the 18th as strong sideways rain blew through the Ocean Club, holing a 3-footer for her third straight par and a 70.
Both Korda sisters bettered that score Sunday. Jessica Korda, the 2014 winner of this event, shot an 8-under 65, matching Sandra Gal for the low round of the day. She moved from 52nd to a tie for 16th at 14-under 278.
Younger sister Nelly was paired with Lincicome in the next to last group. Korda birdied the two late par 5s in a 67 to tie for fifth at 21 under in her first start as an LPGA Tour member. Pornanong Phatlum matched Nelly Korda at 21 under, also finishing with a 67. The 67 was the lowest round by any of the top 12 finishers on Sunday.
The 18-year-old Korda went out in 4-under 32, leaving her 15-under for the week on the front nine. She played her final 39 holes without a bogey and played the final 55 holes with only one bogey.
According to Golfweek’s Beth Ann Nichols, Jessica Korda, who finished much earlier in the day, was taking photos of her younger sister as she played the final hole.
The first U.S. winner since Brittany Lang in the U.S. Women’s Open, the 31-year-old Lincicome won her seventh tour title and first since the 2015 ANA Inspiration. She’s projected to jump from 48th to 34th in the world ranking.
“It was pretty incredible. Just the leaderboard all week has been amazing,” Lincicome said. “Obviously, a lot of Americans up at the top. Obviously, friends of mine, so to come down to the final stretch, I played with Lexi yesterday, and it was an awesome day. We had so much fun, and to obviously have the playoff today is a bummer, but it’s just incredible.”
In the playoff on 18, Lincicome hit her hybrid second shot from 227 yards to 20 feet and tapped in for birdie.
Stacy Lewis, undone by a triple-bogey 7 on No. 14, was third at 25 under after a 71. Lewis was second in 2014 and tied for second last year. The Texan is winless since June 2014.
This story was originally published January 29, 2017 at 11:57 PM with the headline "Lincicome wins LPGA opener in playoff; Nelly Korda ties for fifth."