PALOS VERDES ESTATES, Calif. — Nelly Korda took seven weeks off and nothing changed. She won again on the LPGA Tour and made it far more exciting than it needed to be.
Korda made bogey on her last two holes Sunday to fall into a playoff in the Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship, and then ended it quickly with a 12-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole to beat Ryann O’Toole and return to No. 1 in the women’s world ranking.
“I’m aging myself really quickly out here,” the 25-year-old Korda said.
Korda, who closed with a 2-under 69, won for the second time this year, both of them involving surprising collapses and amazing revivals. She won the Drive On Championship in Florida in January by dropping four shots in three holes on the back nine, only to rally with an eagle-birdie finish to beat Lydia Ko.
She hasn’t played since then, skipping the Asia swing and returning this week with a little bit of rust that didn’t take long to shake off. Korda seized control by smashing a fairway metal up the hill on the par-5 14th. The ball caught a slope at the back of the green and rolled down to 18 feet, and she made the eagle putt.
O’Toole holed a 20-foot par putt on the 18th for a 66, and that looked to be good only for second place. And then Korda made it…
