Pelican's Championship 2021 R4
November 11-14
Pelican Golf Club, Belleair, Florida
$1,750,000
Round 1, Round 2, Round 3

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

Rolex Rankings No. 1 Nelly Korda birdied the 18th after a triple bogey at the par-4 17th to join a four-way playoff and made another birdie on the first extra hole to emerge the winner of the Pelican Women's Championship.

Pelican's Championship 2021 R4

“I honestly lost hope,” said Korda of the 17th. “I was like, ‘Okay, just try to make a solid par because 18 is a really tough hole. If you have a chance for birdie, then try and go after it.' But my caddie [Jason McDede] really kept me in the moment and I didn't give up. Thank God I didn't.

“Jason was like, ‘I want you to take one minute and just think positive thoughts, no negativity.' So, I just thought about the putts I made, particularly No. 6. I made that right-to-left birdie putt, so I thought about that and just seeing the ball go in the hole.”

Pelican's Championship 2021 R4

Korda joins Rolex Rankings No. 2 Jin Young Ko as the only player with four wins on Tour this season and is the American with the most wins in an LPGA Tour season since Stacy Lewis won four times in 2012. She also won the golf medal at the Tokyo Olympics this past summer.

Pelican's Championship 2021 R4

“I think the major [KPMG Women's PGA Championship] was the hardest because it was back-to-back events. It was my first major and that's what I wanted for so, so long,” said Korda. “Growing up, I didn't think, ‘Okay, I want to play in the Olympics. I want to win a gold medal.' It was, ‘I want to win a major.' That one definitely ranks really high up.

“But the gold medal, you know, comes once every four years. It's such an honor to stand on that podium in front of the flag and put your hand across your chest. I had chills go through my entire body and I got really, really emotional. Thankfully I had the mask on.

“I always say that every event has a different meaning and every event has a special meaning to me, but obviously my first major, the gold medal, winning in front of my parents for the first time in [Lake] Nona, coming back, having all these expectations on me, not playing for a while and winning here, winning at Meijer [LPGA Classic] after missing the cut at the U.S. Open, being so down. Every win is special.”

Pelican's Championship 2021 R4

New Zealand's Lydia Ko, who shot a bogey-free 66, held the clubhouse lead alongside South Korea's Sei Young Kim (67) when Korda birdied the final hole to join the playoff. American Lexi Thompson made back-to-back bogeys on the final two holes to close with a 69 and join them.

“Had an amazing week,” said Thompson. "Played solid golf. So many players played amazing golf, Nelly as well, obviously. Played a lot of good golf, made a lot of good putts, and just wasn't meant for me in the end.”

Canadian Brooke Henderson finished fifth at 14-under after a closing 65.

Pelican's Championship 2021 R4