Nelly Korda triumphant at Aramco Team Series in London

LONDON: Nelly Korda secured her first victory of 2023 by four strokes in the Aramco Team Series presented by the Kingdom’s Public Investment Fund in London.

It was the American’s second Aramco Team Series title following her win at Aramco Team Series – Sotogrande last year. The 24-year-old underlined her liking for the innovative format that combines team and individual play by leading from start to finish at Centurion Club.

Korda was tied at the top with Charley Hull after the first round, and then on the second day, she played brilliantly in stormy conditions to open up a five-shot lead.

Hull gave chase on the final day, a week on from her tied-second display in the US Women’s Open. The English ace fired a sizzling 68 but was forced to settle for second best again, thanks to Korda’s consistency and class.

Korda shot a final-day 71 to close out at 11-under-par to triumph for the first time since the Pelican Women’s Championship last November.

“I’ve really put a lot of work in recently and it’s nice that it’s paid off,” she said. “I knew Charley was going to make a run for it; I think everyone was trying to. It’s tough to be the one out front and who everyone is trying to get. I just stuck to my game and took it one shot at a time. As boring as it sounds, it worked.

“I have Evian and the AIG Women’s Open coming up and hopefully I have learned a little bit about the weather this week, and I can take that momentum into the next two big events.”

Korda dealt supremely with the heavy rain on Friday and the sustained high winds on Saturday – the latter she described as “probably, top-three toughest conditions I’ve ever played in.” She also added that her second-round four-under-par 69 rated in the “top-three best