Korda wore a gown from famous designer Oscar de la Renta to the exclusive event, attending as a guest of Casey Wasserman, her management agency’s chairperson.
Both Lopez and Sorenstam remember what it was like to be the biggest stories on the LPGA and have advice for Korda as she navigates these barely charted waters.
Perth’s Hannah Green is primed to defend the JM Eagle LA Championship, but her greatest threat is Sydneysider Grace Kim with whom she shares the 54-hole lead in Los Angeles.
Korda’s two-stroke victory over Maja Stark makes her one of three in LPGA history to win five straight starts, joining Hall of Famers Nancy Lopez (1978) and Annika Sorenstam (2004-2005).
In the three years since Chevron became the sponsor, purses for the tournament, previously held in California’s Palm Springs area and best known as the Dinah Shore, have risen by $US4.8 million.
Zhang explained that while major venues test all of a player’s skills, there is extra emphasis for her in the short game and course management – lessons she learned in her eight majors as an amateur.
Despite stringing together some impressive results over the past month, including three top-15 finishes, rising star Gabi Ruffels will enter the season’s first major championship with something so much more valuable than form itself.
Korda’s 12th career title makes her the first to win four events in a row since Lorena Ochoa in 2008 and the first American to do so since Nancy Lopez in 1978.
Australian Golf Digest
