America’s Yealimi Noh held off Jin Young Ko and Nelly Korda to secure her first LPGA Tour title at the Founders Cup in Florida.
Noh’s lead was one she played to maintain throughout the final round, starting the day a stroke ahead of South Korea’s Jin Young Ko. Her first birdie came swiftly at the par-4 2nd, where her advantage stretched to two shots. But Ko came up to match her, with her own first two birdies on the 4th and then the par-5 6th. The pair briefly shared the lead at 19-under but Ko sunk yet another birdie on the 8th hole to seize the lead.
It was at the 13th where Noh managed to turn the event back in her favor thanks to two consecutive birdies. Ko conceded the lead with bogeys on the next two holes. By then, only four holes remained and Noh had increased her lead to three. The South Korean made another bogey at the 16th, and Noh tapped in for par on the final hole to card a 3-under 68 and claim a four-shot win.
“This means so much to me,” said the American following her victory. “I worked really hard the past few years and went through a lot of struggles. This means so much to me. I told myself 2025 is going to be my year, so this is the best way to start it.
“I’ve been in contention a couple of times, and I told myself I could do it, but this is the first time it got done. This is a really big confidence booster for me and the rest of the year.”
Ko settled for a second place finish on 17 under while America’s Megan Khang took third on 16 under. Fourth place was shared between Australia’s Hannah Green, South Korea’s Jin Hee Im and Japan’s Miyu Yamashita. Meanwhile, current World No. 1 Nelly Korda finished T7 on 12 under, alongside France’s Celine Boutier and Japan’s Minami Katsu.
WHAT IS THE NEXT EVENT?
The next event on the LPGA Tour schedule is the Honda LPGA Thailand taking place between 20-23 February at the Siam Country Club Old Course in Pattaya, Thailand.