One week after Korda crushed the field at The Chevron Championship for her third career major, she left everyone feeling hopeless at El Camaleon with precision that carried the No.1 player in women’s golf to another dominant victory.
Korda went 60 consecutive holes without a bogey, a streak that ended when it no longer mattered.
She had a six-shot lead playing the 18th when she sent her drive to the right and deep into the tropical bushes, never finding the golf ball. She hit a provisional into a bunker, the next one into the gallery and finished by making a 20-foot putt for bogey, only her second of the tournament.
She finished at 17-under 271, four shots ahead of Arpichaya Yubol of Thailand, who celebrated her 24th birthday with a 70 to finish alone in second. China’s Yu Liu (69) was another shot back.
Gabriela Ruffels (70) finished in a tie for 27th at two under, while fellow Australians Robyn Choi (71) and Hira Naveed (77) came home two and nine over.
None had much of a chance against Korda, who became the first player since Annika Sorenstam in 2001 to start a season with nothing worse than a runner-up finish through six events.
Korda began Sunday (Monday AEST) with a three-shot lead, and then it was over. She holed a 12-foot eagle putt on the par-5 fifth, followed with a 10-foot birdie putt from the fringe on No.6 and then hit a lob wedge to four for birdie on the par-5 seventh.
“I’m just enjoying myself and I love the competition. I love travelling to places like Mexico, all over the world. I’m just having fun,” she said.
Korda could only laugh at her blunder on the final hole that kept her from matching or surpassing her largest margin of victory, set last week with her five-shot win in Houston at a major.
“On the last hole here I was humbled by golf,” she said.
She now has 18 wins on the LPGA Tour, making the 27-year-old the youngest American with 18 titles since Nancy Lopez at age 23 won her 18th in 1980.
Korda also is skipping next week after two straight wins. She had talked about lacking energy this week, but also making sure she was working instead of on vacation at a Mexican resort.
“I’ll enjoy a few days off,” she said.
With AAP.