Golf

Leona Maguire to face world number one Nelly Korda in Match Play final

Cavan woman expects tough battle against American who is seeking fourth straight victory on LPGA Tour

Leona Maguire of Ireland walks on the fourth green in her semifinal match against Sei Young Kim. Photograph: Orlando Ramirez/Getty

Sun Apr 7 2024 - 11:17

Ireland’s Leona Maguire advanced to the final of the T-Mobile Match Play with a dominant effort on Saturday in Las Vegas. Standing in her way of victory, however, is world number one Nelly Korda, who is seeking her fourth victory in a row on the tour.

Korda dispatched South Korea’s Narin An 4&3 in one semi-final, while Maguire ousted South Korea’s Sei Young Kim 3&2 at Shadow Creek Golf Course.

“[Maguire is] just so consistent,” Korda said. “Such a tough competitor. Really grinds out there. We’ve had a couple battles in Solheim Cups for sure. But I think it’s just going to be a grind tomorrow. I think it’ll be a lot of fun and nothing is going to be easy.”

“Nelly is the best in the world right now,” Maguire said. “She’s on a really hot streak. It’s been incredibly impressive what she’s been doing in the past few weeks.

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“It’s going to be a really tough battle tomorrow,” she continued. “I’ve got a big challenge ahead of me. I’m excited. I mean, that’s why you practice. You want to play the best players in the world and that’s what Nelly is.”

Korda built an imposing early lead by playing even on the first three holes – all par-4s – while An struggled with bogeys. Korda birdied Nos. 6 and 7 to go up five holes.

An responded with a birdie while Korda bogeyed the par-4 No. 10, but Korda came right back with a par at No. 11 while An needed an extra stroke. An parred the par-3 No. 13 to gain a hole, but Korda clinched the semi-final by matching her at No. 14 (both bogeyed) and No. 15 (both parred).

“I played really solid at the start,” Korda said. “I think I shot 2-under on the front nine. Was just making a lot of pars and then gave myself two good looks at birdie, so I capitalised on that. ... Obviously, the back nine is a little tougher so [I] started to make a little bit more mistakes. Fatigue started setting in it just a little. Happy with the win.”

Maguire was up two on Kim on a par at the first hole and a birdie at No. 3. Kim birdied the par-5 No. 4 to cut her deficit, only to fall further behind when her opponent made pars at the par-5 No. 7 and at No. 10. Kim’s only other birdie came at No. 14, then Maguire parred Nos. 15 and 16 to close out the match.

In the quarter-finals, Maguire won by 4&3 over Thailand’s Moriya Jutanugarn, who had emerged from a four-player playoff on Friday to get to the weekend.

Korda topped fellow American Angel Yin 3&2 in their quarter-final match.

Kim had cruised past American Rose Zhang 6&5, and An edged Japan’s Minami Katsu 1Up in the other quarter-finals.

On the PGA Tour, Akshay Bhatia stayed ahead by four strokes, seeking a wire-to-wire victory at the Valero Texas Open. Rory McIlroy continued his solid week in preparation for the Masters, lying tied seventh after three rounds on five-under-par, but at 10 strokes behind the dominant Bhatia, his chances are slim on Sunday.

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