The Tribune

JESSICA Korda has a new swing coach, famed instructor David Leadbetter, to begin the 2015 season. When she began the 2014 season at the Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic with a new instructor, things worked out just fine.

Thanks to a closing 7-under-par 66 on the Ocean Club Course at the Atlantis resort, Korda posted her second career victory, beating Stacy Lewis by one stroke in what was the season opener to the LPGA Tour in 2014.

Lewis also recorded a final-round 66, but Korda made a birdie on the 72nd hole, the par-5 18th, while Lewis had a par, and Korda was the winner with a 19-under 273 total.

“It’s unbelievable,” Korda said of winning another season opener after just two weeks of work with new teacher Grant Price. “I don’t know, maybe I pay attention more to detail, and I’m more relaxed out here. Whatever it is I need to figure it out and do it more often.” 

Korda, who began the final round three strokes behind Na Yeon Choi, birdied the last two holes to pull ahead of Lewis, who had begun the day with birdies at six of her first eight holes.

At the 18th, Korda hit her second shot behind the green and putted her third to within six feet before sinking the winning putt. Choi, who closed with a 72, was among four players who tied for third at 16 under on the 6,644-yard, par-73 Ocean Club Golf Course. Choi closed with a 72.

On her third shot from behind the green, Korda found she had such a good lie that she chose not to take a free drop away from some television cables.

Instead, she had the cables lifted and she putted underneath them. “It wasn’t a hard decision at all,” said Korda, daughter of former grand slam tennis champion Petr Korda. “I felt I had a good lie there. It looked too difficult on either side so I just stayed right where I was. I remember when I had the pleasure of playing with Jack Nicklaus, he told me a bad putt is always better than a bad chip.”

“I only birdied the 18th hole once this week and that made the difference,” Lewis said. “Three of the four days I went over the green to the same place, so obviously that wasn’t the place to be. But you are not doing a lot wrong if you finish second. And that’s what I’ll take away from this week.”

Korda also won the first event of the 2012 season – the ISPS Australian Women’s Open at Royal Melbourne – surviving a six-person playoff. She has three career titles, also winning the Airbus LPGA Classic last May.

She began working with Leadbetter in the middle of last year, and she finished the 2014 season with six top-10s and $817,885, which ranked 16th on the LPGA money list. Korda was 15th in the inaugural Race to the CME Globe.

In her fifth season, Korda is part of a stellar field already committed to the 2015 Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic, scheduled for February 2-8 at the Ocean Club Golf Course on Paradise Island.

Seven of the top 10 players in the Rolex Rankings and 18 of the top 25 have committed to play in the event, including world No. 1 Inbee Park, No. 2 Lydia Ko and No. 3 Stacy Lewis. Ilhee Lee, who won the inaugural edition, also is entered.

Golf Channel will provide 10 hours of live coverage of the $1.3 million tournament beginning on February 5 from 11:30am to 2:30pm EST. Live second-round coverage on Friday also is 11:30am to 2:30pm, while live coverage of the final two rounds Saturday and Sunday will air 3-5pm.

The tournament now is accepting applications for media credentials. Media organisations can log into lpgamediacredentials.com to make requests. A completed application is not a guarantee of credential approval.

For more tournament information, contact the tournament office at +1 242 677 6470 or visitwww.puresilkbahamasclassic.com