Korda defends her Taiwan title

America’s Nelly Korda claimed back-to-back victory in the LPGA Taiwan Championship in a playoff against two players yesterday to clinch her second win this year.Korda, 21, successfully defended her title in the playoff against Australia’s Minjee Lee and Germany’s Caroline Masson after they all finished with an aggregate score of 18-under-par 270.Korda had a three-shot lead over Lee, who was also runner-up to her last year, after the third round but struggled in the final day hitting five birdies and five bogeys to go into the playoff.It was “very dramatic, a little bit harder than I wanted it to be but I am happy I got it done... I was very nervous actually because it was my first playoff,” she said.Korda claimed her maiden LPGA Tour victory at this event last year to join her elder sister Jessica as a winner on the circuit, extending a family sporting resume which also boasts a Grand Slam tennis title via father Petr. Currently ranked eighth in the world, Korda won the LPGA Australian Open in February for her first victory in 2019.BRAGGING RIGHTSThe victory gave her caddie Jason McDede bragging rights over his fiancée Masson.McDede and Masson are due to be married next year, and yesterday was the first time they had gone head-to-head vying for an LPGA title.German Masson described the experience as “a little funny” but was magnanimous in defeat.“I’m quite happy to see them win,” she said of the Korda-McDede professional partnership.“I’m proud of the two of them, the way they work together, and hopefully I get another chance to beat them down the stretch the next few years.”