After four days of stiff competition, the 2025 Founders Cup yielded a first-time LPGA Tour winner on Sunday as US golfer Yealimi Noh surged to victory on strong back-nine play in Bradenton, Florida.
The world No. 32-ranked Noh kicked off her sixth season with the LPGA by lifting her first trophy in her 111th start.
In just two holes on Sunday, the 23-year-old flipped a one-shot deficit into a three-shot lead, eventually claiming the $300,000 championship check with an overall 21-under-par performance.
"I always knew it would happen and it was a matter of time," Noh told reporters after her win. "To really get it done, and especially in the first tournament of the year, is really nice."
Noh, who earned a captain's nod in the 2021 Solheim Cup, is officially on an upswing. After less successful 2022 and 2023 seasons, she made 21 cuts across her 25 LPGA starts in 2024, helping fuel last weekend's blockbuster 2025 debut.
"Having a lot of better results and getting my confidence back and contending a few times last season really helped me carry that out through the winter and just really prepare for this week," she explained. "[I] just felt really ready — this was going to be my year and week."
Founders Cup sees additional standout performances
Just behind Noh on last weekend's leaderboard is No. 7 Jin Young Ko. The South Korean star's narrow lead fell when she made her first bogeys of the competition, logging two back-to-back on Sunday.
The 15-time LPGA title-winner capped her tournament four strokes back from Noh, with US golfer and world No. 17 Megan Khang one stroke behind Ko in third place.
World No. 1 Nelly Korda finished tied for seventh place after capping her Founders Cup outing nine shots behind Noh.
The US star will next take a seven-week break, opting to sit out the upcoming trio of LPGA Tour stops in Asia. Korda will instead continue to search for her first victory of 2025 at the end of March, when she tees off at the Ford Championship in Chandler, Arizona.
US golf star Nelly Korda will look to launch yet another historic run on Thursday, when the 2025 LPGA season kicks off at the Tournament of Champions in Florida.
Korda registered seven victories on the 2024 LPGA Tour, catapulting to No. 1 in the world rankings and taking home LPGA Tour Player of the Year.
Calling last season "very, very, very crazy," the 26-year-old tied an LPGA record with five of her wins coming in successive starts. The fifth victory came at the 2024 Chevron Championship, earning Korda the second major title of her career.
A fresh start for Korda as 2025 LPGA Tour begins
Despite aiming to continue her record run, Korda acknowledges that the 2025 LPGA season will present its own challenges.
"The field is different. There [are] different girls in the field. Weather is different. Golf course could be different. There are so many variabilities that just completely changes it," she told reporters on Tuesday.
Her first test takes place in Orlando. That's where Korda will enter her seventh Tournament of Champions — a competition she's yet to walk away from as a winner.
Following its 2019 launch, the annual four-day event is limited to players who've won major LPGA competitions in the last two years. Due in part to Korda's recent dominance, only 32 professional golfers fit this year's criteria, including defending title-holder and world No. 2 Lydia Ko and 2024 runner-up Alexa Pano.
Also in this weekend's field are US stars No. 5 Lilia Vu, No. 14 Rose Zhang, No. 15 Lauren Coughlin, No. 20 Angel Yin, and No. 21 Megan Khang.
The pro competition will also run concurrently with a 72-hole celebrity contest that includes USWNT icon Brandi Chastain, among others.
"It’s a different, relaxed vibe," Korda said about the tournament. "And no better way to start off the year than playing in this event."
How to watch the LPGA Tournament of Champions this weekend
The 2025 Tournament of Champions starts at 11:30 AM ET on Thursday. Live coverage of the competition will air across NBC networks.