Altomare ties defending champion Korda at the LPGA Match Play event

- Nelly Korda's LPGA Match Play defense began with a tie against Brittany Altomare, while Brooke Henderson and Jeeno Thitikul secured big wins.

LOS ANGELES April 4, 2025: Nelly Korda’s LPGA Match Play title defense started slowly, as Brittany Altomare came from 2-down to tie the world No. 1 on the opening day at Shadow Creek in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Altomare, returning after a break to have a baby, said, “To end up in a tie was a win for me.”

The match was challenging, with gusting winds, and Korda started with three bogeys, allowing Altomare to take a 1-up lead. Korda responded with her first birdie at the fifth and was 2-up with four holes to go, but a bogey at 15 allowed Altomare to close the gap.

Altomare leveled the match with a birdie at the par-five 16th, which she described as a turning point. Korda, who won the title last year, has yet to win this season, with two top-10 finishes in three starts.

The tie placed both players half a point behind Ariya Jutanugarn, who beat Jennifer Kupcho 3 and 2.

This year’s tournament has 64 players divided into 16 groups for round-robin play, with one player from each group advancing to knockout rounds. If there’s a tie for first, a playoff will determine the winner, unlike last year’s stroke play format.

In other matches, Brooke Henderson beat Leona Maguire 6 and 5, despite Maguire’s strong play early on. Henderson highlighted the importance of a strong start given Maguire’s impressive match play record.

World No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul won 6 and 5 over Danielle Kang, but third-ranked Lydia Ko suffered a surprise 6 and 4 loss to Australian Hira Naveed, who entered as the first alternate.