Nelly Korda reacts after winning the U.S. Women's Open golf tournament Sunday, June 7, 2026, in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

LOS ANGELES — Although Nelly Korda is deep in one of the most dominant seasons in recent golf history, her first U.S. Women’s Open title still hung on the rim of the 18th hole at Riviera for one heart-stopping moment.

Her 2 1/2-foot putt to win caught the left edge, and it toured half the circumference of the hole while the gallery watched in disbelief. When it finally fell amid an outburst of gasps and roars, Korda put her hand over her open mouth before she laughed at the absurdity of her sport.

“It’s even sweeter, especially with that ice cream swirl on the last hole,” the world’s top-ranked player said.

This trophy was the cool treat Korda wanted more than anything: She won the 81st U.S. Women’s Open on Sunday for her second consecutive major victory, holding off Charley Hull and Gaby Lopez by one shot.

The 27-year-old Korda claimed her fourth major overall with a steady 2-under 69 in the final round — but only after her second putt on the 18th came perilously close to a spin-out that would have forced a three-way playoff. When it dropped, Korda had her fourth LPGA Tour victory already from a season in which she also has three second-place finishes in just eight starts.

She finished at 8-under 276 and celebrated with a tear-streaked face after sharing the lead with multiple competitors throughout the windy finale of the first Women’s Open ever held at this venerated 100-year-old country club in Pacific Palisades.

This victory was nothing like Korda’s major win at The Chevron Championship in April, when she streaked away from the field. Korda was seven shots off the lead after the opening round before fighting her way back to a third-round co-lead, and she never separated from Sunday’s competitive pack at Riviera — but she was the only one among the top seven finishers without a bogey on the back nine.

“I didn’t feel my best on the back nine,” Korda said. “I had a lot of emotions swirling in my stomach, (but) it’s a dream come true. I’ve dreamt about this moment since I was a little girl.”

Korda said she’ll remember her 9-foot birdie putt on the 17th meant much longer than her frightening final shot because it broke her out of a four-way tie for the lead with Lopez, the hard-charging Hull and three-time major champion In Gee Chun.

Poston comes through

DUBLIN, Ohio — J.T. Poston says he is not a quitter and it was time to prove it Sunday at the Memorial.

When he walked to the 14th tee at Muirfield Village, he was trailing for the first time since the 17th hole Friday. The four-shot lead he had at the start of the final round was gone. He was 3 over for the day as everyone was charging. The tournament was slipping away.

Poston delivered three birdies over the next five holes, the last one an 8-iron to 7 feet on the 18th hole with tournament host Jack Nicklaus watching a wild affair unfold. That forced a playoff with Ryan Gerard, and Poston won on the second extra hole when Gerard missed a 6-foot par putt.

“I needed to play the last five holes really well,” Poston said. “I knew I was going to be shaking Mr. Nicklaus’s hand walking off 18 no matter what, and I want to be proud of the effort when I did. So just to do it the way that I did … is a dream come true, and something I’ll certainly carry with me the rest of my career.”

Nicklaus was certainly impressed, and at times could relate.

For all the late fireworks — that included a five-way tie for the lead late in the afternoon — key to the biggest win of Poston’s career was the 17th hole.

Poston was in deep rough and chose to lay up short of the creek, hitting wedge to 12 feet. Gerard holed a 40-foot birdie putt to take the lead. Poston had to make par to stay within one shot, and he poured in the par to set up his big finish.

“After Ryan made his putt, that made that putt honestly a little easier,” Poston said. “I knew exactly what I needed to do.”

Nicklaus, who has made a few clutch putts in his career, concurred.

“He had to make it,” Nicklaus said. “I think sometimes when you have to make a putt, you find yourself in that position that you say, ‘Well, I don’t have any choice, I got to make it.'”

Elsewhere:

– Tyrrell Hatton had two late birdies to hold off Jon Rahm and close with a 1-under 71, giving him a two-shot victory Sunday in LIV Golf Andalucia.

– Eugenio Chacarra of Spain won his second European tour event in as many years Sunday when his two-putt birdie on the final hole gave him a 1-under 70 and a one-shot victory in the KLM Open.

– Darren Clarke and Ben Crane held on with two closing pars for a 4-under 67 in fourballs to win the American Family Insurance Championship by one shot Sunday over Kenny Perry and George McNeil in the lone team event on the PGA Tour Champions.