Yang Hee-young kicked off the 2026 LPGA Tour season on a high note, finishing runner-up at the season-opening event.
Yang closed with pars on the final two holes of the third round at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions at Lake Nona Golf & Country Club in Orlando, Florida, on Thursday, failing to gain additional strokes.
Finishing at 10-under-par 206, Yang claimed sole second place, three strokes behind winner Nelly Korda of the United States, who posted 13-under-par.
The tournament was originally scheduled as a 72-hole event but was shortened to 54 holes due to strong winds and low temperatures.
Yang, who won the 2024 KPMG Women's PGA Championship, failed to record a single top-10 finish last season but signaled a comeback with her runner-up performance in her first event of the year.
"It's disappointing we couldn't complete all four rounds, but I confirmed that my offseason preparation went well," Yang said. "People around me were saying 'three strokes on the last two holes gets you to a playoff,' so it was hard not to think about it, but in these course conditions, making pars wasn't a bad result."
Korda, who dominated the tour with seven victories in 2024 before going winless in the 2025 season, claimed the title at the opener, signaling she is ready to soar again. It was Korda's first LPGA Tour victory in 15 months since the Annika in November 2024.
"The first event of the season is always tough because you're testing things you worked on in the offseason while also trying to win," Korda said after her victory. "But I'm happy to have played well this week."
Rookie Hwang Yu-min put herself on the map with a top-10 finish in her debut, hinting at a promising season ahead. She finished tied for fifth at 5-under-par alongside Miyu Yamashita of Japan.
Hwang also played the remaining two holes on Thursday, but a triple bogey on the par-3 17th hole dropped her from a tie for third the previous day to a tie for fifth.
Defending champion Kim A-lim finished tied for ninth at 3-under-par along with Lee So-mi and Ryu Hae-ran.
The tournament featured a pro-am format pairing players with tour wins in the past two years with celebrities.
In the celebrity division, former tennis player Mardy Fish of the United States won with 126 points, while former MLB pitching great John Smoltz of the United States finished second with 121 points.
The celebrity division used a modified Stableford scoring system that converts each hole's result into points.