Nelly Korda

Nelly Korda (born July 28, 1998) is an American professional golfer who plays on the LPGA Tour, where she has won 15 times and reached number one in the Women's World Golf Rankings. Korda won the Olympic gold medal at the women's individual golf event at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. She represented the United States at the 2019 Solheim Cup, 2021 Solheim Cup, 2023 Solheim Cup and won the 2024 Solheim Cup.

Amateur career

Korda was a member of the 2015 U.S. Junior Solheim Cup. As an amateur, she won the 2015 Harder Hall Invitational, and the 2015 PING Invitational, and was a 2015 AJGA Rolex Junior All-American. She also made the cut at the 2013 U.S. Women's Open, one month before her 15th birthday.

Professional career

Korda began her pro career in 2016 on the Symetra Tour, where she won her first pro event at the Sioux Falls GreatLIFE Challenge after shooting rounds of 68-67-69-66 for a 3 stroke victory over Wichanee Meechai. She ended the season 9th on the money list, thus earning her LPGA Tour card for 2017.

2018: First LPGA win

On October 28, 2018, Korda won the Swinging Skirts LPGA Taiwan Championship in Taoyuan, Taiwan for her first LPGA Tour title. This win made her and her sister Jessica Korda the third pair of sisters to win in LPGA history, joining the Jutanugarn sisters, Moriya Jutanugarn and Ariya Jutanugarn, along with Charlotta and Annika Sörenstam.

2019−2020: Continued success

After settling for runner-up at the CME Group Tour Championship and solo 3rd at the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions, Korda won the ISPS Handa Women's Australian Open on February 17, 2019. In doing so, she completed a "Family Slam" in Australia. Her father, Petr, won the 1998 Australian Open singles in tennis. Her older sister, Jessica Korda, won the Women's Australian Open in 2012 and her younger brother, Sebastian, won the 2018 Australian Open junior boys in tennis. The Australian Open win represented Korda's 4th top-5 finish in her most recent 5 LPGA starts. Thanks to this victory, Korda broke into the top 10 for the first time in the February 18, 2019 release of the Women's World Golf Rankings, moving up to 9th from 16th the week before, and becoming the second highest ranked American in the world, surpassed only by 5th ranked Lexi Thompson.

Korda made her Solheim Cup debut in 2019 at Gleneagles, Scotland. She made history in the day one foursomes with Jessica Korda, when they became the first sisters to be playing partners in the history of the competition. They beat Caroline Masson and Jodi Ewart Shadoff 6 and 4 on the first day and followed this up by defeating Carlota Ciganda and Bronte Law 6 and 5 on the second day. Nelly Korda then triumphed over Caroline Hedwall 2 up in the singles to complete the tournament with an unbeaten 301 (winlosstie) record. Despite her own success, USA suffered an overall 13.514.5 defeat to Europe.

On September 22, 2019, Korda shot a 4-under-par 67 in blustery conditions and won the Lacoste Ladies Open de France by eight shots. On November 3, 2019, Korda defended her title at the Taiwan Swinging Skirts LPGA in a playoff.

2021: Breakout year: 4 wins, first major win, Olympic gold, #1 world rank

On February 28, 2021, Korda won the Gainbridge LPGA at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club in Orlando, Florida.

On June 20, 2021, Korda won the Meijer LPGA Classic in Grand Rapids, Michigan becoming the first two-time winner on the LPGA during the 2021 season. She shot a career best 62 on Saturday to take a lead into the final round.

On June 27, 2021, Korda won her first major at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship at the Atlanta Athletic Club. In the final round, Korda shot a 4-under 68 and won by three strokes over Lizette Salas. With the win, Korda became the number one player in the world.

On August 5, in round 2 of the Women's Golf at the Summer Olympics in Japan, Korda stood on the 18th tee at −11 for her round. A birdie on the 18th would have been a round of 59 but she double bogeyed the hole for a 62. On August 7, Korda won the gold medal. She became the second woman from the U.S. to win the gold, and the first since Margaret Abbott in the 1900 Olympic Games. Korda represented USA at the 2021 Solheim Cup in Toledo, Ohio. She finished the event with a 220 record, which included a 1 up victory over Georgia Hall in the singles, but USA would lose 1315 overall.

After Ko Jin-young won the BMW Ladies Championship on October 24, Korda fell to No. 2 in the Women's World Golf Rankings, by a narrow margin of 9.36 to 9.34 average points per event played. She regained the No. 1 spot on November 8, 2021, by a fraction of an average point per event played (9.032 to 9.028), despite neither player playing tournaments between those ranking dates, because the calculations are over a two-year rolling average.

In November, Korda won the Pelican Women's Championship in Belleair, Florida. Korda shot a final round 69 and won in a playoff over Lexi Thompson, Lydia Ko and Kim Sei-young. This was her fourth LPGA victory of 2021. She won despite a triple bogey seven on the par-4 17th hole, dropping her from co-leading at −19, to fourth-place at −16, two shots behind Thompson. Recovering on the 18th with a birdie that tied her with her playing partner, and then-leader Lexi Thompson, who then bogeyed the 18th, requiring the four-way playoff starting on the 18th hole. Korda birdied it for the win, tying her with Ko Jin-young with four wins in 2021. Ko Jin-young finished with a 66, tying for sixth place. Korda became the first American to win four times in an LPGA Tour season since Stacy Lewis in 2012.

She had the lowest scoring average on tour (68.774) in her 62 rounds, beating the money list winner Ko Jin-young (68.886) in her 67 rounds, although she finished second on the money list ($2,382,198) to Ko ($3,502,161). However, Lydia Ko won the Vare Trophy despite finishing third on the scoring average list because neither Korda nor Ko Jin-young met the 70 round minimum.

Despite a fifth-place tie in the CME Group Tour Championship to #2 world-ranked Ko Jin-young, Korda held onto her #1 spot with a 10.07 average points Ko's 9.94 in the Rolex Rankings, as of November 22.

2022: Blood clot, loss of world #1 ranking, re-gains #1 world ranking

On January 3, 2022, Korda surpassed Stacy Lewis record for consecutive weeks as number one in the Women's World Golf Rankings for an American. Three weeks later at the Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio tournament, she tied for 20th place and lost the number one spot after 29 consecutive weeks at the top. She finished T-15, T-20, and T-4 in her first three starts for 2022. On March 13, she announced that she had a blood clot in her arm, so she would not compete in the Chevron Championship, the year's first major. She also did not enter the JTBC Classic she originally was scheduled to compete, while resting at home getting treatment. Korda returned to play at the U.S. Women's Open, finishing in the top ten.

In November, Korda successfully defended her title at the Pelican Women's Championship, her first win in 2022, and returned her to the top of the world ranking. She did not hold the position for long as Lydia Ko regained the number one spot two weeks later.

2023

In January, Korda signed a deal with TaylorMade and Nike. Later in the year, Korda signed with Delta Air Lines. She also joined fellow golfer Tony Finau on the T-Mobile US sponsored players list

With her fourth-place finish at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions on January 19, she earned $99,457 to jump three places from 40th to 37th on the career money list to $7,638,934 passing sister Jessica, ranked 39th at $7,543,454 who did not play in the tournament; Nelly had played 110 tournaments to Jessica's 227. After Korda finished third at the Chevron Championship on April 23, she regained the No. 1 world ranking. In May, she announced that she would miss several tournaments because of pain in her back. On July 16, she won the Aramco Team Series at the Centurion Club near London; it was her 13th tournament victory and her third on the Ladies European Tour.

At the 2023 Solheim Cup at Finca Cortesin in Casares, Andalusia, Korda finished with a 220 record. Europe and USA finished the event tied on 14 points, resulting in Europe retaining the trophy. Korda won two matches partnering Allisen Corpuz in the foursomes but lost her singles match 2 and 1 to Carlota Ciganda, as well as a fourballs match playing alongside Ally Ewing.

2024: Return to #1, 5 consecutive starting wins and total 7 wins, second major title, LPGA Tour Player of the Year

Korda won her ninth LPGA Tour event on January 28, in her Bradenton hometown at the LPGA Drive On Championship. Trailing by three strokes after the 16th hole in the final round, Korda hit an eagle-birdie finish to force a playoff with Lydia Ko. She won on the second extra hole with a 4-foot par putt on the par-4 18th after Ko's 5-footer caught the lip and spun out. In the final round, Korda shot a two-over 73, while Ko shot a two-under 69 to tie at 273 (−11), setting up the playoff. Korda won for the first time, leading after each round for the first time. Her win denied Ko her 21st LPGA win and 27th-point to guarantee entry into the LPGA Hall of Fame. She then won three straight events in March and April: Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship (moving back to the top of the Women's World Golf Rankings), Ford Championship, and T-Mobile Match Play. Her four straight wins in four starts made her the first player to do so since Lorena Ochoa in 2008.

Korda continued her incredible start to the year with a fifth consecutive victory, and her second major title, at the 2024 Chevron Championship, scoring a 275 (−13, 68-69-69-69) beating Sweden's Maja Stark by two strokes. Only Annika Sörenstam (2004–2005) and Nancy Lopez (1978) had won five consecutive starts before Korda became the third LPGA player to achieve the feat. She withdrew from the next tournament, the JM Eagle LA Championship, the day after her fifth consecutive victory, wanting to rest up and not be worn out mentally.

In May, Korda won the Mizuho Americas Open, her sixth win in seven starts. She shot 14 under par, edging out Hannah Green of Australia. In November, she won The Annika, to claim her seventh 2024 LPGA title.

Korda was part of the USA team that defeated Europe 15.512.5 in the 2024 Solheim Cup at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Virginia. Korda won three of her four matches, with her only defeat coming in the final-day singles where she was defeated 6 and 4 by Charley Hull. Korda finished with a 310 record in the tournament.

Korda clinched the LPGA Tour Player of the Year award with three tournament remaining on the schedule, claimed seven victories and three additional top-10 finishes. She also won the Rolex Annika Major Award.

2025

Korda finished runner-up at the Tournament of Champions in February, two-strokes behind winner Kim A-lim. The following week, she finished T7th at the Founders Cup. Korda finished T2nd at the 2025 U.S. Women's Open, two-strokes behind Maja Stark at Erin Hills.

Personal life

Korda is the daughter of retired Czech professional tennis players Petr Korda and Regina Rajchrtová. Her father is a tennis grand slam champion who won the 1998 Australian Open crown. Her younger brother, Sebastian, won the 2018 Australian Open tennis title in the boys' division. Her older sister Jessica Korda also played on the LPGA Tour.

Since 2019, Korda has been in a relationship with professional hockey player Andreas Athanasiou.

In 2021, Korda made the ''Forbes'' 30 under 30 list for earners under the age of 30, placed 23.

Professional wins (20)

LPGA Tour wins (15)

LPGA Tour playoff record (4–2)

Ladies European Tour wins (3)

Symetra Tour wins (1)

Other wins (1)

Major championships

Wins (2)

Results timeline

''Results not in chronological order.''

CUT = missed the half-way cut

WD = withdrew

NT = no tournament

T = tied

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 10 (twice)
*Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (13 times, current)

LPGA Tour career summary

^ Official as of 2024 season

*Includes matchplay and other tournaments without a cut.

World ranking

Position in Women's World Golf Rankings at the end of each calendar year.

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur
* Junior Solheim Cup: 2015 (winners)

Professional
* Solheim Cup: 2019, 2021, 2023, 2024 (winners)
* International Crown: 2023

Solheim Cup record

See also

* Chronological list of LPGA major golf champions
* List of LPGA major championship winning golfers
* List of golfers with most LPGA Tour wins

References

External links

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Nelly Korda
at USA Golf
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Nelly Korda
at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Korda, Nelly
American female golfers
LPGA Tour golfers
Winners of LPGA major golf championships
Olympic golfers for the United States
Golfers at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Golfers at the 2024 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Olympic gold medalists for the United States in golf
Golfers from Bradenton, Florida
American people of Czech descent
1998 births
Living people
21st-century American sportswomen