Nelly Korda

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Nelly Korda
Nelly Korda (cropped).jpg
Korda in 2019
Personal information
Born (1998-07-28) July 28, 1998 (age 23)
Bradenton, Florida, U.S.
Height5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Sporting nationality United States
ResidenceBradenton, Florida, U.S.
Career
CollegeNone
Turned professional2016
Current tour(s)LPGA Tour (joined 2017)
Former tour(s)Symetra Tour (joined 2016)
Professional wins10
Number of wins by tour
LPGA Tour7
Ladies European Tour1
Symetra Tour1
Other1
Best results in LPGA major championships
(wins: 1)
ANA InspirationT2: 2020
Women's PGA C'shipWon: 2021
U.S. Women's OpenT10: 2018
Women's British OpenT9: 2019
Evian ChampionshipT19: 2021
Medal record
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2020 Tokyo Golf

Nelly Korda (born July 28, 1998) is an American professional golfer who plays on the LPGA Tour, where she has won seven times. She played on the 2021 Solheim Cup and 2019 Solheim Cup. She also won the Olympic gold medal at the women's individual golf event at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.[1]

Amateur career[]

Korda was a member of the 2015 U.S. Junior Solheim Cup. As an amateur, she won the 2015 Harter Hall Invitational, 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,[2] 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.[3]

On October 28, 2018, Korda won the Swinging Skirts LPGA Taiwan Championship in Taoyuan, Taiwan for her first LPGA Tour title.[4] 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.[5][6]

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.[7] 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.[8] The Australian Open win represented Korda's 4th top-5 finish in her most recent 5 LPGA starts.[7] 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.[9]

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.[10] On November 3, 2019, Korda defended her title at the Taiwan Swinging Skirts LPGA in a playoff.

On February 28, 2021, Korda won the Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club in Orlando, Florida.[11]

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.[12]

2021: Women's PGA Championship[]

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.[13][14]

2021: Olympic gold, 4 wins, lowest scoring average, #1 world rank[]

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.[1]

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.[15] 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),[16] despite neither player playing tournaments between those ranking dates, because the calculations are over a two-year rolling average.[17]

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.[18] 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.[19] 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.[20]

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,[21] although she finished second on the money list ($2,382,198) to Ko ($3,502,161).[22] 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.[23]

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.[24]

2022[]

On January 3, 2022, Korda passed Stacy Lewis as the longest American women's golfer, with her 26th consecutive week at number one in the Rolex rankings. Lewis had 25 weeks.[24]

Three weeks later at the Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio tournament (January 27–30), she tied for 20th place at 286 (−2), along with her sister Jessica and five other golfers. The low placement lost her the Women's World Golf Rankings #1 position she held for 29 consecutive weeks, to the former #2 Ko Jin-young by a 0.03 difference in the average (9.48 to 9.51 for Ko), with Korda the new #2.[25]

Personal life[]

Korda is the daughter of retired Czech professional tennis players Petr Korda and Regina Rajchrtová.[26] 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 sister Jessica Korda also plays on the LPGA Tour.

In 2021, Korda made the Forbes under 30 list for earners under the age of 30.[citation needed]

Professional wins (10)[]

LPGA Tour wins (7)[]

Legend
Major championships (1)
Other LPGA Tour (6)
No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory 		Runner(s)-up Winner's
share ($)
1 Oct 28, 2018 Swinging Skirts LPGA Taiwan Championship 67-71-69-68=275 −13 2 strokes Australia Minjee Lee 330,000
2 Feb 17, 2019 ISPS Handa Women's Australian Open 71-66-67-67=271 −17 2 strokes South Korea Ko Jin-young 195,000
3 Nov 3, 2019 Taiwan Swinging Skirts LPGA (2) 66-67-65-72=270 −18 Playoff Australia Minjee Lee
Germany Caroline Masson 		330,000
4 Feb 28, 2021 Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio 67-68-68-69=272 −16 3 strokes New Zealand Lydia Ko
United States Lexi Thompson 		300,000
5 Jun 20, 2021 Meijer LPGA Classic 68-66-62-67=263 −25 2 strokes Republic of Ireland Leona Maguire 345,000
6 Jun 27, 2021 Women's PGA Championship 70-63-68-68=269 −19 3 strokes United States Lizette Salas 675,000
7 Nov 14, 2021 Pelican Women's Championship 65-66-63-69=263 −17 Playoff United States Lexi Thompson
New Zealand Lydia Ko
South Korea Kim Sei-young 		262,500

LPGA Tour playoff record (2–1)

No. Year Tournament Opponents Result
1 2019 Taiwan Swinging Skirts LPGA Australia Minjee Lee
Germany Caroline Masson 		Won with birdie on first extra hole
2 2020 ANA Inspiration Canada Brooke Henderson
South Korea Mirim Lee 		Lee won with birdie on first extra hole
3 2021 Pelican Women's Championship United States Lexi Thompson
New Zealand Lydia Ko
South Korea Kim Sei-young 		Won with birdie on first extra hole

Ladies European Tour (1)[]

No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory 		Runner-up Winner's
share (€)
1 Sep 22, 2019 Lacoste Ladies Open de France 68-64-70-67=269 −15 8 strokes France Céline Boutier 48,750

Symetra Tour wins (1)[]

No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory 		Runner-up Winner's
share ($)
1 Sep 4, 2016 Sioux Falls GreatLIFE Challenge 68-67-69-66=270 −14 3 strokes Thailand Wichanee Meechai 31,500

Other wins (1)[]

No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory		 Runner-up
1 Aug 7, 2021 Olympic Games 67-62-69-69=267 −17 1 stroke Japan Mone Inami

Major championships[]

Wins (1)[]

Year Championship 54 holes Winning score Margin Runner-up
2021 Women's PGA Championship Tied for lead −19 (70-63-68-68=269) 3 strokes United States Lizette Salas

Results timeline[]

Results not in chronological order before 2019 or in 2020.

Tournament 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Chevron Championship CUT CUT T42 T13 T52 T2 T3
U.S. Women's Open T64 T59 T44 T10 T39 CUT CUT
Women's PGA Championship T20 T40 T3 WD 1
The Evian Championship CUT T61 T25 NT T19
Women's British Open CUT T42 T9 T14 T13
  Win
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
WD = withdrew
NT = no tournament
T = tied

Summary[]

Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
Chevron Championship 0 1 1 2 2 3 7 5
U.S. Women's Open 0 0 0 0 1 1 7 5
Women's PGA Championship 1 0 1 2 2 3 5 4
The Evian Championship 0 0 0 0 0 2 4 3
Women's British Open 0 0 0 0 1 3 5 4
Totals 1 1 2 4 6 12 28 21

LPGA Tour career summary[]

Year Tournaments
played		 Cuts
made*		 Wins 2nd 3rd Top
10s		 Best
finish		 Birdies
(rank)		 Earnings
($)		 Money
list rank		 Scoring
average		 Scoring
rank
2017 23 19 0 0 0 5 T5 306
(37) 		442,068 47 70.61 27
2018 22 18 1 2 0 7 1 311
(27) 		1,055,046 13 70.62 22
2019 20 19 2 1 3 12 1 328
(20) 		1,665,546 5 69.64 4
2020 12 10 0 1 1 4 T2 151
(43) 		575,894 14 70.27 7
2021 17 16 4 1 2 10 1 293
(10) 		2,382,198 2 68.77 1
2022 2 2 0 0 0 1 4 28
(11) 		110,578 7 70.50 8
Totals^ 96 84 7 5 6 39 1 1,417 6,231,330 51

^ Official as of January 30, 2022 season[27][28][29]
*Includes matchplay and other tournaments without a cut.

World ranking[]

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

Year Ranking Avg.
pts.		 Points Events Source
2016 341 0.23 8.13 21 [30]
2017 73 1.57 69.22 44 [31]
2018 23 3.59 168.51 47 [32]
2019 3 6.53 287.30 44 [33]
2020 4 6.34 297.77 47 [34]
2021 1 9.75 448.67 46 [35]
2022 2^ 9.48 426.46 45 [36]

^ as of January 31, 2022

U.S. national team appearances[]

Amateur

Professional

Solheim Cup record[]

Year Total
matches		 Total
W–L–H		 Singles
W–L–H		 Foursomes
W–L–H		 Fourballs
W–L–H		 Points
won		 Points
%
Career 8 5–2–1 2–0–0 2–2–0 1–0–1 5.5 68.8
2019 4 3–0–1 1–0–0 def. C. Hedwall 2 up 2–0–0 won w/ J. Korda 6&4
won w/ J. Korda 6&5 		0–0–1 halved w/ B. Altomare 3.5 87.5
2021 4 2–2–0 1–0–0 def. G. Hall 1 up 0–2–0 lost w/ J. Korda 6&4
lost w/ A. Ewing 5&4 		1–0–0 won w/ A. Ewing 1 up 2.0 50.0

References[]

  1. ^ a b "USA's Korda wins women's golf gold". BBC Sport. August 7, 2021. Retrieved August 7, 2021.
  2. ^ "Nelly Korda – Bio". Symetra Tour. Retrieved August 4, 2017.
  3. ^ "N. Korda earns LPGA card via Symetra Tour". Golf Channel. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved January 22, 2017.
  4. ^ "Nelly Korda Wins Swinging Skirts LPGA Taiwan for First LPGA Title". LPGA. October 28, 2018. Retrieved October 28, 2018.
  5. ^ "Moriya Jutanugarn wins LPGA L.A. tourney for first tour win". ESPN. Associated Press. April 23, 2018.
  6. ^ "Nelly and Jessica Korda become third sister duo to win LPGA titles". The Golf News Net. October 28, 2018.
  7. ^ a b Bethel, Elizabeth (February 20, 2019). "Nelly Korda: What was in her bag at the Women's Australian Open?". ForeGals.
  8. ^ "Nelly Korda wins Women's Australian Open 2019: Final results, leaderboard". Cleveland.com. February 17, 2019.
  9. ^ Mell, Randall (February 18, 2019). "Nelly passes big sis Jessica Korda in world rankings". Golf Channel.
  10. ^ Mell, Randall (September 22, 2019). "N. Korda wins her first LET title at Ladies French Open". Golf Channel. Retrieved September 22, 2019.
  11. ^ Nichols, Beth Ann (February 28, 2021). "Year of the Kordas continues as Nelly Korda collects three-shot win at Gainbridge LPGA". Golfweek. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
  12. ^ "Nelly Korda wins in Michigan for 2nd Victory of Year". LPGA. Associated Press. June 20, 2021. Retrieved June 21, 2021.
  13. ^ Ferguson, Doug (June 27, 2021). "Nelly Korda claims 1st major title, moves to No. 1 in world with win at Women's PGA Championship". CBC.ca. Associated Press. Retrieved June 27, 2021.
  14. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings: Rankings as of June 28, 2021". Rolex Rankings. Retrieved June 28, 2021.
  15. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". Rolex Rankings. October 25, 2021.
  16. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". Rolex Rankings. November 8, 2021.
  17. ^ "Rolex Rankings Fact Sheet (#8)". Rolex Rankings. Retrieved November 13, 2021.
  18. ^ "Nelly Korda overcomes triple bogey to win LPGA in playoff". Toronto Star. Associated Press. November 14, 2021. Retrieved November 14, 2021.
  19. ^ Eubanks, Steve (November 14, 2021). "Nelly Korda Is a Lion with Her Father's Mane". LPGA.
  20. ^ "Nelly Korda, The Fresh Princess of Belleair". LPGA. November 14, 2021.
  21. ^ "Scoring Average – 2021". LPGA.
  22. ^ "Official Money – 2021". LPGA.
  23. ^ Myers, Alex (October 29, 2021). "Why neither Nelly Korda nor Jin Young Ko will win this important LPGA award despite dominant seasons". Golf Digest.
  24. ^ a b Schreiber, Max (January 3, 2022). "First Rolex Rankings of 2022: Nelly Korda makes history". Golf Channel. Retrieved January 18, 2022.
  25. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". January 31, 2022.
  26. ^ Andrews, Malika. "Korda Sisters Share a Bond, if Not a Room, at the U.S. Women's Open". New York Times. Retrieved August 4, 2017.
  27. ^ "Nelly Korda stats". LPGA. Retrieved January 31, 2022.
  28. ^ "Nelly Korda results". LPGA. Retrieved January 31, 2022.
  29. ^ "Career Money". LPGA. Retrieved January 31, 2022.
  30. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". December 26, 2016.
  31. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". December 25, 2017.
  32. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". December 31, 2018.
  33. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". December 30, 2019.
  34. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". December 28, 2020.
  35. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". December 27, 2021.
  36. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". January 31, 2022.

External links[]

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