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. [5]
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. [9] 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. [10] The Australian Open win represented Korda's 4th top-5 finish in her most recent 5 LPGA starts. [9] 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. [11]
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. [12] 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. [13]
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. [14]
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. [15] [16]
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. [3]
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. [17] 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), [18] despite neither player playing tournaments between those ranking dates, because the calculations are over a two-year rolling average. [19]
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. [20] 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. [21] 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. [22]
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, [23] although she finished second on the money list ($2,382,198) to Ko ($3,502,161). [24] 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. [25]
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. [26]
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. [26] 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. [27] 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. [28] 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. [29] She did not hold the position for long as Lydia Ko regained the number one spot two weeks later. [30]
2023
In January, Korda signed a deal with TaylorMade and Nike. [31] [32] Later in the year, Korda signed with Delta Air Lines. [33]
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. [34] After Korda finished third at the Chevron Championship on April 23, she regained the No. 1 world ranking. [35] In May, she announced that she would miss several tournaments because of pain in her back. [36] 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. [37]
2024: Return to #1, 5 consecutive starting wins, second major title
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. [38] 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), [39] Ford Championship, [40] 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. [41]
She 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) have won five consecutive starts before Korda became the third LPGA player to achieve the feat. [42]
United States 
