Nelly Korda facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Quick facts for kids Nelly Korda
Korda in 2019
Personal information
Born	(1998-07-28) July 28, 1998 (age 27) Bradenton, Florida, U.S.
Height	5 ft 10 in
Residence	Bradenton, Florida, U.S.
Career
College	None
Turned professional	2016
Current tour(s)	LPGA Tour (joined 2017)
Former tour(s)	Symetra Tour (joined 2016)
Professional wins	22
Number of wins by tour
LPGA Tour	17
Ladies European Tour	3
Futures Tour	1
Other	1
Best results in LPGA Major Championships (Wins: 3)
Kraft Nabisco C'ship	Won: 2024, 2026
LPGA Championship	Won: 2021
U.S. Women's Open	T2: 2025
Women's British Open	T2: 2024
The Evian Championship	T8: 2022
Achievements and awards
LPGA Tour Player of the Year	2024
Race to the CME Globe	2024
Rolex Annika Major Award	2024
GWAA Female Player of the Year	2021, 2024

Nelly Korda (born July 28, 1998) is an American professional golfer. She plays on the LPGA Tour, which is a top professional golf tour for women. Nelly has won three major championships, which are some of the biggest tournaments in golf. These include the 2021 Women's PGA Championship and two Chevron Championship titles in 2024 and 2026.

Nelly has won 22 professional golf tournaments in total. This includes 17 wins on the LPGA Tour. She also won a gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics. She has been ranked as the number one female golfer in the world for over 100 weeks. She finished both 2021 and 2024 as the year-end world number one. Nelly has also proudly represented the United States in four Solheim Cup competitions. She was part of the winning team in 2024.

Who is Nelly Korda?

Nelly Korda became a professional golfer in 2016. She quickly won her first professional tournament that same year. In 2017, she joined the LPGA Tour. Her first LPGA win came in 2018 at the Swinging Skirts LPGA Taiwan Championship. In 2019, she won the Women's Australian Open. This victory helped her enter the top 10 of the world rankings for the first time.

Nelly continued to win more LPGA titles. In 2021, she achieved her first major championship at the Women's PGA Championship. This win also made her the world's number one golfer. At the 2020 Summer Olympics, which were held in 2021, she made history. She became the first American female golfer to win an individual Olympic gold medal since 1900.

In 2024, Nelly Korda achieved another amazing feat. She became only the third player to win five tournaments in a row on the LPGA Tour. This incredible streak included her second major win, the 2024 Chevron Championship. Later that year, she helped the United States win the Solheim Cup. She ended 2024 with seven individual LPGA titles and was named the LPGA Tour Player of the Year. In 2026, she won her third major title at the Chevron Championship, returning to the world number one spot.

A Family of Athletes

Nelly Korda comes from a family of talented athletes. Her father, Petr Korda, was a professional tennis player. He won the Australian Open in 1998. Her younger brother, Sebastian Korda, is also a professional tennis player. Her older sister, Jessica Korda, is a professional golfer, just like Nelly.

In 2018, when Nelly won her first LPGA Tour event, she and Jessica made history. They became the third pair of sisters to both win LPGA Tour events. In 2019, they were the first sisters to play together as a team in a Solheim Cup match.

Early Golf Days: Amateur Career

Nelly Korda trained at the IMG Academy in her hometown of Bradenton, Florida. When she was 14, she played in the 2013 U.S. Women's Open. She made the cut, which means she played well enough to continue in the tournament.

In 2014, she won the Kathy Whitworth Invitational. She also got to play in the 2014 Kraft Nabisco Championship. In 2015, she won the Harder Hall Invitational and the Yani Tseng Invitational. She also finished second at the Rolex Girls Junior Championship. Nelly was chosen to represent the United States in the 2015 Junior Solheim Cup in Germany. Her team won, making them the first U.S. team to win the tournament away from home. She also entered the top 10 of the World Amateur Golf Ranking.

Turning Professional: First Steps

Nelly started her professional golf journey in 2016 on the Symetra Tour. She won her very first professional event, the Sioux Falls GreatLIFE Challenge. She finished three strokes ahead of the second-place player. This success helped her earn a spot on the LPGA Tour for 2017.

Nelly made her LPGA Tour debut in 2017. She finished tied for 5th place in her first event. She admitted that traveling a lot during the year was tough. She ended her first LPGA season with a strong tied-8th finish at the CME Group Tour Championship.

First LPGA Tour Victory

In 2018, Nelly Korda had a great year. She finished second at the HSBC Women's World Championship in Singapore. She also placed in the top 10 at the 2018 U.S. Women's Open. On October 28, 2018, Nelly won her first LPGA Tour title. She secured a two-stroke victory at the Swinging Skirts LPGA Taiwan Championship. This win meant she and her sister Jessica were the third pair of sisters to win LPGA Tour titles.

Rising Star: Top Rankings and Solheim Cup Debut

Nelly started 2019 strong, finishing third at a tournament. In February, she won the ISPS Handa Women's Australian Open. This win was special because her family had a "Family Slam" in Australia. Her father, sister, and brother had all won major tennis or golf titles there. After this victory, Nelly moved into the top 10 of the Women's World Golf Rankings.

Nelly also played in her first Solheim Cup in 2019 in Scotland. She made history with her sister Jessica. They became the first sisters to play as partners in the competition. They won both of their matches together. Nelly finished the tournament without a single loss. The United States team narrowly lost to Europe that year. In November, she won the Taiwan Swinging Skirts LPGA again. She also had twelve top-10 finishes on the LPGA Tour in 2019.

In 2020, the LPGA Tour had a break due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When play resumed, Nelly came very close to winning her first major. She reached a three-way playoff at the ANA Inspiration.

A Golden Year: Major Win and Olympic Gold

The year 2021 was a huge year for Nelly Korda. In February, she won the Gainbridge LPGA. In June, she won the Meijer LPGA Classic, becoming the first player to win twice on the LPGA Tour that year. Later that month, Nelly won her first major championship. She triumphed at the 2021 Women's PGA Championship in Georgia. This victory also made her the number one ranked player in the world. She finished the tournament with a score that matched the lowest ever for that event.

Nelly then represented the United States at the Summer Olympics in Japan. She won the gold medal, becoming only the second American female golfer to do so. She was the first since 1900! She also played in the 2021 Solheim Cup, where the U.S. team lost to Europe. Nelly finished 2021 as the world number one golfer. She had the lowest scoring average on tour that year.

Overcoming Challenges and More Wins

In early 2022, Nelly set a new record. She became the American with the most consecutive weeks as world number one. However, in March, she announced she had a medical issue in her arm. This meant she had to take a break from playing. After surgery, Nelly returned to golf in June at the 2022 U.S. Women's Open. She finished tied for 8th place.

Later in 2022, Nelly successfully defended her title at the Pelican Women's Championship. This was her first win of the year. This win also brought her back to the top of the world rankings for a short time. She had eight top-10 finishes on the LPGA Tour in 2022.

Back to Number One and Record-Breaking Wins

In 2023, Nelly Korda continued to play well. She finished second at the HSBC Women's World Championship. After a third-place finish at the 2023 Chevron Championship, she regained the number one world ranking. She also won the Aramco Team Series event near London. Nelly played in the 2023 Solheim Cup, where Europe and the United States tied. Europe kept the trophy.

The year 2024 was another incredible one for Nelly. In January, she won her ninth LPGA Tour event at the LPGA Drive On Championship. She made an amazing comeback in the final round to win in a playoff. She then won three more tournaments in a row in March and April. These wins brought her back to the top of the Women's World Golf Rankings. Her four straight wins made her the first player since 2008 to achieve this.

More Major Success

Nelly Korda continued her winning streak in 2024 with a fifth consecutive victory. This was her second major title, won at the 2024 Chevron Championship. She became only the third LPGA player ever to win five tournaments in a row. After this historic run, she took a well-deserved break. In May, she won the Mizuho Americas Open, her sixth win in seven starts.

At the 2024 Women's British Open, Nelly finished tied for 3rd place. She also played in the 2024 Summer Olympics, but could not defend her gold medal. She was part of the United States team that won the 2024 Solheim Cup. Nelly won three of her four matches in that event. In November, she won The Annika, her seventh LPGA title of the year. She was named the LPGA Tour Player of the Year for 2024. She was the first player since 2011 to win seven LPGA Tour events in a single year.

In 2025, Nelly had a year without a win. She finished second at the Tournament of Champions and the 2025 U.S. Women's Open. In July, she reached 100 career weeks as world number one, a big milestone. However, in August, she lost her number one ranking after holding it for 71 consecutive weeks. She finished her 2025 LPGA Tour season with a third-place finish at the CME Group Tour Championship.

In January 2026, Nelly Korda won her first LPGA Tour event since November 2024 at the Tournament of Champions. The final round was cancelled due to bad weather, but she secured a three-stroke victory. In April 2026, Nelly won her third career major title at the 2026 Chevron Championship. She had an amazing performance, leading by a large margin and winning by five strokes. This victory also brought her back to the number one spot in the world rankings.

Nelly Korda's Life Off the Course

Nelly Korda's parents, Petr Korda and Regina Rajchrtová, were both professional tennis players from the Czech Republic. Her father won a Grand Slam tennis title. Her younger brother, Sebastian Korda, and older sister, Jessica Korda, are also professional athletes.

In November 2025, Nelly announced her engagement to Casey Gunderson.

Nelly Korda has been recognized for her success. In 2021, Forbes magazine included her in their "30 under 30" list for young earners. In 2024, she was named one of the highest-earning female athletes in the world. The American Junior Golf Association even named a junior golf tournament after her, the Nelly Invitational. Nelly also made a fun cameo appearance as a doctor in the 2025 sports comedy film Happy Gilmore 2.

Key Achievements

Amateur Wins

2014 Kathy Whitworth Invitational
2015 Harder Hall Invitational, Yani Tseng Invitational, PING Invitational

Professional Wins (22)

LPGA Tour Wins (17)

Legend
Major championships (3)
Other LPGA Tour (14)

#	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	Minjee Lee	330,000
2	Feb 17, 2019	ISPS Handa Women's Australian Open	71-66-67-67=271	−17	2 strokes	Ko Jin-young	195,000
3	Nov 3, 2019	Taiwan Swinging Skirts LPGA (2)	66-67-65-72=270	−18	Playoff	Minjee Lee Caroline Masson	330,000
4	Feb 28, 2021	Gainbridge LPGA	67-68-68-69=272	−16	3 strokes	Lydia Ko Lexi Thompson	300,000
5	Jun 20, 2021	Meijer LPGA Classic	68-66-62-67=263	−25	2 strokes	Leona Maguire	345,000
6	Jun 27, 2021	Women's PGA Championship	70-63-68-68=269	−19	3 strokes	Lizette Salas	675,000
7	Nov 14, 2021	Pelican Women's Championship	65-66-63-69=263	−17	Playoff	Kim Sei-young Lydia Ko Lexi Thompson	262,500
8	Nov 13, 2022	Pelican Women's Championship (2)	66-66-64=196	−14	1 stroke	Lexi Thompson	300,000
9	Jan 28, 2024	LPGA Drive On Championship	65-67-68-73=273	−11	Playoff	Lydia Ko	262,500
10	Mar 24, 2024	Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship	72-67-67-69=275	−9	Playoff	Ryann O'Toole	300,000
11	Mar 31, 2024	Ford Championship	66-68-69-65=268	−20	2 strokes	Hira Naveed	337,500
12	Apr 7, 2024	T-Mobile Match Play	4 and 3			Leona Maguire	300,000
13	Apr 21, 2024	Chevron Championship	68-69-69-69=275	−13	2 strokes	Maja Stark	1,200,000
14	May 19, 2024	Mizuho Americas Open	70-68-65-71=274	−14	1 stroke	Hannah Green	450,000
15	Nov 17, 2024	The Annika (3)	66-66-67-67=266	−14	3 strokes	Charley Hull Im Jin-hee Zhang Weiwei	487,500
16	Feb 1, 2026	Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions	68-71-64=203	−13	3 strokes	Amy Yang	315,000
17	Apr 26, 2026	Chevron Championship (2)	65-65-70-70=270	−18	5 strokes	Patty Tavatanakit Yin Ruoning	1,350,000

LPGA Tour Playoff Record (4–2)

#	Year	Tournament	Opponents	Result
1	2019	Taiwan Swinging Skirts LPGA	Minjee Lee Caroline Masson	Won with birdie on first extra hole
2	2020	ANA Inspiration	Brooke Henderson Mirim Lee	Lee won with birdie on first extra hole
3	2021	Pelican Women's Championship	Kim Sei-young Lydia Ko Lexi Thompson	Won with birdie on first extra hole
4	2022	Meijer LPGA Classic	Jennifer Kupcho Leona Maguire	Kupcho won with a birdie on the second extra hole; Korda eliminated by birdie on first hole
5	2024	LPGA Drive On Championship	Lydia Ko	Won with a par on second extra hole
6	2024	Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship	Ryann O'Toole	Won with a birdie on first extra hole

Ladies European Tour Wins (3)

#	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	Céline Boutier	48,750
2	Aug 20, 2022	Aramco Team Series – Sotogrande	67-69-67=203	−13	3 strokes	Jessica Korda Ana Peláez Pauline Roussin	73,955
3	Jul 16, 2023	Aramco Team Series – London	68-69-71=208	−11	4 strokes	Charley Hull	75,000

Symetra Tour Wins (1)

#	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	Wichanee Meechai	31,500

Other Wins (1)

#	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	Mone Inami

Major Championship Highlights

Wins (3)

Year	Championship	54 holes	Winning score	Margin	Runner(s)-up
2021	Women's PGA Championship	Tied for lead	−19 (70-63-68-68=269)	3 strokes	Lizette Salas
2024	Chevron Championship	1 shot deficit	−13 (68-69-69-69=275)	2 strokes	Maja Stark
2026	Chevron Championship (2)	5 shot lead	−18 (65-65-70-70=270)	5 strokes	Patty Tavatanakit, Yin Ruoning

Results Timeline

Results not in chronological order.

Tournament	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025	2026
Chevron Championship		CUT	CUT		T42	T13	T52	T2	T3		3	1	T14	1
U.S. Women's Open	T64			T59	T44	T10	T39	CUT	CUT	T8	T64	CUT	T2
Women's PGA Championship					T20	T40	T3	WD	1	T30	CUT	CUT	T19
The Evian Championship					CUT	T61	T25	NT	T19	T8	T9	T26	T43
Women's British Open					CUT	T42	T9	T14	T13	T41	T11	T2	T36

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	2	1	2	5	5	7	11	9
U.S. Women's Open	0	1	0	1	3	3	11	8
Women's PGA Championship	1	0	1	2	2	4	9	6
The Evian Championship	0	0	0	0	2	4	8	7
Women's British Open	0	1	0	1	2	5	9	8
Totals	3	3	3	9	14	23	48	38

Most consecutive cuts made – 10 (twice)
Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (14 times, current)

Career Overview

Year	Tournaments played	Cuts made	Wins (Majors)	2nd	3rd	Top 10s	Best finish	Earnings (US$)	Money list rank	Scoring average	Scoring rank
2013	1	1	0	0	0	0	T64	N/A	N/A	77.50	N/A
2014	1	0	0	0	0	0	CUT	N/A	N/A	78.50	N/A
2015	1	0	0	0	0	0	CUT	N/A	N/A	75.50	N/A
2016	1	1	0	0	0	0	T59	N/A	N/A	74.50	N/A
2017	23	19	0	0	0	5	T5	442,068	47	70.61	27
2018	22	18	1	2	0	7	1	1,055,046	13	70.62	22
2019	20	19	2	1	3	12	1	1,665,546	5	69.64	4
2020	12	10	0	1	1	4	T2	575,894	14	70.27	7
2021	17	16	4 (1)	1	2	10	1	2,382,198	2	68.77	1
2022	15	13	1	2	0	8	1	1,418,725	12	69.66	6
2023	18	16	0	1	1	9	2	1,397,796	20	69.85	5
2024	16	13	7 (1)	1	0	11	1	4,391,930	2	69.56	2
2025	19	19	0	2	1	9	2/T2	2,780,355	5	69.44	2
Totals	162 (2017)	143 (2017)	15 (2)	11	8	75	1	16,109,558	9		—

World Ranking Journey

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

Year	World ranking	Source
2013	626
2014	822
2015	n/a
2016	341
2017	73
2018	23
2019	3
2020	4
2021	1
2022	2
2023	5
2024	1
2025	2

Representing the USA

Amateur

Junior Solheim Cup: 2015 (winners)

Professional

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

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	16	10–5–1	2–2–0	6–2–0	2–1–1	10.5	65.6
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
2023	4	2–2–0	0–1–0 lost to C. Ciganda 2&1	2–0–0 won w/ A. Corpuz 1 up won w/ A. Corpuz 5&3	0–1–0 lost w/ A. Ewing 4&3	2.0	50.0
2024	4	3–1–0	0–1–0 lost to C. Hull 6&4	2–0–0 won w/ A. Corpuz 3&2 won w/ A. Corpuz 1 up	1–0–0 won w/ M. Khang 6&4	3.0	75.0