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Nelly Korda
Korda in 2019
Personal information
Born (1998-07-28) July 28, 1998 (age 26)
Bradenton, Florida, U.S.
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Nationality  United States
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 20
Number of wins by tour
LPGA Tour 15
Ladies European Tour 3
Futures Tour 1
Other 1
Best results in LPGA Major Championships
(Wins: 2)
Kraft Nabisco C'ship Won: 2024
LPGA Championship Won: 2021
U.S. Women's Open T8: 2022
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

Nelly Korda (born July 28, 1998) is an American professional golfer. She plays on the LPGA Tour, which is a top golf tour for women. Nelly has won 15 times on the LPGA Tour and has even been ranked number one in the world! She also won a gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, for women's golf. Nelly has proudly represented the United States in the Solheim Cup several times, helping her team win in 2024.

About Nelly Korda

Nelly Korda was born on July 28, 1998, in Bradenton, Florida. She comes from a very athletic family. Her dad, Petr Korda, was a famous tennis player who won the Australian Open. Her mom, Regina Rajchrtová, was also a professional tennis player. Nelly's older sister, Jessica Korda, is also a professional golfer on the LPGA Tour. Her younger brother, Sebastian Korda, is a professional tennis player.

Early Golf Days

Nelly started playing golf at a young age. As a junior player, she was part of the 2015 U.S. Junior Solheim Cup team. She won several amateur tournaments, like the 2015 Harder Hall Invitational. Even before she turned 15, she played in a major golf tournament, the 2013 U.S. Women's Open.

Becoming a Professional Golfer

Nelly turned professional in 2016. She started on the Symetra Tour, which is like a stepping stone to the LPGA Tour. She won her very first professional event, the Sioux Falls GreatLIFE Challenge. This win helped her earn a spot on the LPGA Tour for the 2017 season.

First LPGA Wins

In 2018, Nelly won her first LPGA Tour title at the Swinging Skirts LPGA Taiwan Championship. This was a special moment because it meant she and her sister, Jessica, became only the third pair of sisters to both win on the LPGA Tour!

In 2019, Nelly kept up her winning streak. She won the ISPS Handa Women's Australian Open. This was extra special because her dad, sister, and brother had all won Australian Open titles in tennis. It was like a "Family Slam" for the Korda family in Australia! This win also helped Nelly reach the top 10 in the world golf rankings for the first time. She also won the Lacoste Ladies Open de France and defended her title at the Taiwan Swinging Skirts LPGA.

A Big Year: 2021

The year 2021 was amazing for Nelly Korda. She won four LPGA Tour events, including her first major championship.

  • She won the Gainbridge LPGA in February.
  • Then, she won the Meijer LPGA Classic in June.
  • Just a week later, she won her first major title at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship. This huge win made her the number one ranked female golfer in the world!
  • In August, Nelly achieved a dream come true: she won the gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. She was the first American woman to win Olympic golf gold since 1900!
  • Later in November, she won the Pelican Women's Championship in a thrilling playoff.

Nelly finished 2021 as the world's number one golfer.

Challenges and Comebacks: 2022-2023

In early 2022, Nelly had a health issue when she developed a blood clot in her arm. This meant she had to take a break from golf to recover. She worked hard to get back to playing and returned to the U.S. Women's Open. In November 2022, she successfully defended her title at the Pelican Women's Championship, which helped her briefly regain the number one world ranking.

In 2023, Nelly continued to play well. She signed deals with big companies like TaylorMade and Nike. She also won the Aramco Team Series near London, which was her 13th professional victory.

Incredible 2024 Season

Nelly Korda had an unbelievable start to 2024. She won her first tournament of the year, the LPGA Drive On Championship, in her hometown of Bradenton, Florida. This win was exciting because she came from behind and won in a playoff!

She then went on to win three more tournaments in a row: the Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship, the Ford Championship, and the T-Mobile Match Play. This meant she had won four tournaments in four starts, which is a very rare achievement in golf!

But she didn't stop there. Nelly won her fifth tournament in a row, which was also her second major title, at the 2024 Chevron Championship. This made her only the third player in LPGA history to win five consecutive starts! After this amazing streak, she took a short break to rest.

In May, Nelly won the Mizuho Americas Open, making it her sixth win in seven starts. She then won The Annika in November, bringing her total wins for 2024 to seven! Because of her incredible performance, Nelly won the LPGA Tour Player of the Year award and the Rolex Annika Major Award for 2024.

Professional Wins (20)

Nelly Korda has won 20 professional golf tournaments. Here's a quick look at her wins:

LPGA Tour Wins (15)

Legend
Major championships (2)
Other LPGA Tour (13)
No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up Winner's
share ($)
1 Oct 28, 2018 Swinging Skirts LPPA 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 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 South Korea Kim Sei-young
New Zealand Lydia Ko
United States Lexi Thompson
262,500
8 Nov 13, 2022 Pelican Women's Championship (2) 66-66-64=196 −14 1 stroke United States Lexi Thompson 300,000
9 Jan 28, 2024 LPGA Drive On Championship 65-67-68-73=273 −11 Playoff New Zealand Lydia Ko 262,500
10 Mar 24, 2024 Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship 72-67-67-69=275 −9 Playoff United States Ryann O'Toole 300,000
11 Mar 31, 2024 Ford Championship 66-68-69-65=268 −20 2 strokes Australia Hira Naveed 337,500
12 Apr 7, 2024 T-Mobile Match Play 4 and 3 Republic of Ireland Leona Maguire 300,000
13 Apr 21, 2024 Chevron Championship 68-69-69-69=275 −13 2 strokes Sweden Maja Stark 1,200,000
14 May 19, 2024 Mizuho Americas Open 70-68-65-71=274 −14 1 stroke Australia Hannah Green 450,000
15 Nov 17, 2024 The Annika (3) 66-66-67-67=266 −14 3 stroke England Charley Hull
South Korea Im Jin-hee
China Zhang Weiwei
487,500

Major Championship Wins (2)

Nelly has won two major championships in her career:

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
2024 Chevron Championship 1 shot deficit −13 (68-69-69-69=275) 2 strokes Sweden Maja Stark

World Ranking

Nelly Korda has been ranked among the top golfers in the world. Here's how her ranking has changed over the years:

Year World
ranking
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

Team USA Appearances

Nelly loves playing for her country! She has been part of several U.S. national golf teams:

  • Junior Solheim Cup: 2015 (her team won!)
  • Solheim Cup: She played in 2019, 2021, 2023, and helped the U.S. team win in 2024.
  • International Crown: 2023

Solheim Cup Record

The Solheim Cup is a big team competition between the best female golfers from the U.S. and Europe. Nelly has a great record in this event:

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

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Nelly Korda para niños

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