Nelly Korda returns at LPGA major to face history and expectations, on her terms
One might argue that the LPGA’s bye week was detrimental to the hottest player in golf.
The hottest player in golf would not be that one.
After playing thee consecutive weeks, and winning three consecutive events, Nelly Korda was wiped.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been that tired,” she said Tuesday at the Chevron Championship. “I would wake up and I was ready to go back to bed but I couldn’t. It’s almost to the point where you just can’t sleep; you’re just overly tired.”
Excellence is exhausting.
Korda is on a run not witnessed on the LPGA since the aughts. Prior to that much-needed – and well-deserved – break, Korda had swept a trio of scheduled events upon the tour’s return to the U.S.
Only four players have won four consecutive tournaments on the LPGA calendar:
Mickey Wright (1962, 1963)
Kathy Whitworth (1969)
Annika Sorenstam (2001)
Lorena Ochoa (2008)
Korda also won prior to the Asia swing, which gives her four straight wins in as many starts. Two players in tour history have won five in a row:
Nancy Lopez (1978)
Annika Sorenstam (2004-05)
Notably, Sorenstam’s record-tying fifth straight victory came in this event, when it was known as the Kraft Nabisco and contested in Rancho Mirage, California. She won by eight.
By that that time, Sorenstam had already cemented her legacy (that was the 59th of her 72 tour titles). Korda, meanwhile, is in the formative stage of her career.
She has 12 LPGA wins, including a major (2021 KPMG Women’s PGA). She’s the world No. 1. She’s become the face of the tour. Now seems like her time.
Competitively, she wants more. In terms of breaking through to a broader audience, she hopes being Nelly will suffice.
“Listen, I feel like for me, the way that I promote the game is just the way I am. I’m very true to myself. I’m never going to do something I’m not really comfortable with. Obviously, I love seeing all the kids and I love promoting the game,” she said.
“I’m always going to stay true to myself, and hopefully that way do I promote the game.”
