Where do you find the balance when you are a professional working at the highest echelons of the game? Do you go 100% every day, or do you find yourself holding back like a snake, conserving energy, observing enemies, and waiting for the right moment to strike with a powerful force? Well, Nelly Korda is seemingly the second kind of person – the one that thinks before she leaps.
“If my body is not feeling 100 percent, then I’m not going to push it.” Korda had stated last year. The current world No.1 missed the Asian Swing of the 2024 LPGA Tour but did not miss a beat when she returned for the Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship, clinching the victory via a playoff at the Wilshire Country Club.
Korda then went on to win three more LPGA Tour events in a row, asserting her dominance on the course. Maybe the rest really did wonders for her form. She missed the Asian swing in the fall as well, but this time, it was not pre-planned. The 15-time LPGA winner suffered a neck injury, which caused her to miss six events starting from the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship, including the four Asian events as well.
She again returned strong, winning the ANNIKA at Florida and registering 7 LPGA victories for the season, cementing her No.1 spot on the World Rankings. This is despite only playing 17 events on the tour last year. Pacing herself really did her a favor, and she is seemingly liking the idea.
In the 2025 season, Korda is on another one and a half month break to start the season. She was featured at the Tournament of Champions, where she finished runner-up, and the Founders Cup, where she finished T7 despite an annoying skin problem. This is after she played at the Grant Thornton Invitational and the PNC Championship, the latter with her father, Petr Korda.
“I kind of have the first part of year until Chevron kind of set. After that it’ll be just how my body is feeling,” the World No.1 explained that her schedule is set till April 27, meaning that this break was premeditated. Korda will ideally be back by the end of the Asian Leg, which would be the Ford Championship in Arizona on March 31. The Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship, which was scheduled to take place a week before the Ford event, was cancelled because of payment issues with the LPGA. Fun fact: She is also the defending champion at the Ford Championship, so either way, she is back in familiar territory.
Nelly Korda’s crazy four-event stretch post Asian swing
Last year, before the Asian swing, Korda won the LPGA Drive On Championship in Florida. She then waited patiently and worked on recovering herself while the rest of the LPGA went on a long journey around the globe. While they were back for the Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship, Korda was ready. She clinched victory via playoffs before heading to the Ford Championship.
At Chandler, Arizona, she beat Hira Naveed by two strokes to extend her personal streak to three in three events and her LPGA Streak to two. At the TMobile Match Play, she added one more to both streaks by ousting Leona Maguire in a dominating fashion. She then rounded off her streak by clinching a major, only her second at the Chevron Championship in Texas, winning by two strokes over Swedish golfer Maja Stark.
It was Rose Zhang who finally broke her run at the 2024 Founders Cup, where she bested Korda’s four-round score of 7 under par by 17 strokes. Do you think a well-rested Korda can mount a similar streak and reassert her dominance on the field? Or was it a one-time occurrence?
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