Winning streak over, Nelly Korda excited about what lies ahead
Give it a few weeks or a month. Maybe by the end of the year. Perhaps another decade or two.
Nelly Korda doesn’t know when it will sink in, but, at some point, she’ll come to appreciate what she recently accomplished on the LPGA Tour.
Korda’s record-tying winning streak of five tournaments ended on Sunday in New Jersey, where she tied for seventh at the Cognizant Founders Cup after weekend rounds of 73-73.
“Gosh, hasn't even sunk in,” Korda said after her final round, when asked about what this run has meant to her.
“Probably, maybe now or maybe in like 10, 15 years it'll sink in. Hopefully, someone beats it one day.”
Korda’s trophy grab began in January in her second start of the year. She then took off the tour’s Asia swing and, when it returned to the U.S., she won the next four tournaments.
The winning streak culminated at the Chevron Championship, her second career major title (2021 KPMG Women’s PGA). That triumph allowed her to join Nancy Lopez (1978) and Annika Sorenstam (2004-05) as the only LPGA players to win in five consecutive starts.
After a two-week break, which included skipping the JM Eagle LA Championship, she returned at Upper Montclair Country Club. The week began with an appearance at the Met Gala, and while she acknowledged her lack of success in N.J., in her pre-tournament press conference, Korda opened 69-66 to sit four off the 36-hole lead.
But while eventual winner Rose Zhang and Madelene Sagstrom distanced themselves from the field, Korda slipped back with a pair of over-par rounds.
Undaunted, she looked forward to what lies ahead.
“Yeah, so much exciting stuff. Super excited to play Liberty (National) next week (for the Mizuho Americas Open) and then we have some really amazing golf courses lined up for some of majors,” she said.
That includes Lancaster Country Club for the U.S. Women’s Open, Sahalee Country Club for the KPMG Women’s PGA, Evian Resort for the Amundi Evian and the Old Course at St. Andrews for the AIG Women’s Open.
“Not just that. Hopefully with Olympics and Solheim, qualifying for that, that would be amazing, too. It's a big year,” said Korda, who is the defending Olympic gold medalist.
“I'm not going to get too ahead of myself, but there is a lot of exciting stuff lined up.”
