Nelly Korda

Her father is former tennis pro Peter Korda, who won the 1998 Australian Open; her mother, Regina Rajchrtova, is also a former pro tennis player who competed in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. She is the younger sister of LPGA Tour player and 2010 U.S. Women's Amateur runner-up Jessica Korda. She finished 12th at the South Atlantic Ladies Amateur (SALLY) in 2011 when she was 12 years old. The next year, she finished 18th in the SALLY and 6th in the Junior at Innisbrook and added a 5th at the Scott Robertson Memorial. In 2013, she was 7th in the SALLY and 4th in the TaylorMade-Adidas Junior at Innisbrook. She also finished 11th in the Rolex Junior Championship. At just 14, she qualified for the U.S. Women's Open and made the cut. She finished T-64th.
The next year, she played again on the professional stage at the Kraft Nabisco Championship (now the Chevron Championship) but missed the cut. She was the runner-up at the TaylorMade-Adidas Junior at Innisbrook hosted by Sean O'Hair in 2014. Also scored top-10 finishes at the Scott Robertson Memorial (3rd) and the Rolex Junior Championship (8th). Finished 13th at The PING Invitational.
2015 Notes: In her last year as an amateur, Korda won the Harder Hall Invitational, Yani Tseng Invitational presented by The Swinging Skirts, and The Ping Invitational. She was also the runner-up in the Rolex Girls Junior Championship and finished 7th at the Annika Invitational. She represented the U.S. at the Junior Solheim Cup, qualified for the U.S. Women's Amateur, and reached the Round of 64. She again played on the LPGA Tour at the ANA Inspiration but missed the cut.
She turned professional for the 2016 season, but at the age of 17, she was ineligible to play on the LPGA Tour; rules stipulate players must be 18. She petitioned the LPGA to allow her to play in the Q-School in order to play on the Symetra Tour as a 17-year-old. She finished 3rd at Q-School to secure a spot on the Symetra Tour in 2016. She could earn her LPGA Tour card by winning three times on the Symetra Tour, finishing in the top 10 on the money list.
2016 Notes: Played in 19 Symetra Tour events making 15 cuts and having 7 top-10 finishes. She won the Sioux Falls GreatLIFE Challenge by 3 shots on the way to finishing 9th in the money race with $79,129 to earn an LPGA membership for 2017.
2017 Notes: Joined sister, Jessica, as an LPGA Tour player in 2017. Played in 23 LPGA events making 19 cuts. As a 2017 rookie, she had five top-10 finishes, including four additional top-20 finishes in 23 starts. In her first LPGA start was T-5th in the Pure Silk Bahamas LPGA Classic. Match that later in the year, finishing T-5th at the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia. Also was T-8th at the Marathon Classic and the CME Group Tour Championship, another top-10, T-9th at the Volvik Championship. Finished 47th on the money list and was 3rd in the Rookie of the Year standings.
2018 Notes: Played in 22 LPGA Tour events making 18 cuts with seven top-ten finishes. She suffered from an intestinal disorder through the first half of the season, first encountered in the Bahamas. Was T-2nd at the HSBC Women's Champions, a shot back of winner Michelle Wie. She got her first LPGA victory at the Swinging Skirts in Chinese Taipei in October, shooting 13- under 275 to beat Minjee Lee by 2 shots. At age 20, she was the youngest winner on Tour in 2018, and she joined her sister Jessica as LPGA winners in 2018. It marks the third time sisters have won on Tour in the same year. Annika and Charlotta Sorenstam both won in 2000, and Ariya and Moriya Jutanugarn both won in 2018. In the last event of the year, the CME Group Tour Championship was 2nd, 4 shots back of winner Lexi Thompson. She had season earnings of $1,055,046, which ranked 13th, and was 12th in the Race to CME.
2019 Notes: Played in 20 LPGA Tour events making 19 cuts with 12 top-ten finishes. She was 5th on the money list with $1,665,546 in earnings. She was 5th on the CME points list. Finished 3rd at the season-opening Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions, 3 shots back of winner Eun-Hee Ji. Korda won the Women's Australian Open, beating Jin Young Ko by two shots. Won the ISPS Handa Women's Australian Open by two shots over Jin Young Ko. Korda became the fourth member of her immediate family to win a major sporting event in Australia. Her sister, Jessica, won the ISPS Handa Women's Australian Open beating Jin Young Ko by 2 shots. Korda became the 4th member of her immediate family to win a major sporting event in Australia. Her sister, Jessica, won the 2012 Women's Australian Open; her father, Petr, won the men's singles title at the 1998 Australian Open tennis tournament; and her brother, Sebastian, won the 2018 Australian Open boys' tennis title. She was T-2nd at the Bank of Hope Founders Cup, shooting 66-66 over the weekend, and was a shot from winner Jin Young Ko. She was 8th at the LPGA Lotte Championship, T-7th at the Meijer LPGA Classic, and T-3rd at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship, three shots back of winner Hannah Green. Was T-9th at both the AIG Women's British Open and Buick LPGA Shanghai. Won the Taiwan Swinging Skirts LPGA in a playoff, beating Caroline Masson and Minjee Lee on the first hole of a playoff when Korda made a birdie. In a piece of irony, Nelly's caddie Jason McDede was Masson's fiance. She was T-3rd at the CME Group Tour Championship, two shots back of winner Sei Young Kim. She was a member of the U.S. Solheim Cup team and had a 3-0-1 record. She teamed with her sister Jessica to become the first sisters on the U.S. team, joining Annika and Charlotta Sorenstam as the second set of sisters to play in the same Solheim Cup. Jessica and Nelly played together in the Friday and Saturday foursomes and became the first sisters paired together in a match. They won their Friday foursomes session 6 & 5 over Caroline Masson & Jodi Ewart Shadoff, and the Korda sisters won their Saturday foursomes session again 6 & 5 over Carlota Ciganda & Bronte Law. Nelly won her singles match against Caroline Hedwall 2 up.
2020 Notes: Played in 12 LPGA Tour events making 10 cuts with four top-ten finishes. She was 14th on the money list with $575,894 in earnings. Finished 13th on the CME points list. She was T-3rd at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship, five shots back of winner Austin Ernst. Nelly was T-2nd at the ANA Inspiration, she led by two shots with four holes left but was caught by Mirim Lee and Brooke Henderson. Lee won the playoff with a birdie on the first playoff hole. Was 5th at the ShopRite Classic. Nelly hurt her back at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship, withdrew, didn't play for close to two months, and in her first event back, she missed the cut at the U.S. Women's Open, then finished the season with a T-19th at the CME Group Tour Championship.
2021 Notes: Played in 17 LPGA Tour events making 16 cuts with 10 top-ten finishes and four wins. She was 2nd on the money list with $2,382,189 in earnings and 2nd on the CME points list. Started the season with a final-round 64 to finish 3rd at the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions, two shots back of the Jessica Korda/Danielle Kang playoff. She won the Gainbridge LPGA to beat Lexi Thompson and Lydia Ko by three shots. It was her fourth LPGA Tour win but her first on American soil. With sister Jessica winning the previous event on the schedule at the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions, they became the second sisters to win consecutive events on the LPGA tour, joining Annika and Charlotta Sorenstam, who accomplished the feat in March of 2000. Was T-10th at the KIA Classic, and the next event was T-3rd at the ANA Inspiration, seven back of winner Patty Tavatanakit. She was T-2nd at the LOTTE Championship, seven shots back of winner Lydia Ko. Won back-to-back, first at the Meijer LPGA Classic, she shot a second-round 62 and won by two over Leona Maguire. The next week won the KPMG Women's PGA Championship, shooting a championship record 269 to beat Lizette Salas by three shots and claim her first major title. The victory moved her to No. 1 in the Rolex Rankings. She was a member of the United States women's Olympic team in Tokyo along with her sister Jessica and won the gold medal with a winning score of 267, a shot better than Mone Inami and Lydia Ko. In the Solheim Cup, went 2-2-0 as the U.S. lost to Europe. She beat Georgia Hall in her singles match, 1 up. She claimed her fourth win of the year at the Pelican Women's Championship. Triple bogeyed the 17th hole of the final round but recovered with a birdie at the 18th to finish at 17-under 263, then birdied the first playoff hole to defeat Lydia Ko, Lexi Thompson, and Sei Young Kim. Was T-5 at the CME Group Tour Championship.
2022 Notes: Played in 15 LPGA Tour events, making 13 cuts with eight top-ten finishes. She was 12th on the money list with $1,418,725 in earnings and was 16th in CME points. Led through 54 holes at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions but shot a final-round 75 and finished T-4th. Lost her No. 1 spot in the Rolex Rankings. A blood clot in her left arm that required surgery sidelined Korda from March to early June when she returned to finish T-8th in the U.S. Women's Open. In her next start, she led through 54 holes at the Meijer LPGA Classic before a final-round 72 left her in a three-way playoff, which was won by Jennifer Kupcho over Korda and Leona Maguire. Finished T-8th at the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational with sister Jessica as partner and T-8th at the Amundi Evian Championship. She won the Aramco Team Series-Sotogrande on the Ladies European Tour by three shots over Ana Pelaez Trivino, Pauline Roussin, and sister Jessica Korda. Shot a final round 67 to finish T-2nd at the CP Women's Open, a shot back of the winner Paula Reto. She won the Pelican Women?s Championship a shot. The victory helped move her back to the #1 spot on the Rolex Rankings. She was #1 for two weeks before Lydia Ko took over the spot on November 28th.
2023 Notes: Started the season with a 4th place finish in the Hilton Tournament of Champions, finishing five shots back of winner Brooke M. Henderson. She was T-6th at the Honda LPGA Thailand, six shots back of the winner Lilia Vu. She was 2nd at the HSBC Women?s World Championship, finishing two shots back of winner Jin Young Ko. Shot a final round 67 to finish T-5th at the DIO Implant LA Open, four shots back of the winner Ruoning Yin. Korda made an eagle on the 72nd hole at the Chevron Championship to finish 3rd, a shot back of the Lilia Vu/Angel Yin playoff. She was T-6th at the JM Eagle LA Championship. two shots back of the Hannah Green/Aditi Ashok/Xiyu Lin playoff. Korda returned to the #1 spot on the Rolex Rankings for four weeks in April and May before being surpassed by Jin Young Ko on May 22, She was a member of the U.S. team at the Hanwha LIFEPLUS International Crown and was 3-2 in the matches as the Americans finished third. Korda won the Aramco Team Series-London event on the Ladies European Tour, beating Charley Hull by four shots. Korda won the Aramco Team Series-London by four shots over Charley Hull. She was T-9th at the Amundi Evian Championship.