Nelly Korda had an end to her winless drought within reach.
With a birdie on the par-3 15th in Saturday’s final round of the Lotte Championship in Hawaii, the world No. 2 was one back of the lead. Then, misfortunes happened.
Her tee ball on No. 16 went “like 30 yards right of where I wanted it to go,” Korda said, and she missed a 5-footer for par before parring her final two holes. The eventual champion, Youmin Hwang, finished her day with four straight birdies and Korda finished T4, three strokes behind.
“Overall, I’m putting myself into contention,” Korda said after a final-round 69. “It’s definitely an interesting year for me result-wise, but at the end of the day, I’m giving it 100%, controlling what I can control.”
What makes it unique? Korda is winless a year after claiming seven LPGA victories, the most by an American in a single season since Beth Daniel in 1990.
Despite losing the world No. 1 throne to Jeeno Thitikul in August, Korda hasn’t played poorly. The 27-year-old has eight top 10s in 17 starts, including a runner-up at the grueling U.S. Women’s Open, with zero missed cuts. In 2024, she totaled only 16 starts, with 11 top 10s and three missed cuts, though, aided by seven triumphs, of course.
This year, the LPGA is flexing its parity more than ever, with no repeat champions through 26 tournaments, a record. But entering the season, few would have predicted that Korda wouldn’t occupy a spot on that list.
However, Korda statistically isn’t far off from last season.
In the strokes-gained categories, she ranks third on tour in total, fourth in tee to green, first off the tee, 21st in approach, 56th around the green and 24th in putting. In 2024, those rankings, in the same categorical order, were first, third, second, 22nd, fourth and 34th.
So it’s tough to knock Korda for not returning to the winner’s circle.
“I would say it’s kind of unfair to Nelly to [criticize her for not winning],” two-time major winner Lilia Vu said earlier this year at the Chevron Championship. “She’s won so many times out here. Had a great run last year and it’s also like me, I did really well the previous year and kind of hit a little bump in the road with my back injury [in 2024].
“I mean, people go through stuff. I think obviously she’s still playing really well this year.”
And Korda can relate to what Vu went through after claiming two majors in 2023.
“I would say by this time of the year, my body is definitely worn down,” Korda said after the final round of the Lotte Championship. “I do have some injuries I’ve had in the past that kind of linger that are never really fully resolved, that you still do PT on every single day, you do therapy.
“So making sure you’re 100% with your body or as 100% as you can be is always the end goal going into kind of the first day of the event.”
A day after making that statement, Korda withdrew from the International Crown, which will be played in Korea three weeks from now, with an undisclosed injury. That means she won’t tee it up until mid-November for the tour’s final two events of the year in her home state of Florida.
In this case, déjà vu could be a good thing.
Last October, Korda skipped the LPGA’s fall Asian swing with an ailing neck and returned in November, rushing her rehab, to win the season’s penultimate event at Pelican Golf Club, a place where she has won in three of the last four years.
Perhaps, history will repeat itself, and the 15-time LPGA winner will end the chatter about her being winless.
But if she fails to notch a victory in the Sunshine State next month, Korda’s 2025 season will be a curious case.
