World No. 1 and LPGA superstar Nelly Korda is set to be featured in the 2025 edition of Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit Issue. On Saturday, SI Swimsuit’s Instagram account announced Korda’s inclusion and posted behind-the-scenes looks at her photoshoot.
Korda, 26, has won six times across 14 starts so far this season, including the Chevron Championship in April, the LPGA’s first major of the year. The world’s best player was forced to miss the tour’s Asia swing due to a minor neck injury, but she was recently cleared to practice and is expected to return for The Annika at Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Florida, Nov. 14-17. It would be her first start since a T-5 finish at the Kroger Queen City Championship in September.
On Thursday, some of the biggest names in golf joined in on the Halloween festivities and showed off their awesome costumes. There were some notable ones, including Rory McIlroy as Super Mario and world No. 1 Nelly Korda as Master Splinter from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Some of the other players who posted photos of their Halloween costumes were Tony Finau, Gary Woodland, Sam Burns and Billy Horschel.
Nelly Korda is back on the practice range. The world No. 1 noted on X/Twitter earlier this week that she’d been cleared by her doctor to get back to work. Korda skipped the LPGA’s fall Asian swing after revealing that she’d suffered a minor neck injury.
After helping Team USA clinch the 2024 Solheim Cup in mid-September, Korda teed it up the next week in Cincinnati at the Kroger Queen City Championship, where she tied for fifth. She hasn’t played since.
So where might fans see her next?
The field for next week’s Lotte Championship in Hawaii has closed, which means her first stop back will almost certainly be The Annika driven by Gainbridge at Pelican, where she’s a two-time winner. Korda is slated to play alongside WNBA superstar Caitlin Clark in the event’s pro-am Nov. 13 in Belleair, Florida.
After that, she’ll play in the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship, which features an $11 million purse and record $4 million first-place prize.
A six-time winner on the LPGA this season, Korda last hoisted an individual trophy in May at the Mizuho Americas Open. In August, she tied for second at the AIG Women’s British open.
While she hasn’t played enough tournament rounds this season to qualify for the Vare Trophy race for lowest scoring average, she has clinched at least a share of the LPGA Rolex Player of the Year award. She can win it outright if Ayaka Furue does not win this week in Japan. Furue would then have to win the last three remaining events on the LPGA schedule to tie Korda.
Children 17 and under also will be admitted free with a paid adult.
World No. 1 Nelly Korda, a two-time champion at The Annika driven by Gainbridge at Pelican, has committed to playing in the upcoming event alongside defending champion Lilia Vu, currently ranked second, and Lydia Ko, the hottest player in the world. Recent champions Ruoning Yin and Hannah Green, who’ve both won multiple events in 2024, round out the top 5 players coming to the Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Florida.
The LPGA’s penultimate event of the season will take place Nov. 11-17, and the field will vie for a purse of $3.25 million, one of the largest on tour. Eight of the top 10 players in the world have committed to the field. With WNBA star Caitlin Clark playing in the pro-am alongside Sorenstam and Korda, it’s likely to be a blockbuster affair.
(R to L) Annika Sorenstam of Sweden presents the trophy to Lilia Vu of the United States on the 18th green after The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican at Pelican Golf Club on November 12, 2023 in Belleair, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
Pelican Golf Club reopened for play last Wednesday, one week after Hurricane Milton left much of the course flooded. The tournament announced on Monday that all military personnel (active, reserve, retired and veterans) and a plus-one will receive complimentary access to the championship, including access to a special exclusive hospitality venue ā the Hero Outpost presented by FedData ā overlooking the tournamentās signature par-3 12th hole.
Additionally, all first responders and one guest will receive free tickets to the 2024 championship. First responders will have access to an exclusive hospitality venue, the First Responders Outpost presented by Servepro, located on the par-4 16th green.
Children 17 and under also will be admitted free with a paid adult.
This will be the fifth edition of The Annika, which serves as the cutoff for finalizing status for the 2025 season as well as the field for the lucrative CME Group Tour Championship.
The POY title would give Korda her 18th LPGA Hall of Fame point.
Nelly Korda is in position to claim her first Rolex Player of the Year title. Japanās Ayaka Furue is the only player who can mathematically tie her in the points race, and it would take a heroic effort of sweeping her next four starts. And that’s if Korda fails to earn more points.
Korda, who is currently sidelined with a minor neck injury, leads the tour with 244 points. Lydia Ko trails by 100 points in second place but only has two starts left this season: The Annika driven by Gainbridge at Pelican and the CME Group Tour Championship. A victory is worth 30 points, which means Ko mathematically canāt win.
Furue, currently in third place with 124 points, has four starts remaining, as she isn’t scheduled to play in The Annika. South Korea’s Haeran Ryu would need five wins to catch Korda, but she’s currently only slated to make four more starts (skipping the Lotte in Hawaii).
Nelly Korda celebrates after a victory on the second playoff hole during the final round of the LPGA Drive On Championship at Bradenton Country Club on January 28, 2024 in Bradenton, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)
World No. 1 Korda won six times in the first half of the season, including the Chevron Championship, her second career major title. No American player has won that many times on tour since Beth Daniel won seven times in 1990.
POY points are awarded for top-10 finishes only and are doubled at the majors. Korda has nine top-10 finishes in 14 starts.
In 2021, Korda won four times on the LPGA, including the KPMG Womenās PGA, as well as Olympic gold in Tokyo but was edged out in the POY race by Jin Young Ko.
South Koreaās Ko won five times on the LPGA that season (no majors) and took the POY based on the strength of 13 top 10s. She beat Korda by 14 points. Had Korda earned 30 points for her gold-medal performance though, she wouldāve taken the honor.
Should Korda go on to clinch the 2024 POY, which she could do as early as next week’s Toto Japan Classic, sheāll follow in the footsteps of Californiaās Lilia Vu, who won last year. The last time American players won the award in consecutive years was 1993 (Betsy King) and 1994 (Beth Daniel).
The POY title would give Korda her 18th LPGA Hall of Fame point. She needs 27 points to qualify.
Golfweek has learned that Clark will play nine holes with Nelly Korda in the 18-hole pro-am.
Superstar Caitlin Clark joked that she planned to become a professional golfer during the WNBAās offseason. Well, sheāll have a front-row seat to some of the best to ever play the game at an LPGA event next month.
In addition to playing alongside tournament host and 10-time major winner Annika Sorenstam, Golfweek has learned that Clark will play nine holes with Nelly Korda in the 18-hole pro-am. The World No. 1, a two-time winner of the Pelican, is currently sidelined from the Asian swing with a minor neck injury.
Nelly Korda celebrates with Team USA after defeating Team Europe for the 2024 Solheim Cup at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club. (Aaron Doster-Imagn Images)
Korda began the year with six victories in her first eight starts, causing many to wonder if the popular American could have a Clark-like impact on the LPGA.
Clarkās historic and electric first season in the WNBA came to an end in late September after the Indiana Fever were knocked out of the playoffs. The former Iowa star and NCAA’s all-time leading scorer routinely drew record crowds at both the collegiate and professional levels. The Clark phenomenon will no doubt create quite the scene at Pelican on whatās normally a quiet day at the office.
Caitlin Clark of the Iowa Hawkeyes and Ludvig Aberg of Sweden walk to the fifth hole during the pro-am prior to the John Deere Classic at TPC Deere Run on July 05, 2023 in Silvis, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Last summer, Clark created a frenzy at the John Deere Classic Pro-Am when she played alongside Zach Johnson and Ludvig Aberg.
Clark became a Gainbridge ambassador last March, joining sports icons Sorenstam and Billie Jean King.
This will be the fifth edition of The Annika, held Nov. 14-17. The course reopened on Wednesday after 100 mph winds and extreme flooding from Hurricane Milton wreaked havoc on the private Tampa Bay area club.
āIām currently resting and working with my team to get better.”
Nelly Korda will miss the fall Asian swing due to a minor neck injury, the World No. 1 has posted on social media. Korda noted that she sustained the injury while practicing. She was slated to compete in this weekās BMW Ladies Championship in South Korea as well as the Maybank Championship in Malaysia.
āIām disappointed to miss these events and am especially sorry to my fans who were looking forward to seeing me play,ā Korda wrote. āIām currently resting and working with my team to get better. Thank you for all your support ā it truly means the world to me!ā
A six-time winner on tour this season, Korda currently leads the Rolex Player of the Year race by 100 points over Lydia Ko and, with six events left on tour this season, has nearly clinched the title. Ko would need to win three more times on tour this season and post an additional second place to have a chance to catch Korda. The Kiwi, however, is currently only signed up to play in three more events: BMW, The ANNIKA and CME Group Tour Championship.
A three-time winner on the LPGA this season, Koās golden victory at the Paris Olympics, which got her into the LPGA Hall of Fame, does not count toward the tourās POY race.
The only other players who could potentially unseat Korda are Ayaka Furue and Haeran Ryu. Furue trails by 120 points and would need at least four more wins for a shot at catching Korda, while Ryu would need to win five events to have a chance. Points are awarded for top-10 finishes.
Korda could clinch it later this month while sitting at home on her couch.
Nelly Korda celebrates with the trophy after winning the 2024 Chevron Championship at The Club at Carlton Woods in The Woodlands, Texas. (Photo: Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
This isnāt the first injury to sideline Korda in what has been an historic but strange season. Earlier this year, she was sidelined after a dog bit her left thigh at a coffee shop in Seattle. The incident occurred one day after Korda carded a shocking 81 at the KPMG Womenās PGA Championship at Sahalee to miss her third consecutive cut.
The 26-year-old leads the tour in money with $3,676,930 and ranks second in the Vare Trophy race for lowest scoring average at 69.92, though Korda won’t be eligible for the award as she will fail to meet the minimum of 70 official rounds needed to be eligible. Thailand’s Jenno Thitikul currently leads the race with a 69.89 average.
Both the Vare Trophy and POY winners receive one LPGA Hall of Fame point. Korda currently has 17 of the 27 points needed to qualify for the LPGA Hall.
Kordaās next start will likely be The Annika driven by Gainbridge at Pelican Nov. 14-17 in Belleair, Florida. She won the event in 2021 and 2022.
This story was updated because an earlier version included an inaccuracy.
The team atmosphere is over. Korda’s back to being the hunted with a target on her back.
MAINEVILLE, Ohio ā Many LPGA golfers enjoy the change of pace that comes with team events on the tour.
Last week, World No. 1 Nelly Korda helped lead Team USA to its first Solheim Cup win since 2017. Korda may have cherished that title even more than the half-dozen wins she’s logged on the LPGA Tour this year.
“It’s very hard to compare the two. Maybe a little bit more fun, I would say,” Korda said. “It’s just so different having a teammate out there that you can have fun with and also rely on. It’s just a little bit less pressure and a lot more fun.”
A fatigued Korda took to the tee box at 8:20 a.m. Thursday morning. Korda didn’t let a lack of sleep spiral into costly mistakes.
Korda, paired with reigning Kroger Queen City Championship winner Minjee Lee and Jeeno Thitikul, fired a bogey-free 67. She was perfect hitting fairways (14-for-14) and found 14-of-18 greens in regulation. Three of her five birdies came during a six-hole stretch. Her birdie on No. 18 gave her a 67, putting her two shots off the pace of leader Ashleigh Buhai.
Korda has made history this season as just the fourth player on tour to win six times before June, joining a trio of Hall-of-Famers in Babe Zaharias, Louise Suggs and Lorena Ochoa. Now the 26-year-old American has to switch gears heading into this week during her first appearance in the Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G.
The team atmosphere from last week’s triumph in Gainesville, Virginia, is over. She’s back to being the hunted with a target on her back.
“Hate all the girls again,” Korda joked on Wednesday when asked about the mindset switch when it’s back to individual stroke play.
LPGA golfer, Nelly Korda, putts on the 8th green during the 2024 Kroger Queen City Championships at TPC River Bend golf course in Maineville, Ohio, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. Korda, from Bradenton, Florida, finished the day with a 67 and -5.
Her LPGA rivals won’t turn from friend-to-foe completely. In reality, Korda has climbed to the top of the rankings by locking in. She’ll follow that same formula in Cincinnati.
“Just really have to be precise and diligent on hitting your targets and focusing on that,” Korda said. “Just go out and enjoy myself, play some good golf, stay in my bubble and take it a shot at a time.”
Cincinnati is quick turnaround for Solheim Cup competitors
The only thing that seemingly could stop Korda this week is jet lag.
It was a tough turnaround for the 11 Solheim Cup competitors making the trip to Maineville this week to TPC River’s Bend for the penultimate event on the current American leg of the LPGA Tour.
Add in a celebration Sunday night for the Solheim Cup victory and many of the world’s best are running on fumes to start the tournament.
“My energy levels are definitely running in the lower 50s,” Rose Zhang said. “Not only was last week really taxing on the mental part of the game, but we were also functioning on five, six hours of sleep every single day.”
Thankfully for Korda, she’s an avid coffee fan and doesn’t waste time sightseeing before events. She cut off celebrating the Solheim Cup early Sunday night, took a noon flight, got to Cincinnati around 2 p.m. on Monday, got to her rental house and chilled.
“I’ve spent a lot more time in my bed this week than normal. I try to conserve my energy a good bit,” Korda said. “I’ve just been resting.”
Fresh off the 2024 Solheim Cup, the LPGA is right back at it this week.
Fresh off the 2024 Solheim Cup, the LPGA is right back at it this week.
There will be 11 players competing in the Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G in Maineville, Ohio, outside Cincinnati.
Three of those ā Nelly Korda, Lexi Thompson and Rose Zhang ā are from the winning American side, set to play just five days after hoisting the trophy.
“Gosh, it was such an unbelievable and crazy week,” Korda said. “It was just overall so much fun with our caddies, with the assistants, Stacy, the helpers, with the girls, too.Ā That was my fourth Solheim Cup, and obviously it was sweeter to get the victory at the end of the week, but also such an amazing week with the girls.”
But now it’s back to LPGA competition where she’ll be battling her American teammates.
“Just hate all the girls again,” she quipped, which brought laughs to media center. “Coming out here and competing, doing what I love just gives me a little bit more energy boost.”
The eight Europeans in the field are Linn Grant, Georgia Hall, Esther Henseleit, Charley Hull, Leona Maguire, Anna Nordqvist, Madelene Sagstrom and Albane Valenzuela.
This is the third playing of the event but the first time that the Arnold Palmer-designed TPC River’s Bend is the host course following two years at Kenwood Country Club. It’s just the third time the LPGA has played a tournament at a TPC venue. Just last month, the inaugural FM Championship was at TPC Boston. The 2023 Hanwha Lifeplus International Crown was at TPC Harding Park.
Minjee Lee is the defending champion this week. She took down Charley Hull on the second playoff hole a year ago.
There are four sponsor exemptions in the event: Amari Avery, Gianna Clemente, Gabrielle Woods (who won the Div. II individual NCAA championship last season playing for Findlay) and Yana Wilson, a former No. 1-ranked player in the Rolex AJGA Rankings.
The Kroger is the first of the remaining nine events on the LPGA’s 2024 schedule.
A little luck can go a long way and Allisen Corpuz was a prime example of this adage during Saturday’s Solheim Cup.
A little luck can go a long way and Allisen Corpuz was a prime example of this adage during Saturday’s Solheim Cup when she topped a fairway wood but wound up with an eagle putt that gave her side the lead in a pivotal foursomes match with Emily Pedersen and Carlota Ciganda at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club.
Corpuz, who was paired with star Nelly Korda, looked to avoid a lake on the par-5 14th hole, but still wanted to take a crack at the green. She took a full swing, then nearly lost her club in the follow-through, assuming the worst after she topped a shot that barely climbed 20 feet off the ground.
But instead of catastrophe, the ball stayed dry and then rolled through the green, curled up onto the fringe and rolled nicely to give Korda an eagle putt.
The world’s No. 1 player calmly drained the 25-footer to give the American team its first lead of the day, a critical sequence that led to their 1-up win in the match.
