Nelly Korda Has a Real Shot at History

Don’t adjust your settings. This isn’t a glitch. Your eyes do not deceive you. Nelly Korda has won yet again. That makes four in a row, with this latest trophy being the most impressive of them all. After staying within striking distance during difficult early round conditions Wednesday and Thursday, Nelly went low on Friday to leap into the top-8 and qualify for the match-play portion of the so-named T-Mobile Match Play. She turned on the jets in Saturday’s matches, never trailing either of her opponents. Facing match-play wrecking ball Leona Maguire in the finals, Nelly kept it rolling, never trailing en route to a 4 & 3 win to end up the last woman standing after a marathon week at Shadow Creek.

The win means the streak will remain intact heading into the first major of the year. Nelly will finally get time off this week before heading to Houston for The Chevron Championship in two weeks. As Justin Ray noted, she’ll try to follow Annika’s lead and extend the run to five via a major win.

When asked about her dominant stretch, she admitted her mind is actually on taking some rest and relaxation first. Chevron will take a backseat to recovery for a few days, and then it’s back to business.

Nelly has ascended into the sort of rarified air where it becomes difficult to put into words just how remarkable the run has been. No adjective is too hyperbolic at this point. Only the best of the best have performed at this level. Karen Stupples, a major winner herself who played during the dominant runs of Lorena Ochoa and Annika Sorenstam, put things into context on the broadcast, saying “Quite frankly, she’s playing as well as anybody I’ve ever seen play on the LPGA Tour.”

High praise, and well-deserved after such a historic stretch of play. Up next: one of the biggest stages on the calendar. Your move, Nelly.

This piece originally appeared in the Fried Egg Golf newsletter. Subscribe for free and receive golf news and insight every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.