When Nelly Korda tees it up at this week’s Cognizant Founders Cup in Clifton, New Jersey, at Upper Montclair Country Club, she seeks to accomplish something that’s never been done on the LPGA – win a sixth consecutive start.
Only two other players have won five consecutive starts on the LPGA: Nancy Lopez in her magical rookie season of 1978 and Annika Sörenstam, spanning from the end of the 2004 season to the first three events of 2005.
In their sixth starts, Sorenstam tied for 12th at the Michelob Open at Kingsmill in 2005, while Lopez took a share of 13th at the Lady Keystone Open.
After her victory at the season’s first major, the Chevron Championship, Korda became the first American to win five tournaments in one year since Juli Inkster in 1999.
When it comes to world rankings, Korda leads the tour by a country mile. Her 12.30 points average in the Rolex Rankings is more than double that of No. 2 Lilia Vu’s average of 6.54.
In the Race to CME Globe Season standings, Korda’s 2,702 points total is more than double that of second place Lydia Ko at 1,142. Korda, by the way, took off the entire spring Asian swing during a seven-week break from the tour.
There are so many ways to measure Korda’s dominance. Here are a few more:
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)
Korda’s record in six LPGA starts this season is a staggering 507-1-20 in stroke-play events. (She also went 3-0 in the match-play portion of the T-Mobile event at Shadow Creek in Vegas.)
Korda lost to 15 players at the season-opening Tournament of Champions and finished sixth in the stroke-play portion of T-Mobile after 54 holes. The top eight players advanced to match play.
Nelly Korda holds up four fingers for her fourth win in a row after winning the 2024 T-Mobile Match Play at Shadow Creek in Las Vegas. (Photo: Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images)
Since starting her streak at the LPGA Drive On, Korda has gained a whopping 3.60 strokes per round on the competition, according to KPMG Performance Insights. That does not include her three match-play victories in Las Vegas.
For the season, she leads the tour in strokes gained around the greens and greens in regulation, hitting 76 percent.
PHOENIX, ARIZONA – MARCH 31: Nelly Korda of the United States poses with the trophy after the final round of the Ford Championship presented by KCC at Seville Golf and Country Club on March 31, 2024 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
KPMG stats guru Justin Ray broke down Korda’s work on the greens, which by all accounts has been stronger this season. Even so, Ray says she has one of the lowest putt-make percentages from 5 to 10 feet on tour. She also ranks 102nd on tour in one-putts per round.
“Her ball-striking prowess is such that she easily overcomes a miscue or two per round on the greens,” Ray wrote for LPGA.com.
Nelly Korda of the United States and World Golf Hall of Famer Se Ri Pak imitate a “selfie” with the trophy following Korda’s win in the FIR HILLS SERI PAK Championship at Palos Verdes Golf Club on March 24, 2024 in Palos Verdes Estates, California. (Photo by Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images)
Korda’s scoring average during the streak is 68.74, and that includes some brutal weather on the West Coast and major championship conditions. She’s 46 under par on the par 5s alone, dating back to the Drive On.
For the season, Korda leads the tour in par-5 scoring (4.43), par-4 scoring (3.93) and ranks 74th in par-3 scoring (3.09).
So far this season, 16 of her 26 rounds have been in the 60s, a 62 percent clip.
Nelly Korda pretends to take a selfie with the championship trophy after a victory on the second play-off 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)
The LPGA is now a young person’s tour, there’s no question about it. And at age 25, Korda became the youngest American player to win two major titles since Juli Inkster managed the feat at age 24 in 1984. Amy Alcott won two majors by age 24 in 1980.
There’s much to look forward to.
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