Having collected trophies at the Chevron Championship and the U.S. Women’s Open to kick off women’s major season, Nelly Korda is the heavy favorite at every major until further notice. But a win this week would put her in another stratosphere.
With a record purse on the line, a few Australians could put up a fight against Korda when the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship tees off Thursday at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn.
The last player to win three majors in a row was South Korea’s Inbee Park, who started the 2013 season by capturing the Kraft Nabisco Championship (now the Chevron), the LPGA Championship (now the Women’s PGA) and the U.S. Women’s Open. No woman has completed a calendar Grand Slam.
Further, World No. 1 Korda is on the fast track to the LPGA Hall of Fame. She said Wednesday she didn’t know that players needed 27 Hall of Fame points for induction. Korda is sitting at 25, and one more major win would provide her final two points.
“I kind of like to be oblivious about it in that way … I don’t want to put extra pressure on myself,” said Korda, 27. “If I always think about that then — I feel like the game of golf is already hard enough. If I add more pressure on myself then it’s going to be even harder.
“I think it’s an amazing accomplishment and it would be one of the best achievements of my career for sure.”
New Zealand’s Lydia Ko knows the feeling, having clinched the final point needed to qualify for the Hall of Fame when she won Olympic gold in 2024.
“Every time I sat in front of media that was the question. Like, ‘You’re only one point away,’ ” Ko said. “I feel like Nelly is going to handle that much better than I did, to be honest. …
“But it is very exciting that Nelly is only two points away. I truly believe it’s around the corner with the form that she’s been in. That success is not only for her but a great moment for our tour and women’s golf and women’s sports.”
Hazeltine is a par-72 track that will play 6,760 yards this week. Australian Hannah Green will feel right at home after winning the 2019 Women’s PGA at the same course. Making her doubly dangerous is the 29-year-old has been in top form this year, with two LPGA victories and the World No. 8 ranking.
“I felt like because I was ranked outside the 100th, I didn’t imagine myself being in contention in a major that early in my career, so it was very new to me and I probably didn’t have any history of performing badly under pressure,” Green reflected. “So I think now that I’m older I feel like I’d probably feel more nerves and anxiousness if I was in that position, which is good thing because you want to have nerves.”
The defending champion is countrywoman Minjee Lee, another top-10 player in her own right. Lee’s three majors have all come since 2021, including last year’s triumph at PGA Frisco in Texas.
“I think the course itself is totally different to Frisco,” Lee said. “It’s just maybe a different type of just like the layouts and the bunkering, just the look of it is very different.”
The purse of $13 million this week is the largest in women’s golf history, with $1.95 million awarded to the winner.
Rain showers are already affecting the Minnesota area and are forecast throughout the week. Korda said recent weather helped a course that was very firm.
“You always hope to be prepared for every golf course,” Korda said. “… I mean, it is premium, as it is on every major, to hit the fairways, and they’re not the widest and this is very much so a placement golf course on the fairway and on the greens. So hopefully, yeah, every part of my game is in tip-top shape.”
