Korda’s win streak almost beyond comprehension

Winning once in professional golf is an achievement. Winning five times in one season is remarkable. Winning five times consecutively is, well, bordering on ridiculous.

What Nelly Korda has accomplished over the LPGA season so far is almost beyond comprehension. It’s only been done twice before in the history of the LPGA Tour.

Not only has she won five times, but it included a tournament with a match-play portion for which she had to qualify among the top eight after three rounds of stroke play. There was also the Chevron Championship, a major, the most difficult of tournaments to win and the most recent of the five victories.

And Korda isn't done yet. Although she's withdrawn from this week's LPGA Tour stop in Los Angeles, she's expected to play the Cognizant Founders Cup in Clifton, N.J., which starts May 9 and where she'll vie for a sixth consecutive win. 

It all seems so improbable for a woman who two years ago admitted she was lost with her game and had bottomed out with her confidence.

In 2021, Korda won four times, including her first major at the KPMG PGA Women’s Championship. But in March of 2022, she underwent surgery to remove a blood clot that was just two centimetres from her heart. She missed four months as she recovered and when she returned, she showed some form, winning a late-season event, the Pelican Women’s Championship, as well as finishing tied for second at the CPKC Women’s Open.

Despite all that, she was swallowed up by doubts. Her 2023 campaign was mediocre by her standards, and she wasn’t sure she’d ever return to form.

“I heard some outside voices from other people saying that they don't know if I'll ever be able to win another major again,” said Korda after her win at the Chevron, “and I stuck to working extremely hard on and off the golf course, and I'm so thankful to have the team that I do.”

That team includes her coach, Jamie Mulligan, and her caddie Jason McDede. Both have been along for the ups and the downs of Korda’s career, and never doubted she could return to form. Many times, they had to push her to believe in herself, but that’s what’s given her the ability she now has.

The key to her return to form has been simplicity. They’ve worked to create a swing that is effective and uncomplicated. Each week, they build a game plan for the course and stick to it, regardless of what may be happening around them. And they try not to allow any self-imposed pressure to enter her world. A relaxed focus is the goal.

That clearly worked on Sunday as Korda refused to get ahead of herself despite holding the lead coming down the last few holes.

“I stop myself every single time,” she said when asked if she thought about the fifth win. “Every single time it tried to creep into my head, I stopped myself immediately.”

Another practice she’s used is to try and separate herself from the world when she’s not golfing. Especially during this run of wins, she’s tried to stay out of the limelight, preferring to remain away from the course and everyone other than family. It eases any stress and allows here to recharge.

Korda’s streak has also created attention and appeal for the LPGA Tour, a circuit that can use some notoriety. She has become the focal point for women’s golf, accomplishing something that past America hopefuls such as Michelle Wie, Paula Creamer and Lexi Thompson were never quite able to do.

“It's a stage,” she said. “We need a stage. We need to be on prime-time TV, and we need to showcase the talent we have out here, which is a lot. A bunch of people came out this week. The crowds were amazing. That's just what we need. We also need the support from not just the crowds but the television networks.”

Outside of majors, the LPGA Tour has to fight for television time, usually being relegated to a tape-delayed broadcast. There is little consistency as to when and where the tournament coverage airs. But a Korda run has had viewers scrambling to watch her play.

Whether her remarkable streak is getting all the attention it deserves is debateable. This is more than just a fun run, this is an achievement of epic proportions, a feat that should be making front-page news. So far while there is lots of attention, it deserves more.

Whatever the next tournament holds for the 25-year-old, she seems ready to accept the outcome and all the attention that will come with it. She is not only in a comfortable spot on the course, but off of it, too.

“I think all of the sad times and the health scares that I have gone through have made me who I am today,” Korda reflected. “I think it has matured me a lot, and I would say it's shaped me into the person I am today, and I'm very grateful for the ups and downs.”

Right now, there are a lot more ups than downs, which is good for golf and good for Korda.