Welcome to this week’s Golf Insider, everyone.
Nelly Korda dominated in just about every fashion at Memorial Park Golf Course to win her third major championship at 2026 The Chevron Championship. She battled nerves and humid conditions on the weekend to post a total of 18-under-par for the tournament, one shot short of the 72-hole scoring record.
The win was Korda’s 17th career LPGA Tour victory. She moved to 22 points toward the LPGA Hall of Fame (the threshold is 27 points). Korda also became the first player since Amy Alcott (The Chevron Championship, 1991) to win wire-to-wire leading by multiple shots after all four rounds. Those are just a few of the historical notes Nelly wrote last week.
The golf world felt this win coming, but 2025 Nelly may not have.
“Sometimes there is a power in just letting go,” Korda said during her post-win press conference on Sunday, April 26. And I think it completely sums up the difference between her game and mindset from last season to this season.
In the 2025 season, Korda did not record a win, despite making 19 cuts in 19 starts and notching nine top 10s. Her stats were outstanding. Korda led her peers in 2025 in strokes gained driving and finished second in both ball striking and greens in regulation percentage.
I can imagine the difficulty and the cognitive dissonance in Nelly’s mind: my stats are through the roof, but I didn’t even win a tournament. What more do I have to do? And that’s where I think the quote about letting go really takes hold.
“I was getting frustrated last year on the golf course and I started overanalyzing everything and I started overthinking, and then that was paralyzing me,” Korda said.
The 2025 LPGA Tour season was unlike any other; we saw a historic number of different winners, including 11 Rolex First-Time winners. There was something about winning on tour last season that felt elevated, untouchable. Maybe that’s how everyone else felt when Korda had seven wins in 2024.
But that didn’t mean Korda was any less of a player. Again, look at her stats.
She talked a lot about maturity in her 2026 The Chevron Championship press conference, and I think her comments about letting go best display that growth. And it’s certainly making a difference so far in her 2026 season.
Before entering The Chevron Championship week, Korda had one win and three second place finishes on tour. Again, her stats for 2026 are simply incredible. And they just got better after her 18-under-par total at The Chevron.
Korda continues to lead the Race to the CME Globe and the Vare Trophy for scoring average standings, and after her win, she reclaimed her crown as the Rolex World No. 1. It’s the seventh time Korda has climbed to this rank.
But stats and rankings may not be all of Korda’s concerns. In her post-win interview with Tom Abbot, she oriented her attitude toward the young fans watching her, looking up to her.
“Honestly what I was telling myself was I really want to hoist this trophy because I want to show the kids at home that it’s okay to miss short putts and still win a major championship,” Korda said.
“You know, you’re going to do it. You’re going to make mistakes. You have to mentally still be in it 100%, and that’s really what I wanted to show. I wanted to show it to myself and I wanted to show it to everyone looking up to me.”
The 27-year-old’s attitude is an attitude of freedom, of contentment, of maturity. Korda recognizes that she plays, of course, to excel at the game of golf but also for something bigger. She competes for the kids who follow her around the course each week. You can tell. The time Korda spends signing autographs and giving high-fives, especially while trying to win a major championship, says a lot about her mindset.
This win, this renewed mindset leaves Korda with nothing but confidence going into the rest of the 2026 season and, honestly, her career. I think it’ll light a fire under her to win more majors, taking even more steps toward the elusive career grand slam. She only needs two of the three that are left: the U.S. Women’s Open, the Amundi Evian Championship and the AIG Women’s Open.
Korda will look to keep her momentum when she tees it up with her fellow LPGA stars from April 30–May 3 at the 2026 Riviera Maya Open at Mayakoba in Mexico.
See you next week, golf fans.
This week in women’s golf
LPGA News
Featured groups: 2026 Riviera Maya Open at Mayakoba
Field breakdown: 2026 Riviera Maya Open at Mayakoba
How to watch the 2026 Riviera Maya Open at Mayakoba
50th edition of AIG Women’s Open includes increased prize fund and expanded broadcast coverage
Nelly Korda leads in Rolex ANNIKA Major Award standings after first major of the season
Nelly Korda to Rolex Rankings No. 1
Nelly Korda now five points away from LPGA Hall of Fame with victory at The Chevron Championship
Nelly Korda wins The Chevron Championship for third major and returns to No. 1
Patty Tavatanakit, Ruoning Yin share runner-up honors at The Chevron Championship
Stacy Lewis celebrates career swansong at The Chevron Championship
LET News
Gainer aiming high ahead of MCB Ladies Open—Mauritius
Nominees for April 2026 LET Player of the Month announced
2028 AIG Women’s Open to be played at Sunningdale
Captain’s corner with Anna Nordqvist
LET ready for inaugural MCB Ladies Classic—Mauritius
Hull extends Solheim Cup points lead after 2026 The Chevron Championship
Hamilton claims breakthrough victory at Investec SA Women’s Open
Chiara Tamburlini climbs leaderboard in The Chevron Championship rookie debut
Epson Tour News
Players to watch: 2026 Carlisle Arizona Women’s Golf Classic
Things to know about the 2026 Carlisle Arizona Women’s Golf Classic
Field breakdown: 2026 Carlisle Arizona Women’s Golf Classic
Amari Avery makes history with first professional win
The Romero way: Kaleiya Romero is right where she belongs
Amateur/NCAA News
2026 NCAA DI regionals full fields, seeds announced
2026 NCAA DI conference championship full results
USC, Jasmine Koo win Big Ten Championship titles
Iowa State wins first Big 12 Championship in program history
Meet the 15 golfers on the 2026 Annika Award postseason watch list
Farah O’Keefe taking full advantage of opportunity to compete in The Chevron Championship
Kiara Romero finds comfort zone at The Chevron Championship
Five at The IX: Quotes from Nelly Korda’s post-win press conference at 2026 The Chevron Championship
THE MODERATOR: All right, joining us after the final round of The Chevron Championship is our winner, Nelly Korda.
How does three-time major champion Nelly Korda sound?
NELLY KORDA: Just amazing. I’m sure it hasn’t really settled in yet, but what a week. I mean, I feel very relieved after what I felt mid-round, the nerves of holding that lead and the golf course, and I just feel so happy.
Q. You said it was a mentally tough weekend for you in your trophy ceremony speech. Can you just elaborate on that and tell us a little bit more?
NELLY KORDA: It’s not easy going in with that big of a lead. I think that you have almost like a bigger target because maybe girls are like, we have nothing to lose so we’re going to go after everything.
For me I’m like having to play defensive at some point but also not wanting to get too defensive because I want to play my own game. That’s where I struggled this weekend of, okay, I wanted to be aggressive on this hole, but if I make a big mistake, I mean, that cuts my lead.
So having to kind of adjust with that mindset, I think that’s what was really tough. I’m not a player that loves to play defensive. I mean, that putt that I left myself on 17 today I would’ve never left myself that. I would’ve hit a 7-iron controlled and tried to go for that. Here I am hitting an 8-iron to the middle of the green, or beginning of the green, and having like a 50-foot putt.
That’s not Nelly golf at all.
I think that was the challenging point with like where do I still play like Nelly and where do I play a little defensive.
Q. You’re the first American since Meg Mallon in 2000 to win three majors. Can you tell us what majors mean to you and your legacy?
NELLY KORDA: They’re the reason why I started playing this game. I mean, I walked on to the range at the U.S. Women’s Open in 2013 at Sebonack and that’s where I realized, like, this is what I want to do. You’re playing against the best players in the world, playing a challenging golf course that testing every part of your game, but it’s also testing you mentally.
You get on to the back nine of a major on a Sunday and there is no bigger rush of emotions that you feel. Like right now the last thing I want to do is eat. I just feel sick to my stomach because there is a major rush of emotion.
I don’t know, I mean, yeah, even growing up watching my sister compete the only time I watched her compete was in major championships. Then also like the people — people that you looked up like Tiger, my sister refers to our generation being Tiger’s kids, and seeing the amazing shots and how much it means to every person that has come before us to win a major and then how much that has inspired other generations to keep wanting to come out and grind.
Q. The amateur, Farah O’Keefe, was saying earlier in the week when she was ten on her goal list she had win 20 majors. Curious if you had a number when you were a kid and if you have a number now.
NELLY KORDA: No, I don’t have a number. I’m not like that. I’m just more of like process-oriented where I want to do the work and I want to continue grinding on my game and I want other players to test me. When I finished second to Hyo Joo twice and second to Lauren, that fuels me.
I like that. I like the back and forth competition. I want them to motivate me. I want to motivate them. That’s what brings the best out of everyone.
Q. How do you think your maturity as a player and a person led to this moment?
NELLY KORDA: I would say it was a very big part of why I’m sitting next to the trophy. Last year was definitely a super frustrating year. You know, everyone was talking about my stats. I would come into a room like this and everyone would be like, you know, your stats are great, better than last year, but you have zero trophies under your name this year.
I’m like, I see that, yes.
It’s just—it wears on you because that’s what you’re working for. Everyone in this field is grinding and spending hours and hours and hours out there. Sometimes you see I don’t remember stats better last year than the year that you were in 2024 and you’re like, well, I have zero trophies under my name.
You’re like, okay, I don’t want to reinvent the wheel. I don’t want to do anything crazy. But I do want to get better. So what am I going to do better? The first thing was I was getting frustrated last year on the golf course and I started overanalyzing everything and I started overthinking, and then that was paralyzing me.
I told myself I don’t ever want to feel like that on a golf course. There is a reason why Jason has so many gray hairs and it’s because he works for me. Probably partially. And then another is last year was really tough.
We talked about it, him and I. We were like, yeah, last year wasn’t easy. It was because I was like overanalyzing absolutely everything. Sometimes there is a power in just letting go.
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