<\/p>\n
Nelly Korda waits on the putting green during a practice round prior to the Women’s PGA Championship golf tournament, Wednesday, June 24, 2026, in Chaska.<\/p>\n
Chris Carlson\/AP Photo\/Chris Carlson<\/p>\n
Sung Hyun Park, of South Korea, hits from the 17th tee during a practice round prior to the Women’s PGA Championship golf tournament, Wednesday, June 24, 2026, in Chaska.<\/p>\n
Matt York\/AP Photo\/Matt York<\/p>\n
Nelly Korda holds the trophy after winning the U.S. Women’s Open golf tournament Sunday, June 7, 2026, in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles.<\/p>\n
Ashley Landis\/AP Photo\/Ashley Landis<\/p>\n
Julia Lopez Ramirez, of Spain, hits from the 18th fairway during a practice round prior to the Women’s PGA Championship golf tournament, Wednesday, June 24, 2026, in Chaska.<\/p>\n
Matt York\/AP Photo\/Matt York<\/p>\n
Nelly Korda watches her tee shot during a practice round prior to the Women’s PGA Championship golf tournament, Wednesday, June 24, 2026, in Chaska.<\/p>\n
Chris Carlson\/AP Photo\/Chris Carlson<\/p>\n
CHASKA, Minn. (AP) \u2014 The latest stop for Nelly Korda in this especially busy summer is the Women’s PGA Championship in Minnesota, where the top-ranked player in the world will try this week to hoist a third straight major trophy.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
From winning the U.S. Women’s Open in California to playing in a pair at the Dow Championship in Michigan to brand-building for the sport in New York, the 27-year-old Korda has had little time for retreat.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
If this is the price of stardom, well, she’s willing to lean into it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like in everything that you do in life \u2014 if you\u2019re in the finance world, if you\u2019re doing this \u2014 the more you put yourself into that position the more comfortable you get,\u201d Korda said on Wednesday at Hazeltine National Golf Club. \u201cI think the biggest change that I told myself I\u2019m going to make is I\u2019m just going to be authentic and be who I am. Either that comes across great or it doesn\u2019t, but I just want to be genuine.\u201d<\/p>\n
Korda, whose prize money has passed $5.3 million this year, has won four of the nine tournaments she has entered with only one finish outside of the top 10. She leads the Vare Trophy race for the lowest scoring average on the LPGA by an average of 1.15 strokes over Hyo Joo Kim.<\/p>\n
The only women to win the first three majors of a season are Inbee Park in 2013 and Babe Zaharias in 1950, when there were only three on the schedule. Now the final two majors are in Europe: the Evian Championship in France from July 9-12 and the Women\u2019s British Open in England from July 30-Aug. 2.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
With the Chevron Championship win in April already on her scorecard, Korda pulled out a one-stroke victory over Charley Hull and Gaby Lopez at the U.S. Women’s Open this month. Fulfilling her commitment to playing with partner Olivia Cowan at the Dow Championship the following week required some self-discipline.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was very tired. Honestly, I couldn’t go to sleep, and every single morning I woke up I didn’t want to wake up,\u201d Korda said. \u201cI’m still a little tired from it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then she was whisked away to New York for a whirlwind media tour on behalf of the LPGA, before heading home last week to recharge and refresh.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s fun to be on a different stage in front of different people doing something that helps the game of golf and kind of puts us on a broader stage,\u201d Korda said.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
From a cameo on the “Today’ show to a visit to the New York Stock Exchange to an appearance at Times Square, Korda relished last week the opportunity to show the lighthearted and self-described \u201cdorky\u201d side of her personality to more mainstream audiences.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are the types of things we need our athletes to do in order to have transcendent stars that cut through sports and find their way into culture,\u201d LPGA Tour Commissioner Craig Kessler said. \u201cShe did it. She\u2019s doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The major that was last held at Hazeltine on the suburban prairie southwest of Minneapolis in 2019, has a $13 million purse this year that’s the largest in the history of women’s golf.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo see the evolution of where the women\u2019s game was to what it is now, it is quite incredible,\u201d Korda said. \u201cYou see that across every sport. You see that in tennis, right now in basketball, too. It is amazing to see the investment in women\u2019s sports, and we are just really grateful for our partners continuously raising the bar.\u201d<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
Hannah Green returns to Hazeltine in reflection on her 2019 win<\/p>\n
Hannah Green, who’s currently eighth in the world ranking, got her first tour victory at age 22 with a wire-to-wire win at the Women’s PGA Championship when it last visited Hazeltine. That remains her only major title.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is definitely shots that I remember. I also remember some of the bad shots as well, which is sometimes not a great thing,\u201d Green said. \u201cBut it\u2019s nice to kind of relive those moments in the practice round. I do hit a lot further than I used to do back then.\u201d<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n