Nelly Korda was born on July 28, 1998 in Bradenton, Florida. The daughter of former professional tennis players Petr Korda and Regina Rajchrtova, Korda’s role models growing up were tennis stars Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
Just shy of her 15th birthday, Korda played in the U.S. Women’s Open and made the cut, finishing tied for 64th. Two years later, Korda was a member of the 2015 U.S. Junior Solheim Cup, and won the Harter Hall Invitational and the PING Invitational. Korda was recognized for her stellar year by being named to the 2015 AJGA Junior All-American team.
A rookie on the Symetra Tour in 2016, Korda won the Sioux Falls GreatLIFE Challenge by three shots with four rounds in the 60s. She also recorded seven top-10 finishes, including the Symetra Tour Championship. Her performance placed her in the top ten for the Volvik Race for the Card and earned her LPGA Tour status for 2017.
Korda made an impressive showing as a rookie in 2017 on the LPGA Tour, making 19 cuts in 23 events. She had five top-ten finishes and nine top-20 finishes. Able to go low, Korda led the tour in par-5 scoring and in eagles with 12. She made three cuts in five majors with and her earnings as a rookie were just a shade under $450,000.
In her second year on the LPGA Tour, Korda reached some milestones, including her first win at the Swinging Skirts LPGA Taiwan Championship to surpass the $1 million in career earnings. He win also made her and her sister Jessica only the third pair of sisters to win on the LPGA Tour. In addition to her win, Korda had seven top-ten finishes, runner’s up at the CME Group Tour Championship and HSBC Women’s World Championship, and earned over $1 million for the season.
Clearly a rising star, Korda started the 2019 season with a third-place finish at the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions before winning the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open. In doing so, she continued the family tradition of winning in Australia, as her sister Jessica won the Women’s Australian in 2012, her father won the 1998 Australian Open tennis singles and her brother won the 2018 Australian Open for junior boys in tennis. Korda also became the second highest ranked player in the United States behind Lexi Thompson.
Late in the season, Korda took home the Lacoste Ladies Open de France in runaway fashion, winning by eight strokes. She also went 3-0-1 in her first Solheim Cup. All told, Korda finished fifth on the money list and surpassed $3 million in career earnings following a third-place finish in the CME Group Tour Championship.
Korda started the 2020 season with a tie for 10th at the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions. She made 10 cuts in 12 events over the pandemic-shortened season. Her best finishes were tie for second at the ANA Inspiration and a third-place finish at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship.
Korda enters the 2021 season fourth in the Rolex World Golf Rankings with three wins, 28 top ten finishes and $3.7 million in earnings.
In her downtime before the start of the LPGA Tour season, which begins January 21-24 at the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions, Korda admitted in an interview with Golf Digest that she enjoys people watching with her binoculars from her deck. A fan of the show Criminal Minds, Korda believes she would have been a lawyer if not a professional golfer. She’s a lover of rap, pop, but particularly country music and her fans can follow her on Instagram. A fitness and health buff, Korda always has an ample supply of salad dressing in her refrigerator.
Korda’s big purchase with earnings from her first career win were a lovely pair of earrings, but you’re likely not to see them. Why? Because she never wears them.
They are just for show!
