Nelly Korda, the sport’s new gem who defied the family mandate and chose golf over tennis

Nelly Korda He was born with the passion and ability to play sports in his blood. Family tradition indicated that he should dedicate his life to hitting the ball with the racket, but she decided to “defy” that mandate and chose her own weapon: a golf club. She made her own path, side by side with her older sister Jessica, who guided her in that adventure, and today she is the great ruler of the LPGthe American women’s tour, where she won her third consecutive season title on Sunday and made history.

With victory in the inaugural Ford Championship in Arizona – she finished with 268 shots (-20), two less than her second-place finisher, the Australian Hira Naveed-, she became the first player to win three trophies in a row on the circuit since the Thai days Ariya Jutanugarn in 2016. And since then she has been the first in her country to do so Nancy Lópezwho added five consecutive in 1978, a record she shares with the Swede Annika Sorenstam (2004-2005).

Korda has competed in four competitions this season. In January she opened her campaign with a 16th place finish at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions in Florida. It was the only one in which he didn’t lift the trophy. She then won the LPGA Drive On Championship in her native Bradenton, the FIR HILLS SERI PAK Championship in Los Angeles and capped off the trio of back-to-back celebrations Sunday at Seville Golf and Country Club in Gilbert, Ariz.

Unstoppable, with that consecration he also established himself at the top of the world ranking, a position he had occupied for the last time in July last year and to which he had returned a week earlier, after his celebration at the Los Angeles competition.

“I think it was one of my least stressful victories. I played very solid golf,” she said happily, after winning the 11th victory of her professional LPGA career.

And when asked if she has her sights set on that record of consecutive consecrations just two victories away – and which, given her enormous moment, doesn’t seem like a too difficult goal to achieve – she stated without thinking: “Not really.”

“I just live in the moment,” he explained. “I have been a professional golfer since 2016 and I have learned that when you want to look too far ahead, it is never good. You have to think tournament by tournament, stay in the present. So far it has worked very well for me. Sometimes it is difficult to manage your expectations and those that are created around you, but I’ll try to stay in my little bubble and see how it goes.

The mentality of not being overwhelmed by what is expected of her and not losing focus is perhaps something she carries in her genes, like her ability to perform on the pitch. Nelly comes from a family with a lot of history – and a lot of success – in sports.

His father, Pietro Korda, born in Prague 56 years ago, was a professional tennis player. He reached number two in the world charts ATP in the first months of 1998, the year he won the Australian Open, his first and only Grand Slam and the last of his ten titles. And his mother, Queen Rajchrtovahe also made a career with the racket: he reached 26th place in the rankings WTA and participated in the Seoul 1988 Olympic Games. The couple’s three children, all tall, thin and athletic like their father, have inherited a love of physical activity.

Sebastian, the youngest of the clan, tried ice hockey first, but ultimately followed in his parents’ footsteps. At 23 years old he is 27th in the ranking he leads Novak Djokovic. He was junior champion in Melbourne in 2019, he has an ATP trophy in his cabinet (Parma2021) and is considered one of the young Americans with the most future.

Jessica, the eldest, practiced gymnastics and figure skating before starting her own golf course. She has been a professional since 2010, she debuted on the LPGA in 2011, she has been in the top 10 in the world and has won six titles. She withdrew from the competition mid-last year after announcing she was pregnant with her first child, born in February.

Nelly didn’t turn around to find her passion: she followed Jessica and soon surpassed her sister’s successes. She joined the LPGA Tour in 2017 and in 2021 she had an extraordinary year, which transformed her into a global star. In June she won her first (and so far only) Major, the Women’s PGA Championship in Atlanta, and climbed to the top step of the world rankings for the first time. A month later, the gold was hung on the Tokyo Olympics. And he ended that season with five titles, his best ever on the biggest circuit.

A blood clot discovered in her left arm forced her to miss several months of racing in 2022 and last year she didn’t have the consistency she expected due to back pain that didn’t allow her to move comfortably. But in 2024, her physical problems seem like a thing of the past and for the American he has an impressive winning streak.

“I don’t really know what I’m doing differently. I’m just enjoying the course. I love golf. I always have. There are days when things are harder. Last year was definitely one of the toughest of the my life. life.” career. The last two years, actually. I have never been able to increase the pace due to injuries and problems of this type. I feel like I’ve worked a lot on my physique, I feel a lot stronger than in 2021. And I’ve matured and grown a lot too,” he acknowledged on Sunday.

He added: “Stopping and resetting after Bradenton (where he won his first tournament of 2024) helped me a lot. I enjoyed the time off with my family and a bit of life outside of golf. I moved back to Prague. I broke away.” It was the perfect readjustment.”

Nelly never tires of recognizing how important her family is to her, as responsible for her success as she and her work team. And having people around you who understand what you experience every day, because they too live it or have lived it, is an advantage.

Also with his brothers he has a group of Whatsapp what they called “The trio” (The trio), through which they keep in touch at a distance. Nelly once said that they write to each other constantly, but that there are many more messages when someone suffers a defeat, perhaps due to a phrase that her father often repeats to him.

“My father always tells us that we have to give time to everything that happens, enjoy the victories and learn from the defeats. That professional athletes usually don’t do this because there is no time, there is always a trip or a tournament; but it’s important,” he revealed.

Korda has the perfect combination to achieve this: a privileged physique, a natural talent for sport, a competitive spirit and a family that knows how to accompany her and help her from the outside. And the American is determined to take advantage of it to leave her mark on world golf.

At 25 she is the absolute queen of the women’s circuit and seems ready to build a perhaps historic dominance. But she, with her feet on the ground, doesn’t want to move forward.

“The comparisons are easy to make. I would say that the golf I’m playing today could lead me to have a season like 2021 or better. But I don’t want to focus too much on that, on the results,” he said. “I just think about my process and enjoying the life I have to live. Traveling, playing in front of fans, inspiring the next generation. These are things I really appreciate.”