Nelly Korda’s Hall-of-Fame Season

On Sunday at the Mizuho Americas Open, Nelly Korda went toe-to-toe with Hannah Green, the only other LPGA player to win multiple times this season (both wins were in events in which Nelly didn’t play.) The two matched each other shot for shot the entire back nine, but Green blinked first, bogeying 18 after an errant tee shot. Nelly’s par was enough to add her name to the all-world list of players to win six times before June 1st: Babe Zaharias, Louise Suggs, Lorena Ochoa, and now Nelly Korda. It’s her sixth win in her last seven starts.

In an effort to make the “Nelly Korda Wins Again” section of this newsletter less repetitive, let’s focus on how Nelly’s season is advancing her chances at one of the rarest feats in golf: qualifying for the LPGA Hall of Fame. Unlike similar institutions in other sports, the LPGA’s HOF is based on points. Players must accumulate 27 points, and when they do, they’re in. Each LPGA win is a point, with majors counting for two points. Win an Olympic gold medal, that’s another point. The end-of-year Vare Trophy (lowest scoring average) and Rolex Player of the Year awards also count for a point each. The exclusive club counts just 34 players among its ranks, and it’s been almost a decade since a player qualified.

Nelly had 10 points at the start of the season. Yesterday’s win puts her at 17. That’s 25% of a Hall of Fame career. She has all but wrapped up the Rolex Player of the Year race, and is currently the Vare Trophy leader. She’ll be in Paris in August for the Olympics where she’ll be defending her gold medal win from four years ago. There are still four majors left, and well over half of the LPGA season to go. If her current form holds, she could easily finish the year above the 20 point mark, putting her well on her way to enshrinement. If her form holds, it’s not impossible that she puts up half of a Hall of Fame career over just one season. Hard to be more dominant than that.

This piece originally appeared in the Fried Egg Golf newsletter. Subscribe for free and receive golf news and insight every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. For more coverage of the PGA Championship, visit our PGA hub here.