After going from a second tour title win to a maiden major, Nelly Korda continued her exceptional summer season with a gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Her exceptional season run, which culminated in a gold medal at Tokyo 2020, in 2021 first began at the Blythefield Country Club after the 23-year-old won the Meijer LPGA Classic.
Closing with 5-under 67 on the final day, her second tour win of 2021 came as something of a rebound. The 23-year-old American had missed the cut two weeks prior at the U.S. Women’s Open.
The victory in Michigan however, seemed not only to have helped the young golfer brush off her U.S. Open woes but also triggered an impressive run of momentum.
Just one week later Korda carried on her winning ways to clinch her maiden major at the Women’s PGA Championship (27 June), and the American did it in some style.
A final round of 68 secured a three-shot victory and, to top her performance off, Korda even came close to an Albatross on the fifth after hitting a 7-wood 243 yards to within less than half a metre of the hole.
Her maiden victory was an achievement only made sweeter by the additional cherry on top that subsequently followed.
Korda’s win on the Highlands Course in Atlanta propelled her to the No.1 spot in the Women’s LPGA rankings. The two conquests at once left golfer in awe:
“Wow, just wow. A dream come true. A major championship and No. 1 in the world; is this week even real?” Korda said after securing her first major, “It’s amazing.”
Nelly Korda: an Olympic gold medallist at Tokyo 2020
And just when it looked like it couldn’t get any better for the American won gold in the women’s golf competition at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Korda finished the fourth a final day of the tournament at two-under-par 69, leaving her 17 under for the tournament.
Her once unshakeable lead established in the first three days of competition to a slight knock after she shot a double bogey on the seventh, but the golfer quickly rebounded with three consecutive birdies to stay on course for gold.
With Korda’s victory, the U.S. completes a sweep of the Olympic golf competition after Xander Schauffele won the men’s tournament.
Out of the shadows of a family that has competition in their DNA
It is evident Korda has finally emerged triumphant out of her other family members’ shadows.
Korda’s parents were both accomplished tennis players. Her father Petr won the Australian Open back in 1998, while her mother Regina (neé Rajchrtova) is a former tennis world number 26 and competed in Seoul 1988.
Sebastian Korda – Nelly’s brother – is currently excelling on the tennis circuit. The youngest Korda sibling is on a career high ranking of 45, and recently made it to the fourth round of Wimbledon in the men’s singles competition.
As for Jessica, Nelly’s older sister the two play side by side on the LPGA. The 28-year-old has six professional tour wins to her name, with the most recent coming in January, 2021.
It’s a sporting family dynasty that is fast accumulating more and more achievements. But following Korda’s summer string of successes, no longer with she be her father’s daughter, or her brother’s sister. She will simply be Nelly Korda – a golf star to watch.
