Nelly Korda arrives into the biggest week on the women’s golf calendar as a red-hot favourite to land her first US Open title having won six of her last seven tournaments.
It is a period of extraordinary dominance. In those tournaments, stretching back to late January, she has beaten a combined 883 competitors, losing to only six by finishing seventh in the only event she has not won.
In the half-dozen strokeplay events involved, she is an aggregate 74 under par.
The world standings show the points average gap between Korda and Lilia Vu, her closest rival, is greater than the margin between the world number two and any other golfer who features in the ranking list.
It is the stuff of Tiger Woods in his pomp and similar to the way Scottie Scheffler currently dominates the divided men’s game.
After Korda’s most recent win at the Mizuho Americas Cup in New Jersey, PGA Tour player Michael Kim posted on social media that the women’s world number one should be welcomed onto the leading men’s circuit.
“Would be really cool to see Nelly get an exemption to a PGA Tour tournament,” said the American, who is routinely one of the most interesting and insightful players on X (formerly Twitter).
It seems to be a default position that when a female player starts to do something extraordinary on the LPGA Tour, they should be invited to see how they fare against the men.
Annika Sorenstam played the Colonial event in 2003 when the then 32-year-old Swede was at the height of her powers. Her five-over-par return, missing the cut by four, was seen as a triumph for women’s golf.
“She played amazing,” said compatriot Jesper Parnevik. “I guess we have the ‘Shark’, the ‘Tiger’ and now we have the ‘Superwoman’.”
Subsequently we have seen forays into the men’s game by the likes of Michelle Wie and Lexi Thompson and on occasion they have added lustre and intrigue to otherwise humdrum, run-of-the-mill men’s tournaments.
With Korda, though, it feels different. She is bringing eyeballs to women’s golf, setting a benchmark to which her rivals can aspire.
This is what really needs to be showcased. It is a fantastic opportunity for the female game to elevate itself in international sporting consciousness.
It comes at a time when their male counterparts are embroiled in the ongoing greedy mess that has ensued since the arrival of the breakaway LIV Golf circuit.
