World No. 1 ranking. Two major championship victories. Four LPGA wins. Eight top-ten finishes. Nelly Korda celebrated her incredible year so far with a victory tour of the Big Apple Monday.
Coming straight from the Dow Championship in Michigan, the 27-year-old Korda arrived in New York City and hit the ground running on Monday.
The morning started with a visit to the TODAY show and described the moment she sank her “ice cream swirl” putt to become a U.S. Women’s Open champ for the first time.
“I could not feel my hands I was so nervous,” Korda explained on TODAY. “I did not feel anything in my body. It ended up in the bottom of the cup and that’s what matters.”
Korda covered her mouth with her hand after sinking the precarious putt, relieved and overjoyed. Obviously, the top-ranked women’s golfer is no stranger to pressure, but this was different. While she had many titles prior to her win at Riviera Country Club just over a week ago, including Olympic gold medalist, major champion and Rolex Player of the Year, the women’s national championship had eluded Korda in her first 11 starts. Until now.
“Everything that I worked for, everything that I dreamed about, it just came true. It’s a pinch-me moment for sure,” Korda told TODAY.
‘Dream big’
It’s been no secret in the golf world that this is what Korda wanted, this is what she had worked so hard for, this was the ultimate goal.
She’s now looking back at the journey.
“Ride the waves, ride the rollercoaster and dream big,” Korda said she’d tell her younger self. “Work hard, put your head down and just dream big and go after what you want for sure because it’s always possible.”
Her message transcends golf and sports itself and to accomplish everything she’s worked for before even turning 28 at the end of July, it’s hard not to think: What’s next?
“I’m just really enjoying the moment,” Korda told CNBC after stopping by the NY Stock Exchange.
It’s certainly not a bad plan, as Korda knows better than anyone, how fleeting moments at the top of your game can be.
For now, she’s in the prime her career in terms of performance and value and just raked in the largest purse in women’s golf major history at $2.5 million. Not to mention, she’s sponsored by the likes of Nike and Goldman Sachs and was just recently named to TIME’s “100 Most Influential People” in Sports list.
And, if all of that wasn’t enough, she probably found the most iconic reason to visit Times Square: Herself.
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— LPGA (@LPGA) June 15, 2026
Next up
Korda has a chance to complete the career Grand Slam, recognized by the LPGA as winning four out of the five major championships during a player’s time on Tour.
If she wins at either the Amundi Evian Championship or the AIG Women’s Open later this summer, she can add Grand Slam winner to her already impressive resume.
She’s also just two points away from qualifying for the LPGA’s points-based Hall of Fame, which can achieve from either two regular tournament victories or one major win.
Which means Korda has one more title within a club’s reach: Hall of Famer.