There was an extra second of doubt.
Nelly Korda had just tapped a two-and-a-half-foot putt in an attempt to claim her white whale, the U.S. Women’s Open. But the ball didn’t want to drop. It did a 180 around the cup, where it seemed like it would lip out for bogey and force a three-way playoff.
Instead, it fell to the bottom of the hole.
“Don’t make me relive that,” Korda said in the trophy ceremony. “I’m sure I’ll see a lot of videos of that, but a nice ice cream swirl to cap off the day.”
Regardless of how it happened, Korda had finally tackled women’s golf’s most prestigious—and grueling—championship.
Now, Korda, 27, is the youngest American with four majors since a 25-year-old Mickey Wright achieved the same in 1960. Korda also joins Annika Sorenstam and Inbee Park as the only world No. 1s to win a U.S. Women’s Open.
“I feel like I’m in a dream,” said Korda, who, at 8 under, finished one stroke ahead of Charley Hull and Gaby Lopez at Riviera. “Gosh, I just can’t even explain how much this means to me.”
Sure, Korda is already the face of the LPGA. A major champion. A former Player of the Year. Two points away from the LPGA Hall of Fame. But the U.S. Women’s Open always eluded her.
Korda had a complex relationship with the major, having first played the championship in 2013. She has missed its cut three times since 2020, most notably in 2024. That year, amid a season in which she won seven times, Korda carded a 10 on Lancaster Country Club’s par-3 12th en route to a first-round 80.
Last year, though, things changed: Korda finished runner-up at Erin Hills. Of course, it was disappointing to fall short. However, it altered her mindset—for the better.
“Last year I really, really wanted it,” Korda said, “and the more you want it sometimes the more you stiffen up and you get a little bit more nervous.”
This year, Korda decided she wouldn’t let her attitude get the better of her on the course. She’s trying not to be a perfectionist. And to ensure she follows that motto, she has been writing “positive notes” to herself in her bathroom.
Yes, it’s unique. But it seems to be working. After a winless 2025, Korda has claimed four titles this year, including the first major of the season, the Chevron Championship. That makes her the first player since Park in 2013 to win the year’s first two majors.
Korda’s new laissez-faire attitude was on full display at Riviera. In the first round, her ball striking was off, and she shot 73. Then, a day later, after a grip tweak suggested by her sister, Korda fired the low round of the day (67).
On Saturday, she was struggling to make a move before flooring the gas pedal at the end, birdieing her final three holes to snatch the co-lead entering the final round.
Yet, she failed to separate herself from the pack in Round 4, just one under par through 16 holes. And negative thoughts crept in.
“Obviously, I’ve had doubts, like even mid-round, I was like, ‘Well, will I ever win it, right?’” Korda said. “I mean, you always have those doubts. But I think you’re just a human being if you have them.”
In Gee Chun, a three-time major winner, jumped to the top of the leaderboard with birdies on Nos. 10 and 11, before two ensuing bogeys dropped her back down. She ultimately finished fourth at 6 under.
Meanwhile, Hull nabbed the clubhouse lead at 7 under with a final-round 67. Then Lopez joined her with a birdie on the last.
But even they knew it was Korda’s time.
“It’s just frustrating,” Hull said. “Another second place. I think that’s five second-place finishes I’ve had in majors now. So, yeah, it’s pretty annoying, but I played really well the last day. Obviously, missed a couple putts on the back nine, but it was quite windy and I hit the ball fantastic so fair play to Nelly Korda for back-to-back wins.”
Said Lopez: “I am so happy. I realize that I can win a major championship. I realize that I can put myself in a position that down the stretch on the back nine of a major championship, I can still deliver. There’s not one thing that I regret … Korda played spectacular golf; she’s been week in, week out.”
It was the par-5 17th hole where Korda essentially sealed the deal, canning a 9-footer for birdie, breaking out of a four-way tie atop the leaderboard.
That’s when she could feel the trophy in her grasp—and she could hardly contain her excitement.
“I knew that I needed to make it,” Korda said of 17. “I knew it was going to be a really fast putt, so I needed to put decent pace on it with how much I was playing it left-to-right.
“And I was just—I don’t really throw out fist pumps too often, but I did this weekend. I threw out a couple fist pumps here and there and I threw out a double fist pump on that hole because I knew what it meant.”
A few minutes later, Korda knocked her approach from 149 yards to 32 feet, needing a two-putt for the title. However, her winning moment had a little more anxiety than she would have liked.
“I was like, ‘Why did I leave myself such a long putt?’ she said. “It was a left-to-righter, the wind off of my left. I was like, ‘Good lord.’”
And even though it caused everyone to momentarily hold their breath, it dropped.
“I wish I had my WHOOP [to] showcase my heart rate,” she said, “because it was definitely high.”
But in the end, everything was just how Korda always envisioned.
“That 14-year-old girl that stepped on the range at Sebonack in 2013, her dream has just come true, sitting next to this trophy right now,” Korda said. “It’s really hard to put into words.”
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