There is a European vacation on the horizon but Nelly Korda insists she won’t be taking any disappointment with her from the lackluster end to her KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
After having birdied the seventh, eighth, and 10th holes, the world No. 1 was at 8-under, just two off the lead, and seemingly the buzz about a possible third straight major triumph was very much alive.
Watch Nelly Korda birdie the 2nd hole.#KPMGWomensPGA pic.twitter.com/glisqw5uHI
— KPMG Women's PGA Championship (@KPMGWomensPGA) June 28, 2026
Only Korda stumbled coming home, failing to birdie the par-5 11th and making bogey at the par-4 12th to kill whatever momentum she had. A sloppy double-bogey at the par-4 16th helped bring her home in 73 for 6-under 282, tied for eighth. Disappointing, perhaps, but she insisted the storyline about a third straight major wasn’t what carried her into Hazeltine National Golf Club.
“You guys made that such a big deal,” she said to a circle of reporters. “I didn’t think about that. I was just kind of disappointed in the way that I played this week, not that I came short (in the major chase).”
It figured to be a huge challenge after opening with 70 to sit seven shots off the lead. But she cut into it little by little so that she started Round 4 just four off the lead. Her first six holes Sunday didn’t provide much hope for a rally – she had three bogeys and a birdie – but the spurt in the middle of the round provided a glimmer of hope.
“I was just trying to take it a shot at a time, really. I didn’t know where the leaders were at, so I was just trying to focus on myself.”
The eventual winner, Haeran Ryu, didn’t have an ounce of backup in her, and with gusty winds and thick, wet rough, Korda was never going to catch the leader. So, no, there wouldn’t be a third straight major (earlier this year she won the Chevron Championship and U.S. Women’s Open).
But this European vacation will provide both fun in Prague (her parents’ homeland) then three tournaments – the Evian, the ISPS Women’s Scottish Open and the AIG Women’s Open. Two of them are majors, meaning there might be a buzz about Korda winning four of five in 2026 . . . but we’ll wait and see on that.
