By Julio Cesar Valdera MoralesShareNewsweek is a Trust Project memberNelly Korda finished the 2025 season winless, a stark contrast to her seven victories the year before. Korda played 19 events during the season without missing a cut, finishing in nine top 10s, including two second-place finishes.
This is only the third season of her professional career in which she has failed to win at least one official event. The first was in 2017, her rookie year on the LPGA Tour, and the second was in 2020, a year severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Reflecting on her winless season, Korda dismissed it as nothing more than the vagaries of golf, noting she remains satisfied with her overall performance. Still, she admits there were moments of frustration, including one particular shot she would like to take back.
After finishing third in the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship, Korda revealed the moment of the season she would like to return to if she could:
"Yeah, precisely No. 18 at the U.S. (Women's) Open. I actually hit that shot so good," she told reporters during her post-event press conference. "Probably hit that shot the best that I did all year, and just because of the adrenaline, I hit it probably, I don't know, 10 yards too long and a little bit too left; was in the place that at the beginning of the week on Monday, I was like, I cannot be here, and I was there. So if I could get one shot back, that would be it."
...That was a defining moment of the world No. 2's season, no questions asked. She reached the final hole of the US Women's Open trailing Maja Stark by three shots and, after hitting the fairway with her drive, her approach shot went long and left, overshooting the green and ending up in the rough.
Matters worsened when Korda tried to reach the green with her third shot, but came up short, and the ball rolled back down the slope almost to her feet. She finally found the green with her fourth shot and eventually carded a bogey on the hole.
The sting was sharper knowing Korda had already tamed that hole with two birdies and a par earlier in the week. Until then, she had found the green with ease, never facing trouble.
Korda’s stumble proved decisive. The eventual champion, Stark, also bogeyed the 18th, meaning that had Korda matched her week's best score on the hole, she would have forced a playoff.
The two-time major champion still has a chance to add titles before the end of the year, albeit in unofficial events. In the coming weeks, she will be playing in the PNC Championship, teaming up with her father, and the Grant Thornton Invitational, teaming up with PGA Tour player Denny McCarthy.
More Golf: Caitlin Clark Surprised With Gift From Nelly Korda at Major Golf Event
Request Reprint & LicensingSubmit CorrectionView Editorial & AI Guidelines
Add Newsweek as a preferred source on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search.Recommended For You
NCAALane Kiffin Warning Issued by College Football Insider3 min read
MLBMets Blockbuster Trade Idea Lands Brewers All-Star in 3-Player Swap3 min read
MLBYankees Get Estimated Trade Cost to Land Brewers’ Freddy Peralta3 min read
NFLChiefs, Patrick Mahomes Suffer Unfortunate Development Despite Colts Win2 min read
WrestlingDominik Mysterio’s WWE Tag Team Officially Gets New Name3 min read
NFLNFL Places Blame After Big Mistake in Cowboys-Eagles3 min readRelated Podcasts
Top Stories
WorldRussia-Ukraine Live Updates: US, Ukraine Draft New 19-Point Peace Deal2 min read
NewsUncommon Knowledge: Trump May Be Winning the Global Climate Change Debate6 min read
PoliticsHow Democrats Could Take Back Control of House From GOP Before 2026 Midterm6 min read
WorldNorth Korea ‘Expanding’ Major Nuclear Site: Analysts6 min read
NewsClarence Thomas Takes Aim at Supreme Court Doctrine Issued Decades Ago4 min read
EntertainmentJimmy Cliff, Grammy-Winning Reggae Legend, Dead Age 815 min readTrending
WeatherWinter Weather Alerts in 4 States As 18 Inches of Snow To Hit3 min read
Higher EducationFull List of Degrees Not Classed As ‘Professional’ by Trump Admin8 min read
National Weather ServiceWinter Storm Alert Issued as 12 Inches of Snow Set To Hit3 min read
WeatherMaps Show Snow Risk for Each State Over Thanksgiving 2025 Holidays3 min read
NFLNBC Celebrates Major Cris Collinsworth News Ahead of ‘Sunday Night Football’2 min readOpinion
OpinionFour Ways to Fight Trump’s Golden Age of Corruption | Opinion5 min read
OpinionThe Post-Shutdown Mandate—It’s Time for California to Lead | Opinion5 min read
OpinionDon’t Let Monopoly Utilities Kill Clean Consumer Choices | Opinion4 min read
Opinion‘AI Plus’ Is China’s Master Plan to Build an AI-Native Society by 2035 | Opinion5 min read
OpinionConventional Wisdom: The Trump and Mamdani Edition2 min read