Nelly Korda’s emphatic win at Riviera Maya ended up ‘humbling’ golf

Last week, Nelly Korda raised her arms to win the Chevron Championship, the first major of the year. He held them up as the Houston sun set behind him and lowered them emphatically, having just survived a busy weekend at Memorial Park.

Seven days later, Korda rolled in a bogey putt on the 18th hole at El Camaleón Golf Course in Mayakoba and stretched his arms for a moment before letting go and taking a breather to enjoy a four-shot victory at the Riviera Maya Open, his third of the season and second in a row.

It was another streak for Korda, who has six top-two games in a row to start the season. This one felt different but came with more history of the best player in the world.

With her win, she became the youngest American since Nancy Lopez in 1980 to reach 18 career victories. He became the first player to win at the start after a major win since Celine Boutier won the 2023 Scottish Open after winning the Evian. Korda is the first American to achieve this since Meg Mallon in 2024. She has more wins this season (3) than any player who finished ahead of her this season (Hyo Joo Kim twice, Lauren Coughlin).

Korda didn’t have to go to play in Mexico. After racing at Chevron to win his third major title, he could attribute it to physical exhaustion and retire to enjoy his latest marquee victory. But instead, World No. 1 that was recently made chose to combine it in Mexico and continue its outstanding run. Why did he do it? Because Nelly Korda is chasing something immeasurable.

“Anything I set my heart on,” Korda said before the tournament about his next goal. “I mean, I love to compete and I love to be here competing. I’m always striving to get better and compete in every big tournament, every tournament. Because of what I’ve accomplished, the funny thing about sports is what happened in the past. What you want to do is look to the future and look to improve and look to compete in the big events. That’s not important to me to win. I’m constantly putting myself in that position.”

For Korda, that showed in a week that saw him go 60 holes without a bogey. On Sunday, Korda entered the final round with a three-shot lead and delivered a morning haymaker on the course when he went eagle-birdie-birdie on 5, 6 and 7 to extend his lead to seven. From there, all that was left was a trip to another trophy and another step toward the LPGA Hall of Fame.

But golf has a way of getting the last laugh even when you’re at your best. For Korda, that moment came on his final hole of the week, the par-5 18th.

As the music pushes on and the Mexican crowd gets ready to celebrate another Nelly Korda win, Korda loses his briefcase in the jungle. Moments later, he hit the third into the fairway bunker and then flew his next shot over the green to the patrons. Korda’s chip from the sandy area behind the green rolled past the pin and left him with a long bogey putt. Yes, Nelly Korda included that and had to laugh about her recent trophy-winning journey.

“You never know,” Korda told Karen Stupples after the round. “Golf. Like on the last hole here, I was humbled by the golf there. I had a nice smooth day and on the last hole I’d like to humble you a little bit.”

Korda now has 18 LPGA awards and 23 of the 27 points required to qualify for the LPGA Hall of Fame. He will take the next week off to relax and drink the latest batch of fantastic golf. After that, she’ll head to Cincinnati for the Kroger Queen City Championship before turning her attention to the US Women’s Open at Riviera Country Club.

But Nelly Korda does not look far into the future. He knows his focus should be on the next step. Because, as the 18th hole on Sunday showed him, you never know when the next obstacle might come.

“I’m happy to compete here, I’m healthy, I’m motivated,” said Korda on Sunday. “You know I’m very happy on the golf course. I’m happy when I’m off the golf course. I just think that yes, I’m living a really good life. But golf humbles you, so I know I need to enjoy these moments.

“There have been many times when fairy tales have told me to smell the roses, so now I have a week off and I can officially smell the roses for a few days.”