US golf star Nelly Korda is back in the winner's circle, as the world No. 2 lifted her first LPGA trophy in more than 14 months at the weather-shortened 2026 HGV Tournament of Champions on Sunday.
Due to unexpected extreme cold and wind in Orlando, officials canceled the final round of the season-opening competition on Sunday, reducing the tournament to 54 holes and declaring Korda the champion based on her performance in the first three rounds.
"Thursday, Friday, were obviously completely different conditions to Saturday," Korda said. "The gusts, it's so exposed off the water there. You could surf on that water [on Saturday]."
Though many struggled in Saturday's conditions, Korda thrived, with the 27-year-old posting a field-leading 8-under score, boosting her to a 13-under tournament total to take a three-shot victory over South Korean runner-up No. 79 Amy Yang.
"I'm really proud of myself, my team, and all the work that we have put in when no one was watching," said Korda after the win.
Korda victory at Tournament of Champions snaps winless streak
Korda's Sunday victory snapped a winless streak that dates back to 2024, when the US standout took the golf world by storm with a dominant seven LPGA victories.
Despite banking nine Top 10 finishes last year — and making every cut in 2025 — the lack of hardware saw Korda ultimately cede her world No. 1 status to Thailand's Jeeno Thitikul last summer.
"I was so close. I played really well last year," she reflected on Sunday. "Golf is a game of centimeters. There were so many times last year where I wished I had an inch here or a centimeter there, where it would've changed the story completely."
The US star will next take six weeks off of competition as she once again skips the LPGA Tour's upcoming Asia swing, with Korda rejoining the field for the 2026 Founders Cup in California on March 19th.
An historic 2024 LPGA season minted US star Nelly Korda as the world's No. 1 golfer, but a 36th-place tie at last weekend's 2025 AIG Women's Open saw the 27-year-old slip into the No. 2 spot on Monday.
While the US standout logged an astounding seven wins on the 2024 Tour, she has yet to win a 2025 LPGA event, allowing Thailand's Jeeno Thitikul to overtake her and snag the top world ranking.
Though her run is over, Korda's 71 straight weeks at the top is still impressive, clocking in as the fifth-longest streak in rankings history and adding to her career cumulative total of 108 weeks at No. 1.
Still hunting a first 2025 trophy, the new No. 2 has claimed four Top-5 tournament performances so far this season, including a runner-up finish at the US Women's Open in June.
Even more, Korda is stacking up a career-best run by making the cut in all of her 13 events this season.
As for the new No. 1, Thitikul spent two weeks at the top in her 2022 rookie season before beginning her second rankings reign on Monday, buoyed by the Thai star's seven Top-5 finishes in 14 starts this season.
The 2025 Tour has seen the 22-year-old claim her fifth career LPGA trophy at the Americas Open in May, settle for second place after a playoff round at last month's Evian Championship, and finish as runner-up at the HSBC Women's World Championship in February.
Notably, the LPGA is in the midst of the most parity-fueled year on record, as each of the 21 events on the 2025 Tour so far has crowned a different winner, including five new rookie champions — the most overall title-winners to begin a season in the governing body's 75-year history.