Professional golfer Nelly Korda believes she has developed a new tool in her competitive arsenal as she works to extend her current winning streak throughout the busy LPGA Tour season — her mental approach.
The 27-year-old has captured victory in three of her initial six tournaments in 2026 while placing second in the remaining three competitions. This impressive performance has propelled her back to the top position in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings as the tour arrives in Cincinnati for the Queen City Championship this week.
This resurgence follows a disappointing 2025 campaign that concluded without earning a single tournament win.
Following her triumph in the season’s first major at the Chevron Championship, Korda honored her pledge to compete in Mexico. She claimed victory in that tournament as well before taking the previous week off from competition.
“You need to give your body a break because you played two weeks in a row with all the travel, too,” Korda explained on Wednesday. “You’re getting ready for a big summer ahead, so it’s like you can’t rest too much or the body doesn’t feel 100%.”
“I think everyone gets into that middle of the season when you travel a lot, play a lot. You don’t have too many weeks where you can rest, especially going into kind of the part of the season right now where we have kind of all the majors stacked up.”
Korda achieved six victories during a seven-tournament span in early 2024. She subsequently failed to make the cut in three straight events, including two major championships. After another underwhelming performance, Korda eventually regained her competitive edge with a second-place showing at the 2024 AIG Women’s Open.
The situation appears remarkably similar two years later, with a dominant Korda preparing for the year’s second major at the U.S. Women’s Open beginning in June. The KPMG Women’s PGA Championship concludes the month three weeks afterward before the tour travels to Europe for the Evian Championship prior to the Women’s Open.
The golfer believes she is more equipped to sustain her excellent performance this time.
“My patience, for sure,” Korda responded when questioned about the strongest aspect of her current game. “Mentally being on the golf course, just really enjoying it, knowing that I am going to make mistakes and that it’s OK. It’s not going to ruin my round. That it’s OK to bounce back.”
“In the past I’ve been very scared to make mistakes, and that’s locked me up a little bit. So just kind of trying to stay free on the golf course, knowing my swing is not going to be perfect every week. Maybe to the outside they don’t see as precise of what I see, the detailing of my golf swing.”
“For me, as long as I stay mentally fresh, that’s the most important.”
Korda leads a 144-competitor field at Maketewah Country Club this week. The course layout features par-3 holes that conclude both the front and back nine.
“It’s definitely a very unique golf course,” Korda noted. “But it’s also fun to sometimes switch it up and play something you normally don’t.”
