Nelly Korda has won at Pelican Golf Club three times. A fourth would put her in the LPGA Hall of Fame.
The world No.1 has 26 of the 27 points needed to qualify for the Hall. She tees off at The Annika at Pelican Thursday, Nov. 12 in Belleair, Florida, just up the Gulf Coast from her hometown of Bradenton.
She got her 26th point on Nov. 3, when she clinched her second Rolex Player of the Year award without playing. She won four times this season, including back-to-back majors at the Chevron Championship and the U.S. Women's Open. Her last start was the Solheim Cup in September.
A win Sunday, Nov. 15 would make Korda the 36th player to qualify for the LPGA Hall of Fame and the first since Lydia Ko in 2024. Tournament officials say it would also make her
the first player to win the same LPGA event four times since Annika Sorenstam, the tournament's host, did it in 2005.
How many points does Nelly Korda need for the LPGA Hall of Fame?
One. Korda has 26, and the threshold is 27.
The LPGA awards one point for a regular tour win and two for a major. Player of the Year, the Vare Trophy for lowest scoring average and an Olympic gold medal are worth one point each.
Korda has 19 LPGA Tour wins. Fifteen are regular events, and four are majors: the 2021 Women's PGA, the Chevron in 2024 and 2026, and this year's U.S. Women's Open. Add her Olympic gold medal from Tokyo and Player of the Year awards in 2024 and 2026, and she's at 26.
The last point has to come from a win. Korda leads the tour in scoring average at 69.38, which would normally earn her the Vare Trophy and a Hall of Fame point, but she hasn't played enough rounds this season to be eligible.
Who is Nelly Korda?
Korda, 28, grew up in a family of professional athletes. Her father Petr, won the 1998 Australian Open in tennis. Her older sister, Jessica, is also an LPGA Tour winner, and her brother, Sebastian, plays professional tennis.
Nelly turned pro in 2016, joined the LPGA Tour in 2017 and got her first win in 2018. That made the Kordas the third set of sisters to both win on tour. In 2021, she won her first major at the Women's PGA, rose to No. 1 in the world and won Olympic gold in Tokyo.
Her 2024 season put her name next to the game greats. She won seven times, including five straight starts, which tied the LPGA record held by Nancy Lopez and Sorentsam. She finished that year at No. 1, as she did in 2021, and spent more than 100 weeks on top of the world rankings.
How many points does Nelly Korda need for the LPGA Hall of Fame?
One. Korda has 26, and the threshold is 27.
The LPGA awards one point for a regular tour win and two for a major. Player of the Year, the Vare Trophy for lowest scoring average and an Olympic gold medal are worth one point each.
Korda has 19 LPGA Tour wins. Fifteen are regular events, and four are majors: the 2021 Women's PGA, the Chevron in 2024 and 2026, and this year's U.S. Women's Open. Add her Olympic gold medal from Tokyo and Players of the Year awards in 2024 and 2026, she's at 26 points.
Nelly Korda's record at The Annika
Those three wins came in five starts. She won in a playoff in 2021, then won by a stroke in 2022, a win that put her back at No. 1 in the world. In 2024, she arrived after two months off and won by three for her seventh title of the season.
Her other trips weren't close. She tied for 25th in 2023 while chasing three in a row, and tied for 15th last year, when Linn Grant won.
Grant is back to defend in a 108-player field with 17 major champions, including Ko, Lilia Vu, Haeran Ryu and Charley Hull. World No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul and No. 4 Miyu Yamashita aren't playing. The purse is $3.25 million, with $487,500 to the winner.
What if Nelly Korda doesn't win The Annika?
She gets one more chance at the season-ending CMA Grout Tour Championship, Nov. 19-22 at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Floirda. A win there counts the same. Korda will be honored at the Rolex LPGA Awards in Naples on Nov. 17.
If she wins neither, the point carries into 2027.
How to watch The Annika 2026
All times Eastern. Every round also streams on Golf Channel's mobile app and on Fubo, which is offerering a free trial.
- Thursday, Nov. 12: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Golf Channel
- Friday, Nov. 13: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Golf Channel
- Saturday, Nov. 14: 2 to 5 p.m. CNBC
- Sunday, Nov. 15: 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., CNBC
Stream The Annika 2026 on Fubo
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How close is Nelly Korda to the LPGA Hall of Fame? One win Sunday
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