CHASKA, Minn. – There are very few people who know what Nelly Korda it’s passing now. Although Lydia Ko is one of them.
At the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Hazeltine National on Wednesday, minutes after Korda ended her pre-tournament time with the media, Ko sat behind the cover and explained what life is like on the Hall of Fame.
“It’s very exciting that Nelly is only two points away,” said Ko, as Korda milled around just meters away. “I really believe it’s close to the form it’s been in.”
The LPGA has a unique points system for entering the HOF and beyond winning the US Open Women’s Last month, Korda compiled 25 of the 27 required points. Winning a major is good for two points, which meant Korda’s first chance at what will be many opportunities to play her way came last week at Hazeltine. (Korda tied for 8th place; search continues.)
Ko knows this adventure well.
In January 2024, Ko won the season-opening Tournament of Champions to move within one point of qualifying for the Hall of Fame, and a week later she was on the verge of capturing that point and winning the LPGA Drive on Championship. But in the group behind her, Korda finished with eagle-birdie to force a playoff and beat Ko on the second extra hole.
“When that happened, I was so heartbroken that it felt like you’re almost there and you feel it in your hands and then it’s gone,” Ko said Wednesday. “It was like emotions I’d never felt before. After that, I really didn’t put myself in contention as much. Every time I sat in front of the media that was the question. you are just one point away. I feel like Nelly will handle this a lot better than me.”
Although there was a happy ending here.
“But would I imagine myself going into the Hall of Fame by winning gold at the Olympics?” Ko said. “Maybe not.”
it’s punched her Hall-of-Fame ticket at the 2024 Paris Games when she was still only 27, how old is Korda now. (Korda turns 28 on July 28.)
But while Korda chases the Hall of Fame, Ko is still chasing something of his own. Since winning the 2024 Women’s Open, she has opened the door to the next big thing: the career Grand Slam.
Ko has won three tournaments — the 2015 Evian, the 2016 Chevron and the 2024 Women’s Open — and the LPGA requires players to win four of the five majors to complete the career Slam.
Seven players have done it, and one of them – Karrie Webb – has completed a “super” Slam career, winning all five majors. Ko can become the eighth Grand Slam winner with a win at a US Women’s Open or the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. She, like anyone else, has learned that overcoming one obstacle always leads to another.
“I think that even as an amateur it was like that, When will you turn pro? Are you going pro now? And then it’s like, When are you finishing your first LPGA event as a member? And then, Will you break Morgan’s record? There’s always something,” said Ko, who believes you technically have to win all five different LPGA majors to capture the slam. “I think it’s good to have a goal. It’s always nice to have something to work towards, too, and that’s the same no matter what ranked player you are.
“So yeah, I think I’ve been through all of that, so now I handle it better and, honestly, like I hear it and I’m not a robot where I can let it go the other way, but I just don’t think I let it affect me as much in how I handle these events.”
In her first chances to complete the slam last year, Ko did not finish in the top 10 at the US Women’s Open or the Women’s PGA. She missed the cut at the US Women’s Open at Riviera last month and her last chance for 2026 came last week at Hazeltine, where she got off to a poor start.
She birdied 6, 7 and 9 to make it 39 Thursday morning, and made just one birdie on the back nine to shoot 76. She followed through the rest of the week and played well, but never quite got it. She shot 69 on Friday and Saturday and closed with a 70 on Sunday.
Ko tied for 15th, although only one player (Potential champion of Haeran Ryu) posted a lower score in the last three rounds than Ko’s eight-under. It was her best major finish of the year and second best major finish since her 2024 AIG Women’s Open win.
However, there is an important caveat to Ko’s slam run. Her efforts seem to be limited.
Ko, 29, celebrates her 30th birthday next April and has long said she plans to retire around that age. One can assume she plays a full season next year, which gives her two more career Grand Slam attempts, though she has kept her exact plans somewhat private. She said GOLF last year, “I want to go out at a time I want.” (She can also qualify for U.S. Women’s Opens, for example, while not being a full-time member of the LPGA; it’s unclear what kind of future exemptions she could potentially receive as a Hall-of-Fame member.)
“I always thought that the Grand Slam career was something I really wanted to do,” Ko said on Wednesday. “Now thinking about it, it’s pretty tough. It’s tough enough to win five majors, to win all the different ones is pretty tough I’d say. And to be at your peak in majors every time it comes in the span of four months, it’s tough.
“That’s always been a goal of mine, but if I do the career Grand Slam, I’m not going to be like, Oh, yeah, I’m better than I was two years ago or five years ago. People say, ‘You can’t retire until you do it.’ I enjoy it while I can play these great championships.”
Her next opportunity comes in 11 months.
