Is Nelly Korda Qualified for LPGA Hall of Fame Induction?

Only 34 players have been inducted into the LPGA Tour Hall of Fame since its inception in 1967. Initially, only six members, Patty Berg, Betty Jameson, Louise Suggs, Babe Zaharias, Betsy Rawls, and Mickey Wright were part of the HOF. These players did not have to qualify through the points criterion that is now placed. Why? Because they were inducted after becoming HOF members of Women’s World Golf.

To be enlisted as a Hall of Fame member on the LPGA Tour now, the players should have 27 points, which was decreased from 35 points in 1999. So, after winning her fifth consecutive title of the year, has Nelly Korda accumulated enough points to be a Hall of Famer?

How many Hall of Fame points does Nelly Korda have? 

In 2023, when Nelly Korda could not win a single title on the LPGA Tour, there was no question of her entering the LPGA Hall of Fame this early in her career. However, in the 2024 season, the world no. 1 has amassed five victories so far, including a recent major, Chevron Championship in Houston.

This brings Korda’s total number of titles won on the LPGA Tour to thirteen. Based on the LPGA’s Hall of Fame criteria, the player will get one point for every LPGA Tour title, two points for a major victory, one for a Vare Trophy or Rolex Player of the Year title, and one for getting a gold medal at the Olympics.

Looking through the last eight years Korda has been professional on the LPGA Tour, she has accumulated 11 points with her regular Tour wins. She has earned 4 points from two major titles, the 2021 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, and the 2024 Chevron Championship. Her other point came from winning the gold at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Korda’s total comes to only 16 points, which means the 13-time LPGA Tour winner will need 11 more points to qualify for the Hall of Fame, and she cannot be inducted into it just yet.

However, if the 25-year-old follows a similar pattern of consecutively winning and wins the next four majors or more official events, she might just become the 35th LPGA Hall of Fame member. But realistically, it sounds quite impossible that Nelly Korda will be in the LPGA Hall of Fame before Lydia Ko, who is only one point away. What has hindered Ko so far from gaining that one precious point?

Lydia Ko performs better but still not enough 

Similar doubts as Korda inflicted Ko when she couldn’t win on the LPGA Tour in 2023. However, she returned powerfully and opened her 2024 season with a victory at the HGV Tournament of Champions. The victory pushed her closer to the Hall of Fame, and she was believed to get her final point at the LPGA Drive On Championship! That didn’t happen though! Why? Well, because that is when the 25-year-old started her stellar streak of consecutive wins.

From then on, the Kiwi golfer has competed in six more events, and in five of those, she was in the top 20. The only worst performance of Ko was at the HSBC Women’s World Championship, where she finished at T34. Although the 20-time LPGA Tour winner played far better than last year, she just can’t seem to push her way into contention or defeat Nelly Korda.

By the end of the 2024 season, who do you think will be in the LPGA Hall of Fame? Will Korda do the unthinkable, or will Ko soon get her final point? Share your predictions in the comments!