Nelly Korda Casually Downplays Her Latest Achievement Despite the Gravity of the Moment

The 2022 Pelican Women’s Championship ended successfully in Florida, with the American golfer Nelly Korda winning the title. With her win, she became the first player to defend her title on the Tour this year. She also remarkably regained her no. 1 position on the Rolex Women’s Golf Rankings. 

“Yeah, I didn’t even know that was kind of in play if I would’ve won. Quite amazing, to be honest,” Korda said as she addressed the questions from the media at the winner’s press meet at the Pelican Women’s Championship. 

Nelly Korda felt regaining the world’s no. 1 position was important for her this year

Korda explained that she has “never been a player that’s kind of looked at the rankings too much.” She always felt that playing golf and enjoying her time on the course mattered the most. However, after not being able to win an LPGA title this season until now, she was thankful for getting her no. 1 position back. 

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The Tokyo Olympics champion was crowned no. 1 for the first time when she won her first major at the 2021 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. “And that was really special,” she said in the press meet on Sunday. 

“Obviously, going through what I’ve been through this year,” Korda further added. “And regaining that world No. 1 ranking is really special as well.” 

Notably, Korda was no. 1 on the Rolex Rankings at the beginning of the year. However, getting infected with Covid-19 in the second week of January put her on a bad start. Later, she was also diagnosed with a blood clot in her subclavian vein, for which she had to went through surgery. She could only return to play on the LPGA Tour full-time from the US Open Championship, held in the first week of June.

How much did the world’s no. 1 golfer earn at the 2022 Pelican Women’s Championship? 

The total purse for the 70-player field was $2,000,000. And $300,000, the standard 15 percent payout according to the LPGA Tour’s prize money distribution chart, went to Nelly Korda for winning the tournament. 

She earned the prize money and defended her title from last year successfully after scoring 66, 66, and 64 from the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd rounds, respectively. While her fellow American golfer Lexi Thompson secured the second prize for the second time in a row. 

Korda never gave importance to getting a higher rank on the world rankings table. However, this week she found it special as she struggled hard to get to this win. 

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