World Glory May Elude Nelly Korda Yet Again! Despite Hopeful HGV Tournament of Champions Promise

What a stark difference a year can make! When Nelly Korda teed off at the HGV Tournament of Champions last year, she was World No. 2, vying for the crown she lost a while back. A year later, Korda will tee up as World No. 5, where even a top-place finish won’t guarantee the No. 1 spot.

Korda kickstarted last season at Lake Nona with a fourth-place finish—a momentum she kept till the first half, netting six top-ten finishes from her first seven outings, reaching the No. 1 spot in the Rolex World Ranking in July. However, a stupefying dip in form in the latter half cast her out of the top three. As is evident from last year’s World Ranking points allotted to the HGV Tournament of Champions, the Florida native has an uphill climb ahead of her.

Can Korda reclaim her throne this week?

Nelly Korda currently sits in fifth place in the Rolex World Rankings, over 150 points behind her compatriot, Lilia Vu, at the top. Ruoning Yin, Celine Boutier, and Minjee Lee sit above the eight-time LPGA Tour winner. Brooke Henderson, the defending HGV champion, earned 24 points last year.

As last year’s point shows, it’ll be difficult for Korda to break into the top rung. Boutier currently holds the third spot with an average point of 6.62. So, even if Korda manages to score a win at Lake Nona, her average points will be 6.63, merely crossing the French International by an inch.

Nevertheless, it won’t nearly be enough to surpass World No. 2, Ruoning Yin, whose average point of 7.03 gives her a comfortable edge over the former World No. 1. Subsequently, the 25-year-old will have to wait and maintain a steady pace in the first leg to steal the crown from Lilia Vu.

Is Nelly Korda bothered about this ahead of her first outing this season? Oddly enough, the one-time Major winner has a rather unusual take on the world ranking.

Nelly Korda focuses on only one thing

What’s the secret to Korda’s phenomenal form that kept her at the top of the world for a total of 36 weeks? The 2021 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship winner revealed she had no secrets. In fact, she doesn’t think about the world ranking at all. Rather, she likes to focus on the present because “when you play well, the ranking will come with it.”

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So, Korda, despite going through a title drought, asks only one question to herself: “

What are you doing right now to get better?” The mindfulness is what keeps the one-time Major winner from getting “wrapped up… into rankings” and keeps her eye where it should be. To the pin.

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