Nelly Korda has been on a nearly unmatched hot streak recently. Five straight starts have led to five straight wins and a lot of money. One of the wins was in the Chevron Championship, so it boosted her earnings significantly. Already, she’s one of the all-time top earners for women’s golf.
Her recent winning streak has pushed her career total to $11.3 million, placing her 23rd on the all-time list. Her latest victory, which earned $1.2 million, vaulted her up from 26th. That is fairly high up on the list considering that she only first turned pro in 2016 and has really become a force to be reckoned with much more recently.
Of active players, she’s not the highest. There are some veteran golfers who have more career earnings, but they have played a lot longer. That includes Jin Young Ko, Lydia Ko, Lexi Thompson, and others.
Actively, she’s 2024’s highest earner. She has played six LPGA Tour events, earning $2.42 million. That’s more than anyone else by a wide margin. Maja Stark is second with only $815,380 earned in 2024.
For comparison, Korda was just the 20th-highest earner last year. She took in $1.4 million in 2023, which is only slightly more than what she earned from the Chevron Championship alone. Korda has already earned almost double that this year in one third the amount of starts.
Five wins in a row will aid that, but it also helps that there’s just more money in golf now. This is a trend across the entire sport, but the Chevron Championship, for example, paid her $1.2 million for her win. Last year, Lilia Vu made $765,000 for her victory.
Nelly Korda reflects on winning run
Though it was never a certainty, Nelly Korda had won four in a row leading into the Chevron Championship. This suggested that, even when she fell behind early (she trailed entering the fourth round), Korda was a safe bet to make a comeback.
After winning by two strokes, she said via ESPN what it’s felt like playing so well for so long:
“It’s been an amazing feeling these past couple weeks knowing that I can go on this stretch and that if I stay in my bubble and I keep golf in a sense simple and let it flow, then I can have so, so much fun out here,” she said.
Her father, Petr Korda, is a former Australian Open winner in tennis, and he said that the last two years have been challenging for his daughter. She did not win a tournament in 2023 and she felt humbled, needing to put in a lot of work to get to where she is currently.
Korda also said:
“I’m going to enjoy this right now and then I’ll think about that. But yeah, it’s been an amazing time. Hopefully keep the streak alive. But I’ve been so grateful to compete week in and week out and get the five in a row, too,” she added.
She will look to continue winning all of her starts next time out on the LPGA Tour.
