JERSEY CITY, N.J. — This week’s Mizuho Americas Open marks Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings No. 1 Nelly Korda’s fourth title defense of the 2025 season, and the 15-time LPGA Tour winner is off to a strong start thus far at Liberty National Golf Club.

The 2024 Mizuho Americas Open was Korda’s sixth victory in seven starts last season, as the Florida native had won five consecutive tournaments and tied for seventh at the Founders Cup, which was then held at Upper Montclair Country Club in Clifton, N.J., before making her debut in this event annually hosted by Michelle Wie West. She led by two strokes through 54 holes, and Korda then survived an intense back-and-forth battle with Australian Hannah Green coming down the stretch on Sunday at Liberty National, ultimately triumphing by one shot over the major champion to earn her sixth victory of the 2024 season.

This year, the defending champion opened her week in Jersey City, N.J., with a 4-under 68, a first-round effort that currently has Korda sitting four strokes behind 18-hole leader Jeeno Thitikul in a tie for 14th. She got off to a slow start with a bogey on the first hole, but Korda recovered quickly by making a pair of back-to-back birdies on the par-3 2nd and par-4 3rd holes to move to 1-under on the round.

The two-time major winner made another birdie on the par-5 6th hole, but she erased that effort with a bogey on seven. Korda then made her fourth birdie of the day on the par-5 8th hole and parred nine to turn in 34 at 2-under. She carded two quick birdies on the par-5 10th and par-4 12th holes to climb to 4-under, and Korda then stalled out a bit, parring her final six holes at Liberty National Golf Club to finish with a 68, an effort she was overall pleased with considering how challenging this venue can play when it’s damp.

“Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, the golf course was so saturated, and with the wind in the afternoon, it's starting to pick up now, it just can get really difficult out here,” Korda said. “So it just depends on the weather that you have. In the morning, the wind was down, and you could be a little bit more aggressive with how the golf course is with the shots into the greens. It's all very weather dependent.”

After winning a total of seven times last year, it’s been a bit surprising that Korda has yet to find victory lane on the LPGA Tour this season. She hasn’t played poorly by anyone’s standards, carding two top 10s at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions (2) and the Founders Cup presented by U.S. Virgin Islands (T7) and even managing to back-door top 15 at The Chevron Championship after opening with a 77 in the first round at The Club at Carlton Woods.

Ahead of this week at the Mizuho Americas Open, Korda was still ranked at the top of several statistical categories, leading the LPGA Tour in things like scoring average (68.80) and birdie or better percentage (29.72 percent) and sitting inside the top 10 of metrics like greens in regulation (6, 77.5 percent), strokes gained total (3, +2.22) and strokes gained off the tee (2, +1.08).

So, considering those performances both on paper and the golf course, Korda isn’t too concerned about the lack of early tallies in her win column in 2025 because if there’s anything the 26-year-old learned from her whirlwind of a 2024 season, it’s to not put any undue pressure on yourself to succeed, particularly when you’re playing a sport as fickle as golf.

“Just got to focus on what my game plan was last year. That was one shot at a time. Not to get ahead of myself,” said Korda. “I know at the beginning of the year, I had a lot to defend, but I think that instead of putting pressure on myself, I should be happy that I was in that moment, that I did achieve all that great success. Just go out here and do what I love.”

With 54 holes remaining and some inclement weather on the way, Korda and the rest of this week’s field need to prepare to tackle some challenging conditions over the next three rounds at Liberty National Golf Club. But getting off to a solid start has bolstered Korda’s confidence early as she works to chase down the third successful title defense of her career at the Mizuho Americas Open and her first victory of the 2025 LPGA Tour season.

Nelly Korda Cards 68 to Open Title Defense at the Mizuho Americas Open

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