With a smile, Nelly Korda said she was “done” playing with Hyo Joo Kim.

Another week on the LPGA Tour, another week that Kim defeated Korda after a final-round pairing. But Korda, who has now gone 1-2-2 to start her 2026 campaign said once again that she’s taking nothing but positives from this week.

“(Caddie Jason McDede) was walking up 18 and he was like, ‘We're playing some amazing golf. It's not time to deflate, it's time to inflate, so continue moving on with the positives, and trying to keep putting myself into that position and knocking on the door,’” Korda said.

Sunday marked the fifth straight round that Kim and Korda were grouped together after last week at the Fortinet Founders Cup, that Kim also won. Kim shot two rounds of 61 this week at the Ford Championship presented by Wild Horse Pass to successfully defend her title from 2025.

Korda shot a final-round 5-under 67 to finish at 26-under 262 – her lowest 72-hole total score in her LPGA Tour career. She ended up two shots back of Kim, the only golfer who has beaten Korda so far in 2026.

Korda opened with an eagle on the par-5 second hole and was 4 under through seven holes. She made back-to-back bogeys on holes Nos. 9 and 10 which put the tournament out of reach. Still, she finished with a tidy eagle on the penultimate hole and then another birdie for good measure on the par-4 18th.

“Two eagles today. Made some solid putts, missed one or two that I wish I could get back, but that's just golf. Sometimes it's going your way, sometimes it's not,” Korda said. “I'm hoping to be trending in the right direction.

“The game of golf is 72 holes, so that's just how it is. It's never been more; there's been a couple that have been less, but I'm happy with the way I've played. I just wish that maybe I could get a shot back here or there during those 72 holes.”

Korda has had a front-row seat to seeing how Kim has been dominating things early in the year on the LPGA Tour and called her play “really inspiring to see.” Kim became the first golfer since Korda to win in back-to-back weeks on the LPGA Tour (Korda, of course, won five in a row in 2024).

Korda, who somehow went the whole of 2025 without a victory, burst out of the gates quickly in 2026 winning the first tournament of the year. She’s also been very firmly in the mix in her two other starts so far. Korda said early in the week in Arizona it’s her attitude that is helping her to play so well right now.

Last year, Korda explained, she felt “so weird” with her game. As has been reported, statistically Korda out-performed her 2024 campaign – where she won seven times – in a few key areas in 2025. But she still didn’t lift any trophies.

Korda has long acknowledged that she’s only human. There are times when she’ll get down and frustrated.

“But I’m trying to get over that as fast as possible,” Korda said. “I’m just very grateful. If you’d have told me this time last year the finishes that I would have had right now (so far in 2026) I would be super happy with the game that is trending.”

Korda is back in action next week at the Aramco Championship but, alas, so is Kim – so there is no escaping each other for at least one more week. Still, Korda was quick to say how happy she’s been feeling so far in 2026 and how motivated she is to keep things going in a positive direction.

“I’ve put in a lot of work and that’s the best thing about golf is that you can always improve and you can have someone like Hyo Joo that’s going to test you and push your buttons but in a really good way to improve,” Korda said. “Just excited with the way my game is going and I’m excited to keep improving.”

Nelly Korda Continues Her Impressive Start to 2026 with Yet Another Runner-up Result

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