While Nelly Korda’s season-opening victory at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions was a drought-ending breath of fresh air for the 27-year-old, her 16th career LPGA Tour title had much grander implications for the American superstar.

Before coming out on top at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club, Korda hadn’t hoisted a trophy since beating Charley Hull, Jin Hee Im and Weiwei Zhang by three strokes to capture The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican in 2024. That was her third triumph at Pelican Golf Club in a four-year stretch and culminated a historic year for the Olympic gold medalist, one that saw her tally a whopping seven victories, five of which came consecutively that spring.

But her success in Orlando didn’t just mark the end of a winless period that had stretched 1 year, 2 months and 15 days, what was ironically the same amount of time between her 2022 win at The ANNIKA and the first of her seven 2024 titles. It also inched Korda incrementally closer to qualifying for entry into the LPGA Hall of Fame.

Widely thought of as one of the most exclusive halls of fame in all of sport, the LPGA Hall of Fame requires athletes to meet a 27-point requirement to gain entry, a benchmark that was dropped from 30 before the turn of the century.

Regular-season LPGA Tour victories are worth a single point, with the major championships being two. Athletes then collect a point for each Vare Trophy and Rolex Player of the Year honor they secure, also tallying a point when they secure an Olympic gold medal.

Korda’s win at the Tournament of Champions saw her rack up her 20th Hall of Fame point, putting the current Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings No. 2 now within seven points of that 27-point threshold.

The most recent athlete to qualify for the LPGA Hall of Fame was New Zealand’s Lydia Ko, who won gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics to complete the medal trifecta and gain automatic entry into the Hall, becoming the first athlete since Inbee Park back in 2016 to play their way in.

Before Ko, Mexican major champion Lorena Ochoa was the most recent inductee in 2022 after the LPGA decided to lift the 10-year playing requirement from the Hall of Fame entry criteria. The remaining 13 Founders were also inducted that year via the Honorary Category.

While seven points might seem like a lot of ground for Korda to make up in a single season, consider the 27-year-old’s year-long performance two years ago. Seven victories, one major championship title and Rolex Player of the Year honors saw Korda collect nine LPGA Hall of Fame points, nearly doubling the total points she had earned from 2018 to 2022.

And now with the major champion off to a strong start in her 10th season as an LPGA Tour member and her recent propensity for historic runs of tournament victories, there is certainly a chance that the LPGA Hall of Fame might have another new member sooner rather than later, a member named Nelly Korda.

Nelly Korda Now Seven Points Away from LPGA Hall of Fame After Latest Victory

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