Nelly Korda Will Miss Chevron Championship After Blood Clot Diagnosis

Nelly Korda is fast becoming one of the biggest names in women’s golf, with multiple LPGA titles on her resume already. She is from a renowned sporting family: her father, Petr, won the 1998 Australian Open and her mother, Regina, is also an ex-professional tennis player; both represented Czechoslovakia. 

Career profile 

Her older sister, Jessica Korda, won the Women’s Australian Open in 2012 and her younger brother, Sebastian, won the 2018 Australian Open junior boys in tennis. Korda was a member of the 2015 U.S. Junior Solheim Cup. As an amateur, she won the 2015 Harter Hall Invitational, the 2015 PING Invitational, and was a 2015 AJGA Rolex Junior All-American. She also made the cut at the 2013 U.S. Women’s Open, one month before her 15th birthday.

Kampus Production/ Pexels | Nelly Korda is well-known for winning the Olympic gold medal at the women’s individual golf event at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.

She began her pro career in 2016 on the Symetra Tour, where she won her first pro event at the Sioux Falls GreatLIFE Challenge after shooting rounds of 68-67-69-66 for a 3 stroke victory over Wichanee Meechai. She ended the season 9th on the money list, thus earning her LPGA Tour card for 2017. After settling for runner-up at the CME Group Tour Championship and solo 3rd at the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions, Korda won the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open in February 2019. In doing so, she completed a “Family Slam” in Australia.

The Australian Open win represented Korda’s 4th top-5 finish in her most recent 5 LPGA starts. Thanks to this victory, Korda broke into the top 10 for the first time in the February 18, 2019 release of the Women’s World Golf Rankings, moving up to 9th from 16th the week before, and becoming the second highest-ranked American in the world, surpassed only by 5th ranked Lexi Thompson. In 2021 she improved her career profile by winning the Meijer LPGA Classic in Grand Rapids, Michigan becoming the first two-time winner on the LPGA during the 2021 season. 

Kampus Production/ Pexels | Golf is a way of life

Blood clot diagnosis 

Korda announced on March 13 that she had been diagnosed with a blood clot in her arm and that she was at home receiving treatment. In her social media post, she didn’t offer a timetable for her return, saying only that she hoped to be back “soon.” Her announcement made it clear that she will not play in the LPGA Tour’s first major of the season, the Chevron Championship, next week in Rancho Mirage, Calif.

Kampus Production/ Pexels | Success in golf depends less on strength of body than strength of mind and character

The deadline for entry into the field was 5 p.m. ET on Tuesday, and the LPGA Tour confirmed that Korda was not in the tournament. Korda and sister Jessica took the Asian swing of the tour off and were scheduled to complete it at this week’s JTBC Classic in Carlsbad, Calif. Nelly stayed home in Florida, while Jessica will compete. She is coming off a season in which she captured her first major, won the gold medal at the Olympics and ascended to the top spot in the world ranking while battling all year with Jin Young Ko.