The final stretch of the season is always simple, yet complicated for every player “on the bubble” and it’s no different for Nelly Korda, who will definitely garner attention down the stretch of the year. When you have a sister that has won on the LPGA, a dad that has won a major in tennis and a brother that competes in junior tennis, it comes natural and it does for Nelly.
Korda currently ranks 12th on the money list in the most competitive year in the history of the Tour. She has earned $63,271, which by the way would have been good enough to earn a card in EVERY single season prior to this one.
By the way, if you need more proof on the competition, how about Clariss Guce and Laura Gonzalez Escallon. They have each won TWICE on Tour this year and both are in jeopardy of not earning a card. Three years ago that was unheard of. If you won multiple times, you were a shoe in.
Since mid-June, Nelly has literally done everything right. She has finished inside the top 20 in seven of her last eight starts and has a win (Sioux Falls GreatLIFE Challenge) and four additional top 10’s, yet still needs more.
So, what does Korda need to do? A win in one of the three events would likely be plenty to earn a card. The Epson Tour Championship in Daytona Beach is really the wild card because it carries a $200,000 purse. Even if she doesn’t play well in Arkansas and Longwood – which seems very unlikely – she’d still have a great chance.
First ($30,000), second ($18,784) or third ($13,674) at the Epson Tour Championship would probably be enough too. Those dollar amounts assume solo finishes of course.
Unfortunately, there is no real formula. Korda’s best bet is to continue what she has done since mid-June. She ranks tenth on Tour in driving distance (262.280), 22nd in greens in regulation and 33rd in putts per greens in regulation. She ranks sixth on Tour in rounds in the 60’s (13) so the game is definitely there.
She’ll be fun to track over the final three events.
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