Hyo Joo Kim/Nelly Korda – Photos by Max Bechtoldt/Women’s Golf Daily News
At least in recent memory, golf is maybe the most clear example of a sport that is benefitted by dominance. One or a small few great athletes playing at their best can inspire the more mainstream sports demographic to sit down and take notice. We’ve seen it on the men’s side with Tiger Woods and more recently, Scottie Scheffler. We’ve also seen it on the LPGA Tour with Nelly Korda’s incredible 2024 season. Golf is better, when there is dominance.
That is what makes this early LPGA Tour season so fascinating. 2025 was a great year for LPGA diehard fans. Different players were in contention every week. It took until October for Jeeno Thitikul to be the first multi-time winner on the Tour. Miyu Yamashita joined her later that month to become the second and final multiple winner of the year. While we got a record amount of winners, and developed some new stars, the Tour didn’t really pop with mainstream sports coverage, or even mainstream men’s golf fans.
This season has been a different story. Not even by the end of March we have a two-time winner in Hyo Joo Kim. Not only that, in both of her wins, she has defeated Nelly Korda. Korda herself won the season opening event and across three starts has only been beaten by Kim. The players are now ranked No. 2 and No. 3 in the Rolex Rankings. Each of them are major champions who have combined for 25 total wins on the LPGA Tour in their careers.
The stats really show off the distance these two have created for themselves against the rest of the LPGA Tour. In the CME Standings, Hyo Joo Kim has 1.3 K points while Nelly Korda has 1,140 points. Third place is Jeeno Thitikul, way back at 678. In the Player of the Year points list, Kim has 69, Korda has 54 and Thitikul and Hannah Green are tied for third with 34. Kim and Korda are leading in scoring average with Korda at 67.09 and Kim at 67.63. Only two other players are below 69.25. Korda leads in strokes gained in 2026 with 4.00, Kim is third with 2.74.
It, of course, doesn’t hurt that Nelly Korda is without question the face of the sport. And it raises the level of what Kim is doing as well. People are taking notice that the winningest player of the 2020’s is playing arguably the best golf of her career and has been beat two weeks in a row by the same player. Kim’s ability to stay calm and composed through all of the pressure put on her has been admirable and her ability to limit mistakes is one of the best qualities of any player on the LPGA Tour.
The Tour needs to embrace this duo immediately, and the larger golf community does as well.
The real reason this “rivalry” can be so fun though, is the mutual respect shared between Kim and Korda. Kim said after her round Saturday through her translator: “Nelly is my favorite player. It’s been great playing together. You know, it’s been great playing with her, competing with her and it’s just been fun overall.”
Korda, in return after her round Sunday said: “Hyo Joo has been playing amazing golf. It’s been really inspiring to see. Playing with her, I definitely elevate my game. She’s just a phenomenal player and person, too. She’s fun to play along, and she definitely motivates me out on the golf course.”
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