We are only three days into the 2026 LPGA Tour season, but we might not see a better round than Nelly Korda’s Saturday at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions.
Korda entered the third round three strokes back of the lead, by the time she tapped in for par on 18, she was four strokes ahead. At the time of publishing, Korda shot nine strokes better than the field average with an incredible -8 64 in brutal conditions.
Korda got out a bit earlier in the day, which was essential with the heavy winds that came in around noon to the Orlando area. They continued to pick up throughout the round, making the course nearly unplayable around 3:00 local time.
Nelly began on fire with a beautiful birdie on the first hole, followed by another birdie on the second and a hole out on the third. She had two more birdies to end the nine with a -6 30.
Korda continued to dominate on the back nine with birdies on 12, 14 and 15. She did have a brief stumble on 17, a par 3 that is playing borderline unplayable on Saturday. She came back with a brilliant par on 18, that included a fantastic chip to give her a tap in for par.
Despite being from Florida, Korda is known for being as good in bad, cold and windy conditions as anyone on the LPGA Tour. She really showed that Saturday. Korda hit 11 total fairways on the first two days, she hit 10 Saturday. She also had just 25 putts, thanks to a stroke that looks much improved, along with her incredible short game around the greens.
The second round is still in progress, but Korda’s lead is definitely safe, and it will likely be by at least three strokes.
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