Upper Deck Lands Nelly Korda, Giving Golf Collectors a New Chase
Upper Deck’s golf portfolio just added the most dominant player of her generation. The company announced that world No. 1 Nelly Korda has signed as an exclusive athlete, placing her alongside Tiger Woods on one of the hobby’s most tightly controlled and historically significant rosters.
“Upper Deck has a long history of working with world-class athletes like Nelly who transcend their sport and become cultural icons,” said Jason Masherah, President of Upper Deck. “She can bring new collectors to the hobby, and in turn we’ll deliver the Upper Deck standard: premium trading cards and memorabilia that reflect Nelly as a one-of-a-kind athlete.”
The timing matters. As Upper Deck celebrates 25 years of golf collectibles, Korda arrives not as a prospect or a nostalgia play, but squarely in her prime, with her first flagship appearance anchored by one of the most recognizable rookie-style inserts in modern collecting: Young Guns.
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A Young Guns Debut at the Height of Her Prime
Korda’s trading-card debut in 2026 Upper Deck Golf is being framed exactly the way collectors like it: scarce, central to the checklist, and tied to a peak-performance narrative. Her Young Guns card leads the release, with additional inserts capturing the stretch that turned her from world-class player into LPGA era-defining force.
In the 2024 season, she won seven times in 16 starts, including five consecutive victories capped by the Chevron Championship. Only two other women in LPGA history have ever won five straight events. It’s the kind of run that becomes the statistical snapshot that future cards, inscriptions, and memorabilia trace back to.
Those moments will carry into Upper Deck Golf, Goodwin Champions, and UDA memorabilia. Her first drop, including signed polos, visors, and original prints, feels less like merch and more like a visual timeline of a historic season.
“I’ve seen firsthand the passion and joy that collecting brings to so many people, and the way that Upper Deck honors that passion and creates memorable experiences for collectors and fans. I’m excited to collaborate with Upper Deck and engage with the community,” said Korda.
Built for the Long Arc of the Hobby
Korda’s collecting appeal starts with dominance, but it doesn’t end there. She has spent more than 100 weeks at No. 1 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, owns two major championships, and captured Olympic gold in Tokyo—the first American woman to win Olympic golf in more than a century. At 27, she already sits on a Hall-of-Fame trajectory.
Even her “quiet” seasons reinforce the long-term narrative. In 2025 she didn’t win, but her scoring average and strokes-gained numbers were among the best of her career, and she remained a fixture near the top of leaderboards.
A Superstar Raised in a Sports Dynasty
Part of what makes Korda feel bigger than golf is her family's athletic legacy.
Her father, Petr Korda, won the 1998 Australian Open and reached world No. 2 in tennis. Her mother, Regina Rajchrtová, was also a top-30 player. Her sister Jessica is an LPGA winner. Her brother Sebastian is a top-tier ATP pro. Between them, the family has a tennis major, an Olympic gold medal, multiple LPGA titles, and a permanent presence in global rankings across two sports.
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A New Entry Point for Golf Collectors
From this point forward, Korda’s licensed trading cards and premium signed memorabilia live under one roof. That brings the same structure that has defined the Tiger Woods market for decades: controlled supply, on-card autographs, curated releases, and a clear flagship identity.
Alongside Korda’s Upper Deck Authenticated memorabilia, 2026 Upper Deck Golf will be available through Certified Diamond Dealers, mass retailers, and Upper Deck’s e-Pack platform, giving collectors multiple entry points into her first licensed releases.
Lucas Mast is a writer based in California’s Bay Area, where he’s a season ticket holder for St. Mary’s basketball and a die-hard Stanford athletics fan. A lifelong collector of sneakers, sports cards, and pop culture, he also advises companies shaping the future of the hobby and sports. He’s driven by a curiosity about why people collect—and what those items reveal about the moments and memories that matter most.
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