Nelly Korda, After Nursing Neck Injury, Hopes for Déjà Vu Win at the Annika

The world No. 2 is winless this season, a year after she won seven times on the LPGA. Now, she hopes to end that drought after rehabbing a neck injury (again).

Nelly Korda looks to successfully defend her title at the Annika after more than a month off due to an injury. / Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images

Nelly Korda is hoping for déjà vu. 

In 2024, Korda had six wins before injuring her neck and skipping the LPGA’s fall Asain swing. Calling it “one of my worst injuries ever,” Korda rushed her rehab to return at the Annika—and then won. 

A year later, Korda, albeit winless this season, again endured a neck ailment and hasn’t teed it up on the LPGA since the Lotte Championship in early October. 

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So how did the world No. 2 regain her health?

“I put the clubs away for almost three weeks,” Korda said Wednesday at Pelican Golf Club. “Was doing two days in the gym, a lot of neck rehab. I actually posted it on my social media. It’s called the ‘Iron Neck.’ So I have this thing around my head. I was doing a lot of strength training with that, making sure that my injury is really protected.”

What’s the Iron Neck?

“You can hook it up to a door, but it pretty much hooks up to a band and you’re trying to hold the positions to strength train the muscles in your neck from all different angles,” the 27-year-old said. “That’s why it's kind of like round. It can be hooked up from the back, the sides, doesn’t matter. It’s almost like—I think F1 drivers use it a lot to strength train their neck.”

Before her injury, Korda made 17 starts with eight top 10s. Not bad by any means, but a year after she won seven times, many are waiting to see if she can return to the winner’s circle with only two tournaments left this year. 

However, she’s not putting too much pressure on herself to win. 

“I'm going—I can control what I can control,” the two-time major champion said. “I can’t control what other competitors are doing. The only thing I can control is how much effort I put into each and every day, how I try and execute my shots. At the end of the day, that’s all I can do. Obviously, I’m very, very competitive and what I want to do on Sunday is hoist the trophy. Everyone in this field wants to do it.”

Now a year since she last won, maybe that mindset—after some time off to nurse her neck—yields a déjà vu moment at Pelican Golf Club.

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