Nelly Korda Has Plenty to Prove as the 2023 LPGA Season Begins This Week
Nelly Korda knows she’ll have plenty to prove in 2023—if only for herself.
Korda, the No. 2-ranked golfer in the world, comes into the first event of the year on the LPGA Tour with new clothes, new clubs and a renewed sense of motivation.
The eight-time LPGA Tour winner was forced to take four months off last year after suffering a blood clot in her arm and needing surgery. She returned at the U.S. Women’s Open and finished tied for eighth before adding six more top-10 finishes to end the year, including a victory at the penultimate event of the season.
Nelly Korda is back for a full season and equipped—mentally and gear-wise—to chase the No. 1 ranking.
Reinhold Matay/USA TODAY Sports
She said each year she runs into a situation where she is “burnt out” so this year—and especially after having to sit on the sidelines for as long as she did in 2022—she is being diligent with her schedule planning.
“There is a lot of thought that went into this year's schedule. That's why I kind of sat down and my team and I decided that it was really important to focus on my body, being able to be fresh,” said Korda. “I took the time … this offseason to focus on the gym to strengthen just for the year, to build a base in a sense to learn more about my body.”
Korda was announced as the newest signee of Nike Golf for clothing at the start of the week of the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions (“That's something I've always dreamt about,” she said) and has also switched to TaylorMade for clubs and golf ball. It’s a hefty overhaul for Korda, who said she played TaylorMade while growing up and throughout her entire junior career, that came from a lot of testing that began in October.
“(TaylorMade was) amazing when it came to how diligent they were with the whole process of it. Obviously it was a lot of extensive testing, because to make the switch I wanted to be 100 percent sure,” said Korda. “Everything honestly went really smoothly. I was hitting every club really well.
“The technology is so good in every company that I just thought that TaylorMade was the best option for me going forward.”
Korda’s offseason was shorter than most since she teed it up at both the QBE Shootout and PNC Championship in December where some of the best male golfers in the world heaped praise on her swing. Korda was quick to say she was proud to amplify women’s golf in general—not just herself.
She had a quick reply, with a smile, when asked what it meant to receive the kind of positive feedback she did from major champions like Jordan Spieth.
“That they should watch more women’s golf,” she said. “They were very kind with their words towards me, but I think if they came out here and watched all the girls compete they would be equally impressed.”
But whether it’s teeing it up alongside some of the best male golfers in the world, getting adjusted to all the new gear in the new year or trying to jump Lydia Ko for the No. 1 spot in the Rolex Rankings, Korda knows she’s got a big year on tap.
And as she begins this season anew, she’ll do it with a pivoted mindset after last year’s health scare.
“I think I was just a little bit more grateful to be playing, to be traveling, to be doing what I love,” she said about being away from the game for a third of the year in 2022. “Obviously appreciation grows when it's taken away from you in that sense, so for sure I think I've just grown to appreciate it a little bit more.”
Danielle Kang, Brooke Henderson Make Big Switches
Two more of the LPGA Tour’s biggest names have made big switches heading into 2023.
Danielle Kang, the 16th-ranked golfer in the world, has dropped her longtime caddie Olly Brett and, for the Tournament of Champions at least, will use Inbee Park’s caddie Brad Beecher. Brett and Kang’s partnership began in 2017 and Kang won six times on the LPGA Tour during that timeframe, including the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. “We had a great five years and I’m grateful for everything we achieved,” Brett told Golf Digest. Brett, meanwhile has already found a new bag—he’ll be caddying for 2003 Masters champion Mike Weir on PGA Tour Champions.
From one Canadian to another, Brooke Henderson will start her campaign with a full set of clubs from a new manufacturer for the first time in her career. She was announced Jan. 18 as the newest member of Team TaylorMade (alongside Nelly Korda, announced two days prior). Henderson, who played Ping clubs since a teenager, will now play 14 TaylorMade clubs including its new woods, irons and wedges. It’s an expansion on her agreement with TaylorMade from 2022 when she first started using a TaylorMade ball and glove.
“As a player, consistency with my driver and control with my irons are key. I love hitting driver because power is a big part of my game, and Stealth 2 Plus has helped me add distance, which is always great,” Henderson said. “With the irons and wedges, I could quickly feel how much control I had with each swing. I’m excited for a full season with TaylorMade equipment in the bag and to continue building on what we started with golf ball.”
Kang is the defending champion this week at the Tournament of Champions, while Henderson won twice in 2022 including the Amundi Evian Championship.
En-KO-Re?
A big question mark to start 2023 is how Lydia Ko, the reigning player of the year, will treat the upcoming season—especially given all that’s changed away from the golf course for her.
Ko, who won three times last year including the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship, dropped her longtime swing coach (Sean Foley) and also got married in December. She’s skipped the Tournament of Champions and will make her 2023 debut when the Tour heads to Asia next month.
Ko, who sits atop the world rankings, was the most dominant player on the LPGA Tour across every major statistical category. Besides leading the Race to CME Globe and money list, she was tops in strokes-gained total, strokes-gained putting and scoring average. She also had 14 top-10 finishes in just 22 events.
Ko will skip the Tournament of Champions to open the year but is expected to tee it up when the Tour heads to Asia next month. She’s remained busy enough through the holiday season, however, playing the famed Tara Iti in New Zealand while on her honeymoon—and her 8-under 63 that day included a hole-in-one.
There’s no reason why Ko shouldn’t continue her excellent play from a year ago, but with plenty of things different in 2023, it’ll be something to keep an eye on.
Major Moments
The LPGA Tour’s major championship schedule for 2023 is set to be an impressive one.
First up is The Chevron Championship, moved from its longtime host at Mission Hills Country Club to the Jack Nicklaus Signature Course at The Club at Carlton Woods in Houston. This will be the first time the event has moved in its 50-year history. The KPMG Women’s PGA Championship comes next, hosted at longtime major venue Baltusrol Golf Club’s Lower Course (Baltusrol has hosted nine men’s major championships, the last being the PGA Championship in 2016).
After a week off, the LPGA Tour heads to the U.S. Women’s Open presented by ProMedica, this year hosted at Pebble Beach—an iconic stop for the LPGA Tour. The Amundi Evian Championship will be contested at its usual spot, the Evian Resort Golf Club, before the AIG Women’s Open at Walton Heath Golf Club (the host venue of the 1981 Ryder Cup).
Not only will there be some special major-championship spots in 2023, but TPC Harding Park will be the host of the returning International Crown, while the Solheim Cup heads to Finca Cortesin in Spain.
Purse Pop
Golfers on the LPGA Tour will be competing for a record $101.3 million in 33 official events for the 2023 season—a record amount of money on the table.
The richest first-place prize will once again be available at the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship, while the U.S. Women’s Open’s $10-million purse is the highest single-event purse on Tour.
The WalMart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G boasts the biggest purse of a "regular" LPGA Tour event this year at $2.3 million.