Eight top-10 finishes. Zero missed cuts. A 69.87 scoring average that ranks second on tour. In nearly any other LPGA season, these numbers would have Nelly Korda hoisting Player of the Year hardware. Instead, she’s facing a winless campaign.

Just twelve months ago, Korda was golf’s most unstoppable force. She won seven tournaments in 2024, including five consecutive victories that tied a record held by Nancy Lopez and Annika Sorenstam. She dominated women’s golf completely. Now the trophies have dried up. Yet the stats tell a story that makes no sense. This isn’t a decline. This is something stranger.

Korda’s 2024 season featured a 69.7 scoring average with 2.49 Strokes Gained Total. Those metrics earned her seven wins and the Rolex Player of the Year award. In 2025, her scoring average sits at 69.87—virtually identical. Her Strokes Gained Total dropped slightly to 2.30, but she still ranks second on tour behind only Jeeno Thitikul.

She made every single cut in 18 events this season. Compare that to 2024, when she missed three cuts despite winning seven times. Her driving accuracy improved from 75% to 76.71%. The ball-striking remained elite. She even carded a career-best round this season. At the CME Group Tour Championship’s second round in November, she fired a 64 with nine birdies. She hit every fairway. She needed just 26 putts.

“I honestly have been putting, like, very well. They’ve just like—my line and my speed just haven’t matched completely, so I would obviously burn edges or they’re just not falling.”

Yet that round came five shots behind Thitikul. The pattern repeated all season.

The T2 finish at the U.S. Women’s Open in June exemplified her year. She posted 72-67-73-71 to finish five shots behind the winner, Maja Stark. The same story played out at the Tournament of Champions in February, where she finished runner-up two strokes behind A Lim Kim.

Eight top-10 finishes across 18 starts show a player always in the mix. She earned $2.23 million without winning once. But for someone who cleared $4.39 million with seven wins just a year ago, the absence feels glaring.

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How the 2025 LPGA turned against Nelly Korda

The 2025 LPGA Tour rewrote the competitive rulebook. Through 30 tournaments, the tour produced 29 different winners. The first 17 events featured 17 different champions—an unprecedented streak in the tour’s 75-year history.

Fellow pro Andrea Lee called it perfectly.

“It’s harder than ever to break into the winner circle.”

The depth became extraordinary. Eleven first-time winners emerged in 2025. Lottie Woad turned professional and immediately won the Women’s Scottish Open. Rookie sensation Miyu Yamashita captured the AIG Women’s Open. Mao Saigo won the Chevron Championship. Until October’s Buick LPGA Shanghai, the tour had gone 25 consecutive tournaments without a repeat winner. Thitikul finally broke through with her second victory. Yamashita joined her shortly after. Otherwise, every tournament crowned a new champion.

The 2024 season featured Korda winning seven times and dominating headlines. The 2025 season demolished those expectations. The competitive depth increased so dramatically that being consistently excellent no longer translates to victories.

The margins between first and tenth place shrank to almost nothing. Korda experienced this repeatedly. She finished T5 at the Mizuho Americas Open in May. She placed T4 at the LOTTE Championship in October, three shots off the pace. She was T5 at the Kroger Queen City Championship in September. Always close. Never there.

“Every year is just so different.”

Being great every week used to guarantee multiple victories. Now it guarantees consistent paychecks and nothing more.

Nelly Korda’s Sunday scoring cost her victories

The Sunday problem emerged as her clearest weakness. Her final-round scoring average jumped from 69.58 in 2024 to 71.27 in 2025. That two-stroke difference tells the story. She plays brilliantly for 54 holes, then struggles to close.

At the Founders Cup, she shot 68-68-65 before finishing with 71 for T7. The same story played out at the Women’s Scottish Open, where she opened 68-66-70 before closing with 71 for fifth place. The Evian Championship showcased the problem. She posted 67-70-75-71 for T43. That third-round 75 destroyed any chance at contention.

Meanwhile, Thitikul demonstrated what closing ability looks like. The 22-year-old Thai star claimed two victories and replaced Korda atop the world rankings in August. Korda had held No. 1 for 71 consecutive weeks. She reached 100 career weeks at No. 1 in June, joining just six female golfers in history.

Then Thitikul surpassed her. The changing happened because Thitikul won when it mattered. She captured the Mizuho Americas Open with a four-stroke victory. When pressure mounted, she delivered.

Both possess elite ball-striking. Both rank in the top tier statistically. But Thitikul closed tournaments while Korda accumulated near-misses.

How injuries and mental struggles derailed Korda’s season

Physical struggles complicated her season. She dealt with recurring neck issues throughout the year. She withdrew from the International Crown in October due to injury. At the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, she played through neck spasms.

“Every single time something kind of flares up in my neck now, I think I feel it a little bit more than what I used to.”

Health concerns forced her to skip both Asian swings. She prioritized recovery over tournament appearances. The mental toll of constant near-misses added psychological weight. Every top-10 finish without winning multiplied the questions. Still, Korda remained philosophical. She emphasized making every cut. She praised her team’s support.

“I would say back to probably having the people around me and like venting to them. Honestly, sometimes I feel bad because sometimes do I vent a little too much.”

Her caddie Jason McDede and coach Jamie Mulligan provided crucial perspectives. They reminded her that progress exists beyond trophies.

“What I learned about myself this year is that it’s okay to lean on others when stuff isn’t going well.”

The season highlighted golf’s brutal truth. The margins separating victory from defeat are impossibly thin.

“It comes down to sometimes one shot. It’s like one putt lips out and you don’t get your momentum. It’s just such a fine line when it comes to golf.”

That fine line separated her from multiple victories this season. She stood on the right side seven times in 2024. She couldn’t find it once in 2025.

Korda’s winless 2025 season isn’t about decline. It’s about the LPGA reaching a new competitive ceiling. What looked like inevitable victories in 2024 became near-misses in 2025.

Can Korda rediscover her championship form? Will the tour continue producing different winners every week? Nelly Korda’s paradoxical season stands as proof that being statistically elite no longer guarantees victories. In 2025’s LPGA, great simply isn’t enough anymore.