Nelly Korda has seven major championships, claimed Olympic gold, and strung together one of the most dominant seasons women’s golf has ever seen. However, the most meaningful win of her personal life came quietly, on a beach, from a man she had actually known since she was a teenager.

The two met at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, where both attended high school. They moved through their separate lives for years, Korda building one of golf’s most decorated careers and Gunderson playing college football at Bryant University in Rhode Island before moving into the business side of an engineering firm. Then, roughly a year before their November 2025 engagement, they reconnected, and things moved quickly from there.

Gunderson made his intentions clear the old-fashioned way. Before proposing on the beach, he visited the Korda family home with fruit-filled dumplings for Nelly’s parents, Petr and Regina, asking for their blessing first. “He knows what he’s doing,” Nelly said. “He’s very thoughtful.” Her father Petr, who has been with Regina for nearly 40 years, put it simply: “It’s what you wish for your kids.”

The engagement was announced the day after Thanksgiving 2025, just weeks after her brother Sebastian, a 25-year-old ATP pro, revealed his engagement to Ivana Nedved, who happens to be Nelly’s childhood best friend. Both weddings are expected in 2027, giving the Korda family back-to-back celebrations to look forward to.

What Korda values most is not the grand gestures but the quiet ones. She has described Gunderson as someone who lets her simply be “Nelly” when she is off the course, away from golf talk and tournament pressure. “He’s honestly the best supporter,” she said, calling herself “extremely lucky.” That stability matters more than it might sound for an athlete constantly traveling the LPGA Tour.

That point hit differently at the 2026 Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament, where Korda won in front of Gunderson for the first time. She openly connected his presence to the mental comfort she had been missing since her sister Jessica stepped away from the tour after becoming a mother. “Having that, even if it’s in silence, having a comfort there,” she said, made all the difference.

And even now his fiancee is supporting her as she leads the first women’s major of this season at Houston.

From IMG Academy hallways to the Chevron leaderboard

After three rounds at the 2026 Chevron Championship, Nelly Korda sits at -18, leading by eight shots over Ina Yoon and Patty Tavatanakit, both at -10. She opened with back-to-back 65s in rounds one and two and added a 4-under 64 in round three through seven holes.

The start was not just strong, it was historically clean. Her opening round at Memorial Park in Houston was bogey-free, her best major opener in four years, built on smart par saves early and scoring opportunities converted late. She described it simply: “Just day one out of four, a lot can happen.”

Gunderson was in the gallery alongside her parents Petr and Regina, sister Jessica, and her nephew. That kind of presence carries real weight for Korda, who has spoken openly about how his silence alone steadies her when tournament pressure builds through the back nine.

This is the same Chevron Championship where a win would add a third major title to her resume, joining the 2021 and 2023 ANA Inspiration trophies. At -18 with one round left, the woman who learned love and golf at the same Florida academy is chasing both.