The 2025 season, for Nelly Korda, was a kind of paradox. She finished the year as one of the most consistent players on tour, barely put a foot wrong statistically, and yet somehow walked away without a single win. There were many analogies drawn as to why this happened and what went wrong. And now, an insider has zeroed in on a flaw that may have been a reason.

In a short clip posted on X, hosts of the Mixed Bag and the Fried Egg Golf podcast went into detail about what could have gone wrong with Korda’s season. “This is probably unfair, I think from the first day of the season starting, it was always going to be a disappointing year for Nelly just because there was no way that she could replicate last season… but going winless when there were 29 winners or whatever it was, and one of them is not Nelly Korda is insanity,” Meg Adkins began.

And that’s right.

The LPGA had multiple different winners this season, but Nelly Korda wasn’t among them. A possible reason? Her putting stats and mid-year putter switch.

“But looking back at like switching putters mid-tournament at Chevron, I think just kind of was the theme of the year. I know the putting stats are not that different than last year… But I think you can’t look at the putter and not kind of point at that as like, maybe if that was a little bit stronger or maybe if there was some consistency with that club, then we’re talking a little bit different about Nelly’s year,” Adkins added.

Her point is worth looking into. On paper, Korda’s season was rock-solid. In 19 starts, she didn’t miss a single cut and posted nine top-10s, including two runner-up finishes. Her scoring average dropped from 69.56 to 69.44, even while playing more rounds than the year before. She gained distance off the tee, jumped to eighth on tour in driving distance, and led the LPGA in strokes gained off the tee. None of these screams bad form or decline.

Even Kevin Van Valkenburg from the Fried Egg Golf podcast seconded that. He went into detail about Nelly Korda’s stats for the year, and everything was nearly flawless. The possible trouble area?

Her putting stats and performance around the greens. Her average putts per round this season was 29.54, placing her 42nd among the tour averages.

And what probably made it worse was that she switched from her mallet TaylorMade Spider Tour X putter to a blade mid-season. And she switched back and forth between these several times, hinting that she could never settle on her putter’s feel.

Even her strokes gained around the greens have dropped significantly since her 2024 season, to 0.12, placing her 45th on that list. In isolation, these numbers don’t look alarming. But for a player of Korda’s calibre, even marginal errors can be the difference between lifting trophies and watching someone else do it. And like Valkenburg pointed out, “it doesn’t mean you were worse, but I think like kind of a victim of her own success.”

And that reality crystallized in the biggest moments. Nowhere was it more evident than at Erin Hills, where the opportunity was right there and slipped away.

Top Stories

Scottie Scheffler Makes Critical Health Announcement After He Ended PGA Tour Hiatus

Tiger Woods & Co. Now Have to Think Twice Before Trash-Talking at TGL Following New Update

Lexi Thompson Branded ‘Self-Centered’ After Retirement Decision Led to Chaos & Confusion

Donald Trump’s Son Issues Statement on PGA Tour’s $20M Cadillac Championship Announcement

Decades-Old Artillery Found at Open Venue Sparks Emergency Evacuation

Nelly Korda’s U.S. Open Heartbreak

At the 2025 U.S. Open, Nelly Korda hit the shots she needed, put herself exactly where she was supposed to be, and yet the putts simply refused to fall. Kevin Van Valkenburg summed it up bluntly. “She missed so many like ten-footers at Erin Hills… she hit great shots there, and it was just like she could not buy a putt, and that or she could have won…”

Korda finished tied second at the U.S. Women’s Open, losing to Maja Stark after a bogey on the final hole. While she regrets her final approach shot that week, as Valkenburg put it, she could have putted better.

She ranked 52nd in putting that week, a small but costly gap on the biggest stage.

What made it sting more was the weight of history. The U.S. Women’s Open is the title Korda wants most, and the one that has consistently pushed back against. An 80 in the final round at Pebble Beach in 2023. Another 80 in the opening round at Lancaster in 2024. The major quite fit her, but that could have changed in Wisconsin this year.

That’s why Erin Hills may linger longer than most near-misses. As Van Valkenburg put it, “For her track record U.S opens, like how many chances are you gonna get US Open?… It’s not suited to her game, so it’s like might look back at that one and be like, damn, like that was my best shot at this true like gem of the game.” For all the consistency of her 2025 season, this was the moment that felt irreplaceable and the one that slipped through her fingers.