Nelly Korda shares what drove her ‘nuts’ in 2025 that she needed to change this year

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Nelly Korda shares her biggest motivators after winning The Chevron Championship

The shift in mentality has been working wonders for the American in 2026 thus far, with further success now very much possible this week.

She is the in-form player on the LPGA Tour, having finished no worse than T2 in her five starts this season.

And worryingly for her rivals, she believes she is far from finished, with Korda sharing her motivation after being asked to compare her relief versus hunger levels after The Chevron Championship success.

“Yeah, I think last year was tough in that aspect of maybe I did listen to the outside noise a little bit,” Korda told All Square on Sirius XM PGA Tour Radio.

“But it was also such a learning experience, where it’s like I never want to listen to that ever again and I never will.

“So for me, it’s just about I think the question that I asked myself was, why am I playing this game, like what motivates me? What do I want to do?

“And what motivates me is I want to play against let’s say [Kim] Hyo-joo. She beat me in two tournaments in a row at the beginning of the year, and that motivates me.

“Her beating me, that competition, that head-to-head, and playing in these tournaments, playing the back nine on a Sunday, being in contention in the final group.

“That’s what motivates me. I had to just ask myself what my why was, and what really I wanted to do with my career.

“Did I want to go out and chase the newspapers or chase the amazing things that come with being a star, or did I want to just play golf and be in contention, and not listen to the critics?

“That’s kind of like the question that I had to ask myself, and at the end of the day I have such an amazing team, and we always refer to it like a bubble where I can lean on my parents, my sister, anyone on this team and I know that no matter the ups and downs or the outside noise, I can just go to them and they’re going to reassure me of who I am and what I need to.”

After a five-shot win at Memorial Park in Houston, the world number one is now in Playa del Carmen chasing an 18th LPGA Tour title.

The American has been paired with Akie Iwai and Gaby Lopez for round one of the tournament, where Chizzy Iwai is out to defend her trophy.

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