There were a lot of smiles on the back nine for Nelly Korda at the Riviera Maya Open at Mayakoba—even when she lost a tee ball into the woods on 18 and later had to play a shot out of the gallery. Eventually she made a long putt bogey, but it didn’t matter.
It’s her third victory in 2026. In the other three tournaments she’s played this year, she’s finished second. Last week she won the Chevron Championship. No one would’ve blamed her if she didn’t want to hop on a plane to Mexico after a major win. But she did, and hoisted another trophy. Is this the best golf she’s ever played?
“I’m just enjoying myself and I love the competition,” Korda said Sunday after shooting 69 to win by four shots at 17-under total. “I’m just having fun.”
The refreshed mentality is one that Korda has worked on. In 2024, she had a historic season, winning five times in a row and seven times total. Last year was, naturally, was full of expectation and she didn’t win, but to make matters more confounding, her stats were nearly better than they were in 2024. How could she be technically playing better, yet not winning?
“I was getting frustrated last year on the golf course and I started overanalyzing everything and I started overthinking, and then that was paralyzing me,” Korda said after winning the Chevron Championship last week. “I told myself I don’t ever want to feel like that on a golf course.”
Korda, 27, and her long-time caddie, Jason McDede, talked about the tough year. And it helped them come up with a strategy for 2026.
“We were like, yeah, last year wasn’t easy,” Korda said. “It was because I was overanalyzing absolutely everything. Sometimes there is a power in just letting go.”
Korda’s ability to let go and play freely was evident in Mexico. She cruised through all four rounds, making only two bogeys over four days. Her second bogey was on the final hole of the tournament. A wayward drive, a provisional into a bunker, a shot out of the bunker that went into the gallery. This could’ve spelled disaster for most, but Korda smiled through it. She let go. And what could’ve been a massive number on the scorecard, was just a tiny, insignificant blemish.
The win puts Korda’s name among some of the game’s greats. Again. She’s the first American woman to win a tournament the week after winning a major since Meg Mallon won the U.S. Women’s Open and the Canadian Women’s Open in 2004. Korda also becomes the youngest American to win 18 times on the LPGA since 23-year-old Nancy Lopez in 1980.
Whether this is Korda’s best golf is for debate, but it is undoubtedly extraordinary golf. And she realizes that golf like this should be enjoyed.
“I’m just happy to be competing out here healthy, motivated. You know, I’m so happy on the golf course. I’m happy off the golf course,” she said. “I just think that, yes, I am living my best life for sure. But golf also humbles you, so I know that I need to enjoy these moments. There have been so many times that legends have told me it smell the roses, so now I have a week off and I can officially smell the roses for a few days.”