The All-American Bohemian Golf Princess Nelly Korda Returns to Defend Title in Las Vegas
Nelly Korda celebrates winning the T-Mobile Match Play 2024 at the Shadow Creek Golf Course in North Las Vegas. Photo credit by Getty, LPGA.
April 2, 2025 —North Las Vegas — Nelly Korda could be only a few days from victoriously defending this year's T-Mobile Match Play title. Of course, no championship is promised to anyone without the tireless work and patience that golf so gracefully demands, and maybe a little bit of Las Vegas luck too. However, one thing is certain, and even better said in the words of girls’ national champion Karis Reid last year, "I would love to be the next Nelly Korda, but not everybody can be a Nelly Korda."
We wish Reid, as a competitor of an even younger generation, all the continuing success; however, at least for now, today's lens is focused on Korda's climb. In 2024, she secured seven tournament victories, including two major championships—the Women's PGA Championship and the Chevron Championship. One also can't help but imagine how Korda's strong sports roots as a family have played a pivotal role in her career. It begins with her father Petr Korda, a tennis champion, and mother Regina Rajchrtová, an Olympian tennis athlete. Her sister, Jessica Regina Korda is also a golf pro and Olympian, and brother Sebastian Korda, battled tennis legend Novak Djokovic at the Miami Open just a week ago. The only downside to Korda playing on the West Coast? She couldn’t be a nervous wreck while watching her brother play. The perfect example how sports' legacies form across generations.
This year's Match Play is regarded by Korda as a great opportunity for the ladies to play in all-match play, as the tournament is still in its original format with no stroke play. She also described the conditions of the lush and perfect course, even among the winds, as fun where the ladies can get a little more aggressive.
"You definitely have to plot your way around the golf course, as well as the greens. Some of them have weird breaks. To the eye it looks very different. I think the more rounds you have under your belt on a golf course like this, the more beneficial," said Korda.
The tournament has received positive feedback from players as a strategic and smart course, and a breath of fresh air in what is considered the most famous desert in the world.
"The drive in is so unique and so beautiful. The property is really, really pretty. When you just stand on what was originally 18 tee and we're playing it as 9 this week, it's breathtaking. It's very demanding off the tee into the greens. You have to be on 24/7, and it tests every part of your game," said Korda
While she beautifully represents the United States of America as a steady and precise instrument of the game, it's also evident that her European origin from her parent's native Czech Republic can be her special ace. If Korda, the All-American Bohemian golf princess, continues at this rate, she will soon be crowned among the queens of the game. It can't help but leave us inspired for the future in such golf's gracefully crafted battlefield.
