Quick answer: Nelly Korda arrives at Hazeltine National as the clear favourite for the KPMG Women's PGA Championship. She has already won the ANA Inspiration and the U.S. Women's Open in 2026, and a victory this week would make her the first player since Annika Sorenstam in 2003 to win three consecutive majors in a single season. The Hall of Fame points record is also within reach.
Some tournaments arrive at you quietly. This is not one of them. The KPMG Women's PGA Championship at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota is shaping up to be the biggest story in women's golf in a generation, and the reason is simple: Nelly Korda is attempting something that has not been done in over two decades.
Korda won the Chevron Championship in April, then dismantled the field at the U.S. Women's Open in May. She arrives here two majors deep into a run that has the entire sport asking the same question: is she going to do it?
The Course: Why Hazeltine Is No Pushover
Hazeltine National has a reputation. It hosted the 1991 U.S. Open — the one where Payne Stewart won — and has been a venue for U.S. Opens, Ryder Cups, and multiple PGA Championships. For the women's game, it is a stern, demanding test: long par-4s that punish anything offline, a wind that whips in off the lake on the back nine, and greens that are large in surface area but deceptively pitched.
The LPGA has set up the course to play firm and fast, with a setup that rewards precision over power. That should, in theory, suit Korda's complete game — she leads the tour in greens in regulation and is top-five in driving accuracy. But Hazeltine is the kind of course that will punish one bad round, and at four rounds of stroke play, one bad day has ended the run of better players than her.
"She is going to be tough to beat. She is playing on another level right now."
— LPGA TOUR RIVAL
Korda's Case: The Numbers Are Historic
Let's be precise about what Korda is doing statistically in 2026. She is not merely winning. She is winning by margins that belong to a different era of the sport:
- Won the Chevron Championship by 4 shots
- Won the U.S. Women's Open by 3 shots on a setup that was playing to a field average of +4.2
- She has not finished outside the top 10 in a stroke-play event in 2026
- Her strokes-gained: total average is the highest on the LPGA Tour since the stat was tracked
She is, right now, the most dominant player in women's golf. The question is not whether she is good enough. The question is whether anyone else is peaking at the right time to stop her.
The Challengers: Who Can Actually Beat Her?
In any normal week, any one of these names would be the headline. This week, they are all chasing Korda:
- Brooke Henderson — the Canadian has five top-10s in 2026 and has a strong record at Hazeltine. Hits it long enough to take the par-5s out of the equation.
- Lydia Ko — the Olympic champion is playing the most consistent golf of her career this year. Two wins already in 2026, with a game built for a demanding course setup.
- Lilia Vu — won here in 2023 and knows exactly how to play Hazeltine. Course knowledge is a genuine edge, and she has the iron game to be dangerous.
- Charley Hull — the English star has been quietly brilliant this season. Her ball-striking is elite, and she plays her best golf when the spotlight is loudest.
- Celine Boutier — the French star is a precision iron player on a course that demands exactly that. Has the game to contend but may need Sunday conditions to go her way.
The Hall of Fame Subplot
Layered underneath the major narrative is another story: the LPGA Hall of Fame. Korda is currently sitting on 24 Hall of Fame points. The threshold for induction is 27. A win this week, worth two points, would not get her over the line outright — but combined with her Player of the Year points accumulation, it would put her on the doorstep before the end of the 2026 season.
She is 26 years old. The youngest Hall of Famer in LPGA history was Nancy Lopez, who qualified at 30. Korda is on track to shatter that record.
The Raw Verdict
Korda is the pick, but we are not blind to the risk. Three consecutive majors has not been done in 23 years. The pressure this week will be unlike anything she has faced, even after winning the last two. Hazeltine will throw conditions at her — wind, firm greens, demanding pins — that cannot be controlled, only managed.
Watch her greens in regulation stat. In both of her major wins this year, she hit 13 or more greens in regulation in each of the final two rounds. If that number drops below 11 on either Saturday or Sunday, the door opens. Lilia Vu and Lydia Ko have the games to walk through it.
But if she is hitting her irons the way she has all year? Nothing anyone else does will be good enough. Korda is attempting a historic run. And right now, the smart money says she finishes it.