World No. 1 Nelly Korda calls for LPGA to make one big change going forward

Nelly Korda, the best player in the world, hopes the LPGA will make this switch in the future.

ORLANDO — Fresh off a historic seven-win season that made her a household name across the world of sport, Nelly Korda begins her 2025 campaign this week at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions.

Given what she did a year ago, the spotlight of the sport is fixated on Korda, who conducted a press conference on Tuesday for the first time this season. During that session, the World No. 1 fielded a question about scheduling and prize money, which led her to reveal one significant change she would make to the LPGA if she could.

“When it comes to schedule, just the flow in it,” Korda said.

“When we’re on the West Coast, having a flow in the West Coast schedule, having all our events aligned so we’re not traveling from coast to coast in the U.S [would help]. I think with scheduling, it’s just about making it a little easier for us with travel.”

The 2025 LPGA Schedule begins with two events in Florida before heading to the Far East for three weeks. The tour then shifts to the West Coast and Texas for almost two months, but then the Mizuho Americas Open in New Jersey is sandwiched between two tournaments in Utah and Mexico.

That’s not an easy itinerary and proves Korda’s point. Schedule makers should place other tournaments in the Northeast around the Mizuho Americas Open or move that event altogether. Maybe playing it the week before the ShopRite LPGA Classic in Atlantic City would make more sense, considering Seaview is just two hours from Liberty National.

But these quirks forbid Korda from playing a complete schedule. She will not play in any event in Asia. Instead, she will take time off between these two tournaments in Florida and the LPGA’s West Coast Swing in late March.

“You want to be primed for the majors, right?” Korda added.

“So scheduling around there, and then on top of that, you have to make sure that your body is 100%. So last year I had an injury towards the end of the year. So that’s going to be my number one goal, is just to stay healthy. If my body is not feeling 100%, then I’m not going to push it.”

Korda added that her schedule is “kind of set” between now and the Chevron Championship in April, the first major of the year. After that, it all remains up in the air. But considering the crisscrossing that the LPGA will do, one would have to expect Korda not to play as much as she would if logistics had improved.

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Follow him on X @jack_milko.