Nelly Korda won the 2026 U.S. Women's Open championship at The Riviera Country Club after a difficult and lengthy battle. Nonetheless, her success involved overcoming an issue during the tournament, which could have jeopardized the whole week for her.

The World No. 1 fought through an opening 2-over par 73, dropping to 101st in strokes gained approach. Her biggest obstacle wasn't just Riviera's penalizing, firm layout but a sudden, drastic grip adjustment forced upon her.

"The worst. It was honestly the worst," Korda confessed regarding the grueling mid-tournament adjustment suggested by her sister, Jessica. "But I don't recommend it. I do not recommend changing your grip during a major championship."

The LPGA star later revealed these struggles during her post-tournament press conference after hoisting the trophy. The sisterly advice came after that stressful Thursday round where Korda kept missing fairways out to the right.

The alteration felt incredibly unnatural, causing Korda to constantly fiddle with her hands on the practice range. She admitted feeling intense anxiety that she would snap-hook the ball 30 yards left.

"I just saw you regrip your grip four times before you hit that one shot," Jessica observed during the warm-up. Without full trust in the new hold, Korda continuously battled with her accuracy off the tee.

Her effort in this regard finally paid off on Friday when she was able to find 11 out of 14 fairways, making a score of 4-under 67. This quick technical turnaround laid the foundation for a historic leaderboard over the weekend.

Dominating The 2026 LPGA Season

Relying heavily on a brilliant short game, Nelly Korda bounced back by gaining 2.61 strokes on the field in approach play by Saturday. She retained her mental toughness through the entire weekend with her focus on each shot.

She scored consecutive rounds of 67, 67, and a final round of 2-under-par 69. Her final score was an impressive 8-under-par 276. She managed to win by a single stroke, beating out Charley Hull and Gaby Lopez.

The impressive victory provided her with a record-high purse of $2,500,000 in a tournament with $12,500,000 in total prizes. It is the nineteenth LPGA Tour win and the fourth major title in Korda's LPGA career.

The historic triumph represents her second consecutive major victory in this calendar year. She previously dominated the field wire-to-wire at The Chevron Championship in April with an 18-under 270 total.

"Even sweeter, especially with that ice cream swirl on the last hole," Korda joked after her final par.

The American golfer has captured four wins and three runner-up finishes in just eight tournament starts this season. She also collected 650 points to strengthen her lead in the Race to CME Globe standings.

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Written by

Abhishek Sharma

Edited by

Ankita Yadav