Winning majors is the main goal, but getting through a major season in one piece is the challenge nobody talks about until Nelly Korda did, plainly and without sugarcoating it.

Korda spoke at a joint press conference on Tuesday, alongside partner Olivia Cowan, ahead of the 2026 Dow Championship. The two are teaming up for the LPGA Tour's team event this week.

Asked how fun events like the Dow help reset players during the stretch of majors, Korda was direct. "After AIG, you're just kind of like burned out mentally more," she said. "When you do play a lot of major championship golf, it's very demanding on your golf, but it's also very demanding on you mentally, too."

The LPGA Tour's major tournaments are scheduled close together. The U.S. Women's Open, Evian Championship, and AIG Women's Open take place one after another in a short period. Korda said the mental pressure increases with each major tournament. 

"You kind of get into a zone where maybe by the British you get a little bit more frustrated because you're playing such demanding golf," she said. "So it is really nice to kind of put in an event where it's a little bit more easygoing."

The Dow Championship fits that role. It is the only team event on the LPGA Tour's regular schedule. Korda said having a partner changes the feel of the week entirely. "It kind of reenergizes your batteries in a sense," she said. "You're maybe smiling a little bit more, having more fun on the golf course."

Korda's physical challenges over the past year add further context to what she described Tuesday.

Nelly Korda and the 2025 Season Were Shaped by Injury Before Her 2026 Comeback Win

The major season is not only mentally challenging for Korda but also physically demanding. In June 2025, she said she suffered a severe neck spasm after hitting a shot from the rough during a practice round for the KPMG Women's PGA Championship at Fields Ranch East. The injury forced her to withdraw from the tournament. 

She expanded on the physical grind later in the year.

"I would say by this time of the year my body is definitely worn down," Korda told reporters at the Lotte Championship in Hawaii in October 2025. "I do have some injuries I've had in the past that kind of linger that are never really fully resolved, that you still do PT on every single day, you do therapy."

She went on to play 21 events in 2025 without a win, a significant drop from 2024, when she won seven times, including five consecutive victories and her second major title at the Chevron Championship.

In December 2025, Korda told the media her ideal schedule was 18-20 tournaments with a self-imposed limit of three consecutive events. She cited seeing her body deteriorate over four events in a row as the reason.

She then won her first LPGA title of 2026 at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions in Orlando on February 2.

Korda's latest victory came at the 2026 U.S. Women's Open on June 7, where she won her fourth major championship.

Do you think Nelly Korda can manage the mental and physical demands of a major season in 2026? Let us know in the comments.

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Written by

Sneha Abraham

Edited by

Ankita Yadav