The new Women’s Team Golf League revealed its first five stars, but one name was noticeably absent. Set to launch in the latter half of 2026, the Women’s Team Golf League has already taken up the world’s attention.

TMRW Sports announced Jeeno Thitikul, Lydia Ko, Brooke Henderson, Lexi Thompson, and Charley Hull as the first five golfers to participate in the team event.

However, they missed out on Nelly Korda, a two-time major winner, an Olympic gold medalist, and the LPGA’s top-ranked American star. 

The former NBC Sports executive Mike McCarley said, “WTGL will be a global stage to showcase LPGA Tour stars, and this first wave of committed players represents that opportunity with some of the world’s best.”

“These players will thrive in WTGL’s competitive environment as fans will witness their skill and connect more deeply with their personalities through the unprecedented access the league delivers with every player mic’d in the modern match play team format.”

Being excluded from a women-only team event’s first choice has raised some eyebrows. After all, Nelly Korda has consistently demanded more exposure for the women in the sport. On top of that, she’s one of the fan-favorite golfers on the LPGA Tour. 

But hope isn’t lost for Korda. We might get to see her in WTGL’s later announcements. 

And regarding the growth of her fellow golfers, she had an interesting take ahead of the 2025 Grant Thornton Invitational. 

Nelly Korda Speaks Up to Help the Tour Grow

During the 2025 Grant Thornton Invitational press conference, the media asked Korda about her opinion on the importance of PGA and LPGA Tour members playing together. And her response was all about growing together. 

She said, “The best way to grow the game is for us to come together and lift each other up, support each other. That’s what this tournament does.” 

“At the end of the day, it showcases the best women and men coming together and having fun and playing something different, something that we don’t get to do every single day.” 

Nelly Korda’s philosophy aligns naturally with WTGL’s vision, keeping future involvement firmly in play. And this might reel her into the roster in the near future. 

Written by

Krushna Pattnaik

Edited by

Oajaswini Prabhu