Nelly Korda in position to clinch first LPGA Rolex Player of the Year

Nelly Korda is in position to claim her first Rolex Player of the Year title. Japan’s Ayaka Furue is the only player who can mathematically tie her in the points race, and it would take a heroic effort of sweeping her next four starts. And that’s if Korda fails to earn more points.

Korda, who is currently sidelined with a minor neck injury, leads the tour with 244 points. Lydia Ko trails by 100 points in second place but only has two starts left this season: The Annika driven by Gainbridge at Pelican and the CME Group Tour Championship. A victory is worth 30 points, which means Ko mathematically can’t win.

It’s worth noting Ko’s Olympic victory doesn’t count toward the Player of the Year race, though it does count toward the Hall of Fame. A two-time POY, Ko won three times this season on tour, plus gold in Paris.

Furue, currently in third place with 124 points, has four starts remaining, as she isn’t scheduled to play in The Annika. South Korea’s Haeran Ryu would need five wins to catch Korda, but she’s currently only slated to make four more starts (skipping the Lotte in Hawaii).

Nelly Korda celebrates after a victory on the second playoff hole during the final round of the LPGA Drive On Championship at Bradenton Country Club on January 28, 2024 in Bradenton, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)

World No. 1 Korda won six times in the first half of the season, including the Chevron Championship, her second career major title. No American player has won that many times on tour since Beth Daniel won seven times in 1990.

POY points are awarded for top-10 finishes only and are doubled at the majors. Korda has nine top-10 finishes in 14 starts.

In 2021, Korda won four times on the LPGA, including the KPMG Women’s PGA, as well as Olympic gold in Tokyo but was edged out in the POY race by Jin Young Ko.

South Korea’s Ko won five times on the LPGA that season (no majors) and took the POY based on the strength of 13 top 10s. She beat Korda by 14 points. Had Korda earned 30 points for her gold-medal performance though, she would’ve taken the honor.

Should Korda go on to clinch the 2024 POY, which she could do as early as next week’s Toto Japan Classic, she’ll follow in the footsteps of California’s Lilia Vu, who won last year. The last time American players won the award in consecutive years was 1993 (Betsy King) and 1994 (Beth Daniel).

The POY title would give Korda her 18th LPGA Hall of Fame point. She needs 27 points to…