Tour Confidential: What we learned from Nelly Korda’s breakthrough U.S. Women’s Open win

Check in every week for the unfiltered opinions of our writers and editors as they break down the hottest topics in the sport, and join the conversation by tweeting us at @golf_com. This week, our writers unpack everything from Nelly Korda’s U.S. Women’s Open win at Riviera.

1. Nelly Korda continued her dominant 2026, winning the U.S. Women’s Open at Riviera for her fourth win of the season, fourth major title and, most importantly, first U.S. Women’s Open title. What did you learn about Nelly as she outlasted the field during a thrilling Sunday in LA?

Josh Berhow, managing editor (@Josh_Berhow): She’s continuing to do what is one of the hardest things to do in any sport, which is to win when everyone expects you to win. She’s now finished first or second in seven of her eight starts this season and has kept one really fun storyline — the season-long grand slam — alive for another few weeks. It’s just really impressive how she continued to plug along Sunday, kept hitting fairways and didn’t make any mistakes. That puts a ton of pressure on the people playing around you, as they know they have to make a move because it’s unlikely Nelly Korda will mess up. And it’s really difficult to make a lot of birdies in U.S. Opens.

Nick Piastowski, senior editor (@nickpia): I guess this isn’t “learned,” but maybe more confirmed — that she’s willing to reassess. In her press conference on Saturday night, Korda talked about a recent “mindset shift,” saying that “instead of saying, you know, I’m screwed in this position, oh, here we go again, I’m just going to embrace the challenges and I’m not going to walk off the golf course; I’m just going to figure it out.” It’s maybe a smaller thing, but clearly something has clicked, and the fact that she did the work here is impressive. 

Josh Schrock, associate news editor (@Schrock_And_Awe): I don’t know if I learned anything new about Nelly Korda, but watching her navigate what was undoubtedly the scariest round of her life on Sunday showed me that she is exactly who a lot of us thought and hoped she’d be. Her talent was always undeniable, but winning Chevrons and KPMGs is different than winning a U.S. Women’s Open on a course like Riviera. Everything always pointed to this being her destiny, but even she admitted she had doubts it would ever arrive. There’s something rewarding about watching someone reach their destiny, and now we get to find out where it leads her.

2. Charley Hull put together a record-breaking weekend at Riviera, Gaby Lopez got hot late on Sunday and In Gee Chun hung around to keep the pressure on the contenders. What played a bigger part in making this one of the most memorable U.S. Women’s Opens in years: Some of the game’s biggest stars fighting down the stretch, or the famous stage that hosted the event? And how can women’s professional golf replicate it?

Berhow: You can have one and not the other and still produce good golf tournaments, but when they both come together it makes it must-watch TV, which is the goal for every major golf tournament. Korda and Hull are arguably the two most famous players in the women’s game, and I love how different they are. Charley is twitchy and aggressive with that fast-swing tempo while Nelly is just so smooth and methodical. It’s a great, friendly rivalry if we could see them atop leaderboards together more often, but what I really enjoyed was seeing how the women played Riviera versus what we see when the PGA Tour stops there. It’s a fabulous private course, but viewers at home can relate to it and appreciate it much better watching how the women play it.

Piastowski: I think they work hand in hand — great courses bring out great play, and subpar courses, well, you know the rest. This week also “felt” big, didn’t it? Prime time! L.A.! Riv! There’s history there. There are challenges. Hell, places like Riv just look cool. And when given a proper spotlight, more folks care — though we do have to talk about how the broadcast was just three hours on Sunday. I think this is the LPGA’s next step — secure more regular-season events at big-name courses. And yes, the majors should continue the recent trend of doing that. And, yes, somehow, someway, the women should be playing at Augusta National. 

Schrock: You need both, but I think Michelle Wie West nailed it pre-tourney when talking about the importance of the women playing the same courses as the men. It adds context and elevates everything. What really works is when we have the same venue host the men’s and women’s U.S. Open in the same year, like when Wie won at Pinehurst in 2014 after Martin Kaymer did. It’s incredibly important for the women to get to create their own moments on iconic holes and at golf’s cathedrals. The cream also tends to rise to the top at the cathedrals as it did this week and at St. Andrews in 2024. Venues matter. 

3. What’s your final takeaway from U.S. Women’s Open week?

Berhow: Nelly is really good and will dominate the conversation later this month at the KPMG Women’s PGA — as she tries to make it three in a row — but another storyline is starting to emerge as well: Charley Hull now has five runner-up major finishes without a win. Her last three: T2, T10, T2. She’s gotta break through at some point.

Schrock: We’re entering the summer of Nelly. She’ll dominate KPMG week but also will arrive at the Evian with a chance to win the LPGA Grand Slam (four of five) and also have a chance to do so at the AIG Women’s Open. If she wins both, she gets what Lydia Ko, and other ball knowers, would call the real career Grand Slam. And she’s about to kick down the door to the Hall of Fame. It’s all Nelly, but the biggest question is: Can the LPGA capitalize on a moment that feels much bigger than Nelly’s run in 2024?

Piastowski: That we’re watching a historic run. And, as Schrock said, above, the LPGA powers-that-be must capitalize on it. 

4. With the Saudi PIF no longer funding LIV Golf beyond this season, the league is in search of investors. A couple of weeks ago, Bryson DeChambeau said he’s “giving all I can to make it happen” in terms of potential investments but admitted his role as a player might be limited. Meanwhile, Jon Rahm said this past week he knows little about the business side of things and his “job is to play golf.” Should LIV’s stars feel obligated to help keep LIV afloat? Do they hold much power?

Berhow: Noooo. I mean, yes, if they have wealthy investors in their Rolodex, sure, reach out to them. But Rahm should not be scrutinized for his comments — he’s right. His job is to play. I’m sure promises were made to him when he joined the league, and I would assume one was never to help them find future funding in a few years. That’s why they pay the execs the big bucks.

Schrock: No. If you really, really want to help keep the league alive because you believe in team golf or want some place to play that isn’t the PGA Tour, then by all means, go for it. But I think Rahm has the right idea. Play golf and see what happens when the dust settles.

Piastowski: Maybe. If DeChambeau and Rahm tell whomever that they’ll be playing LIV Golf for the next decade and that they’ll work on bringing in other stars in, that’s a pretty good pitch. But yes, at the end of the day, the product is golf, so the golfers should play compelling golf. 

5. We had all sorts of good golf over the weekend (in Spain, California, Ohio and elsewhere), but who won the weekend without winning on Sunday?

Berhow: Hmmmm. J.T. Poston, Memorial winner, can now skip U.S. Open Final Qualifying on Monday so he has to be psyched, but that doesn’t answer the question. How about Kiara Romero? A 20-year-old amateur just tied for sixth at the biggest professional women’s golf tournament on the planet. That’s pretty good! (Oh, and honorable mention: Maria José Marin, another amateur, tied for 8th.)

Schrock: Four amateurs — Romero, Marin, Asterisk Talley and Aphrodite Deng — all acquitted themselves well at Riviera. Talley made U.S. Women’s Open history with her Saturday 66, and Romero took home low-am honors (Go Ducks!). The future of women’s golf is in great hands.

Piastowski: We all did, right? What a weekend. Here’s your pass to take off on Monday.