Nelly Korda returns after 'preventative' break for neck injury

Nelly Korda said the five weeks she took off from the LPGA Tour were a preventive measure and that she's in strong shape physically as she attempts to break a nearly year-long winless drought at this week's The Annika by Gainbridge.

Korda withdrew from last month's International Crown team event and said she didn't play golf for about three weeks as she focused on strengthening her neck, which began bothering her again over the summer. Constant travel and 17 events so far in 2025 had taken its toll on the 27-year-old's body.

Korda said that she has learned from past injuries that it's best to "sacrifice" one tournament rather than push through pain and potentially be out for an extended period. She missed a pair of events last fall due to a neck injury and dealt with a blood clot in her right arm in 2022.

"I learned a lot about myself and injuries through my blood clot because I was feeling the symptoms for about three weeks before I actually went to see the doctor," she said Wednesday. "I went to the ER. If I listened to my body right then and there that would've been three weeks I saved some time.

"Instead, I was like, maybe it's just something weird. Maybe I slept weird. Right now I think I've just gotten a little bit more in tune with my body."

Korda's last victory came at this event last year, and she has won three of the past four iterations at the Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Fla. The course is only about an hour from her home in Bradenton, and Korda said being around friends and family makes for a fun week.

At the same time, she's looking to finish a somewhat frustrating year on a strong note. Korda has seven top-10 finishes, including a T4 in her most recent event at the Lotte Championship. But she has yet to win, while seeing Jeeno Thitikul put significant distance between them atop the world rankings.

"I can control what I can control. I can't control what other competitors are doing," Korda said. "The only thing I can control is how much effort I put into each and every day, how I try and execute my shots.

"At the end of the day that's all I can do. Obviously I'm very, very competitive and what I want to do on Sunday is hoist the trophy. Everyone in this field wants to do it.

"It's definitely been a weird year, but I can't compare this year to last year because ... I've had years where I haven't won and I played great golf, then the next year I won a few.

"So it's just sports. It's golf. You can't expect to win. You can expect to put in 100%: 100% into your body, 100% in your routine, 100% into your practice, have no distractions.

"That's what I can control and that is what I will control. But everything else is kind of out of my control."

--Field Level Media