Following a winless 2025, Nelly Korda is back in the winner’s circle, but not in the manner anyone anticipated. The LPGA’s season-opening Tournament of Champions was shortened to 54 holes due to severe wind and cold, and the American ended her 14-month drought most unusually. Sunday’s final round was canceled due to conditions at Lake Nona being deemed unplayable, so Korda won without even taking the course that day, which was a rather disappointing conclusion to what should have been a spectacular comeback.

Reflecting on the same on the No Laying Up Podcast, the 10th commissioner of the LPGA, Craig Kessler, talked about the mistake he and the LPGA Tour made at the event.

“So there wasn’t one single mistake. There were a handful of mistakes. In hindsight, should the celebrities have gone off? No way. If it’s not safe enough for the players, then the celebrities should go off. Should we have had somebody in the media center standing there with Beth Anne and Amy Rogers? Of course. Beth Anne is a mouthpiece to so many of our fans. And Amy Rogers could be live on TV in two seconds, explaining to fans what’s going on. So, that’s another example of a mistake.”

“Earlier in the week, when we saw the forecast, could we have figured out how to get more play in earlier in the week so we could have finished late on Sunday afternoon or perhaps finished early on Monday morning? Of course.”

The Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions was the LPGA’s 2026 season opener at Lake Nona Golf & Country Club in Orlando, Florida, with a prize pool of $2.1 million. And despite freezing temperatures and winds approaching 40 mph, Korda took the lead on Saturday with a remarkable 8-under 64, which was nearly nine shots better than the field average. Later on, she referred to it as one of her career’s top three rounds. She had just finished when the play was suspended after Youmin Hwang’s ball was blown off the 17th green.

The weather only got worse, and the officials shortened the event to 54 holes due to Monday’s poor forecast. It was amidst this chaos that Korda won her 16th career round at 13-under 203. Even though her victory was virtually certain, she continued to warm up on the range and putting green before the final call, which was rather upsetting news for her fans.

Add to that the fact that the LPGA continued with the celebrity portion, just shortened to nine holes. Well, this was bound to raise some eyebrows. The justification was that it’s an exhibition with a modified Stableford format, which makes it easier to handle in challenging circumstances because scores don’t spiral (no worse than double bogey).

Still and all, that reason couldn’t dismiss the big timing questions that were raised by fans and players alike.

Annika Sörenstam played the course on Sunday and publicly questioned the tour’s judgment. “I don’t know why they’re not playing… There’s pitch marks. I mean, I hit some crispy shots today and the ball even stopped,” she said.

Lydia Ko was also unhappy, as she said, “I’m gutted that we don’t get to play tomorrow. The forecast tomorrow isn’t great, but it’s better than today!”

While that decision slightly ruined Nelly Korda’s win, she is now back to claim a clean victory.

Nelly Korda back after 6-week hiatus for 17th win

After her controversial win, Nelly Korda went on a 6-week break from professional golf. She skipped the LPGA’s trip to Asia. This is not the first time, though. Back in 2025, she missed some events in Asia due to injuries. This time, however, there was no official announcement of her absence.

But now, as the LPGA Tour returns to the USA, she is back in contention. She will be playing the Fortinet Founders Cup 2026, as her second event of the 2026 campaign.

The weather forecast for the $3 million event shows that Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday are mostly sunny. The weekend’s weather forecast is partly cloudy, with a 0% chance of rain. Since the weather at the Fortinet Founders Cup 2026 is likely to remain sunny, Nelly Korda would aim to win this time without any controversies.