Nelly Korda clinches LPGA player of the year and moves closer to LPGA Hall of Fame

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Nelly Korda clinched the points-based LPGA player of the year on Tuesday, her second such award in three years and moving her one victory away from qualifying for the LPGA Hall of Fame.

Korda won four times this year, including two majors at The Chevron Championship and the U.S. Women's Open at Riviera, her signature win during another dominant season.

She won the award when double major winner Haeran Ryu of South Korea had to withdraw last week in Malaysia due to injury, and Miyu Yamashita of Japan and Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand did not enter The Annika next week in Florida.

That left them mathematically unable to catch Korda.

Korda's season was so stellar she wrapped up the LPGA's top award with three tournaments remaining on the schedule — she also did that when she won the award in 2024. Korda skipped the entire four-week Asia swing, as she often does. The 28-year-old American plans to play the final two weeks in Florida.

Those tournaments — The Annika and the CME Group Tour Championship — suddenly take on extra meaning. The LPGA player of the year gives Korda 26 points, one short of the getting into the LPGA Hall of Fame. She could get the last point by winning either of the next two tournaments.

Korda would not be the youngest player to qualifying for the LPGA Hall of Fame. Inbee Park reached the requirements when she was 27.

Park also was a finalist this year for the World Golf Hall of Fame, separate from the LPGA's hall with players and contributors from around the world selected by a panel of administrators, Hall of Fame members and media.

Korda had an astonishing start to her season. She won the Tournament of Champions in Orlando, Florida, that was cut short to 54 holes because of bitter cold and wind. That was the start of six consecutive tournaments where she won or was runner-up.

The streak ended with a tie for eighth, only for Korda to win the U.S. Women's Open, the major she had her eyes on because it's the biggest tournament in women's golf and was held at fabled Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles for the first time.

See AP’s full golf coverage here

FILE - Nelly Korda of the United States studies the line of a putt during the final day of the Solheim Cup in Den Bosch, Netherlands, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant,File)

LONDON (AP) — British tennis player Jodie Burrage has received death threats and a torrent of abuse on social media after she was defeated in her first main-draw singles match on the WTA Tour in 16 months.

Burrage shared a recording of a lengthy reel of abusive messages she received on Instagram following a 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 loss to Vaishnavi Adkar in the round of 32 at the Chennai Open on Tuesday.

Alongside the video, Burrage wrote: “Nice welcome back to the tour. I remember why I left.”

Many of the abusive messages appeared to be from gamblers unhappy that the 27-year-old Burrage had lost.

World Tennis, the sport’s governing body, said in December 2024 that “angry gamblers” were responsible for 48% of the more than 12,000 posts on social media platforms from January to October that year which were deemed abusive by a monitoring service.

In July this year, the WTA said in a report into online abuse of players that 89% of accounts responsible for serious abuse in 2024 did not reappear in 2025, and that it secured the removal of 66% of serious abusive posts or comments, while escalating 35 accounts to law enforcement.

Last month, Coco Gauff said she received an “insane” amount of racist comments on social media following a controversial point in a match against home player Sun Xinran at the China Open.

See AP’s full tennis coverage here

FILE - Jodie Burrage of Britain plays a forehand return to Coco Gauff of the U.S. during their second round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian, File)