Nelly Korda declared winner after freezing temps lead LPGA to cancel final round of season opener

The LPGA's 2026 season-opening event had so much potential—with 16 of the top 25 players in the world competing—but unseasonably freezing weather in Florida on Sunday saw tournament officials make the decision to cancel the final round of the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions in Orlando.

Nelly Korda shot a 64 on Saturday at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club and was in the lead by three shots through 54 holes, but eight players did not complete the third round when chilly temps and dangerous winds quickly came into the area. When those eight finally finished on Sunday afternoon, Korda remained on top and collected her 16th career LPGA title and first since the Annika tournament in November 2024. Amy Yang was three shots behind in second place. Brooke Henderson was third.

The day started with lows in the mid-20s and winds whipping up to 15 miles per hour. The start of the final round kept getting pushed back with officials waiting so the tournament could be played in proper conditions. Eventually, with it only just barely breaking 40 degrees, it was clear the final round could not be completed Sunday. The forecast for Monday calls for more temps in the 20s although the high temps will be much warmer.

“Based on conversations between the rules officials, tournament staff, partners and the grounds team, the decision has been made to reduce the 2026 Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions to a 54-hole event,” a statement from the LPGA said.

“The weather and temperature for tomorrow is forecasted to be the same as this morning which will likely create similar conditions and prevent us from completing 72 holes.”

Not everyone was pleased with the decision despite the freezing temps. Annika Sorenstam, who played nine holes as part of the celebrity competition on Sunday, told Golfweek that she believed the course was definitely playable, as the reduced celebrity field all played nine holes. Mardy Fish won that for the third time with John Smoltz and Aaron Hicks finishing second and third, respectively.

"I don't know why they're not playing," Sorenstam told Golfweek. "There's pitch marks. I mean, I hit some crispy shots today and the ball even stopped. I am surprised. It's difficult, it's cold but it's as fair as anything."

Ricki Lasky, the LPGA's chief business and operations officer, joined the broadcast booth on NBC to explain more than the statement provided.

"The ground was really hard and it was changing the trajectory of their shots as they were practicing," she said about conditions around 10 a.m., the original start time. "The balls were releasing when they weren't supposed to be so we pushed back, tried to take as much time as we possibly could to get all 72 holes into play. We did everything we could. But we had to make the really hard decision to call it at 54."

Realizing that it's a bad look for the tour to allow celebrities to play nine holes in the worst of the conditions, while the world's best were sitting inside in warmth, Lasky laid out the differences.

"Two different competitions going on," she said. "One is Modifield Stableford, one is stroke play. Every CME point counts as we go through our schedule. We wanted to assure the competition was up to championship caliber, and for that to happen, we felt like to be fair to the entire field we had to call it at 54."

Coming off a 2024 season in which she won seven times, Korda was disappointed to not have won a tournament last year, especially when there were 29 different winners. Only Thitikul and Miyu Yamashita won twice. She started steady in the first round (68), played well in a difficult second round (71), then absolutely unloaded with a rash of birdies in the aforementioned third-round 64.

In what she called a top-three round of her life, Korda opened with two birdies and an eagle, then closed the front with birdies at eight and nine. She birdied three of four holes on the back and even made a bogey on the 17th to still shoot 64. She ended the week at 13-under-par 203 to take home $315,000 and win the same tournament her sister Jessica won five years ago.

"The first tournament of the season is always tough," said Korda, who will skip the Asia swing coming up and not play for another six weeks. "You're working on stuff and you kind of test it out, but at the end of the day like you're going in for that trophy. Mentally you're here 100 percent, and you kind of have to let go of all the technique that you worked on and you have to just commit.

"Overall, I was very happy with my game. Kind of led into it really nicely where I saved the best for last I guess."