The field lists do not usually make history, but that is exactly what happened at 5 pm on Tuesday when the participants in the penultimate event of the LPGA of 2026, the Annika, were finalized. Absent from the camp were Jeeno Thitikul and Miyu Yamashita, the second- and fourth-ranked players in the women’s game, respectively, that is, after outstanding seasons, were mathematically eliminated from the LPGA’s Rolex Player of the Year race – and determined a winner.
That would be world No. 2 Nelly Kordafollowing his four wins (so far) 2026 and still with three events remaining on the calendar. This is the second time Korda has won the award; when he won his first POY, in 2024, he also locked up the title with three events remaining on the calendar.
This year’s award, however, comes with an added wrinkle, as it pushed Korda within sniffing distance of the LPGA Hall of Fame. POY winners don’t just win a trophy and a year-end gala shoutout — they also score toward their Hall of Fame eligibility. In Korda’s case, that point raises his career total to 26, which is just shy of the HOF entry threshold.
Regular-season LPGA wins are also worth a HOF spot, meaning if Korda triumphs in either of her final two starts of 2026 — the Annika and the CME Group Championship — she will cement her place in golf immortality before the month is out.
Players can also earn HOF credits by winning majors (worth 2 points); the Vare Trophy for the lowest scoring average (1 point); or an Olympic gold medal (1 point). Korda’s 69.38 scoring average tops the tour by a narrow margin, but even if he holds onto that lead over the final three events of the season, he still won’t win the Vare because he hasn’t played the required minimum of 70 rounds.
This isn’t the first time this year that Korda’s Hall of Fame chances have come under fire.
After winning the first two majors of the season — the Chevron and the US Open — Korda’s HOF point total climbed to 25, leaving him one major title or two non-major wins away from punching his ticket. Not that she was paying much attention. At the third season of five majors, the KPMG Women’s PGA, at Hazeltine in late June, Korda confessed to having no idea how many points are required for Hall of Fame eligibility or how many points she herself had accumulated.
“I kind of like to forget about it this way,” Korda said that week. “I know a lot of things I want to know, but this, I don’t want to put extra pressure on myself. I feel that the game of golf is already hard enough. If I put more pressure on myself, it will be even more difficult. I think it’s an amazing achievement and it would be one of the best achievements of my career, for sure.”
Korda is only 28 years old, but that would not make her the youngest player to enter the hall. That honor goes to Lydia Kowho was 27 years, 3 months, and 17 days old when he was inducted in 2024. Ko eclipsed the youth mark of Inbee Park, who was also 27 when he qualified for the hall in 2016.
