Top 10 LPGA moments in 2021: A new rivalry at the top, a legendary comeback, and gut-wrenching collapses

At 22, Nelly Korda came into the KPMG Women’s PGA, her 26th major start, the undisputed best player on the LPGA without a major. She left Atlanta Athletic Club as a bona fide star.

As the first American to rise to No. 1 in the world since Stacy Lewis in 2014, Korda ended a drought that stretched 2,678 days. She also became the first American to win an LPGA major since 2018, when Angela Stanford won the Evian Championship.

Nelly Korda holds up her gold medal after winning the women’s competition at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Summer Games at Kasumigaseki Country Club. Photo by Michael Madrid-USA TODAY Sports

After flirting with a 59 in the second round in Tokyo and settling for 62, Korda dug deep in the final round to edge Mone Inami and Lydia Ko by one stroke for Olympic gold. The victory came just six weeks after Korda claimed her first major title at the KPMG.

Korda became the first American female to win a medal in golf since 1900 when Margaret Abbott won gold in Paris.

“It’s crazy,” said Korda.“It sounds absurd that I’m a gold medal (winner). and I’m an Olympian. I don’t know it just hasn’t sunk in yet.”

Lexi Thompson hits from the bunker on the 18th hole during the final round of the 76th U.S. Women’s Open Championship at The Olympic Club on June 06, 2021 in San Francisco. Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images

The Philippines put Yuka Saso’s face on a stamp and a skyscraper in downtown Manila as she became a rock star in her native land over the summer. But while Saso won the first U.S. Women’s Open ever held at The Olympic Club, the championship will be forever remembered as the one Lexi Thompson gave away.

Thompson began the final round with a one-shot cushion and walked off the eighth green with a commanding five-shot lead, seemingly poised for a career-defining moment. Instead, a back-nine 41 that included a 10-foot par putt on the 72nd hole that came up shockingly short kept her out of a playoff between Saso and Nasa Hataoka.

“I really didn’t feel like I hit any bad golf shots,” said an emotional Thompson after the round. “That’s what this golf course can do to you, and that’s what I’ve said all week.”

Jin Young Ko and Nelly Korda at the CME Group Tour Championship at Tiburon Golf Club on November 21, 2021 in Naples, Florida. Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images

Jin Young Ko came into the CME Group Tour Championship trailing Nelly Korda in the LPGA Rolex Player of the Year race. She needed to make a statement at the season finale, and boy did she deliver.

Despite a bum left wrist that didn’t let her warm up properly all week, Ko put together a streak of 63 greens in regulation en route to the title. Her career-best final-round 63 secured the $1.5 million winner’s paycheck, the largest in women’s golf, and the title of Player of the Year. It was her fifth title of the season.

“Honestly, it was definitely the Jin Young Ko Show today,” said Korda. “It was really cool to witness.”

Annika Sorenstam celebrates a birdie during the first round of the Gainnbridge LPGA at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club on Feb. 25, 2021 in Orlando. Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images

Playing in her first LPGA event since 2008, Annika Sorenstam made the cut on the number at the Gainbride LPGA with rounds of 75-71. The 50-year-old accomplished the remarkable feat on her home course, Lake Nona, despite receiving bad advice from an LPGA rules official on the fifth hole Thursday, which she triple-bogeyed.

The 72-time winner had her family by her side all week, with son Will going over every hole before each round, offering his advice.

“I was planning on taking Ava to volleyball tomorrow, but I might have to have somebody else take her,” Sorenstam quipped after making the cut.

She’d go on to win the U.S. Senior Women’s Open in August.

Leona Maguire of Team Europe reacts to her putt on the 14th green during the Foursomes Match during Day 2 of the Solheim Cup at the Inverness Club on Sept. 5, 2021 in Toledo, Ohio. Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

Solheim rookie Leona Maguire led Team Europe to its second consecutive victory, crushing Jennifer Kupcho in Sunday singles to cap the week with 4½ points. It was a breakout moment for the fearless Irish player, who spent 135 weeks as the top-ranked amateur in the world.

“She’s the one we’re going to have to fear,” said U.S. captain Pat Hurst, “for a long time.”

Catriona Matthew’s team banded together and pulled off the upset with only a couple dozen European fans on hand at Inverness due to strict international travel restrictions still in place.

Nelly Korda and Lexi Thompson during the final round of the 2021 Pelican Women’s Championship at Pelican Golf Club on Nov. 14, 2021 in Belleair, Florida. Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images

It was a leaderboard for the ages in Belleair, Florida. The stars were aligned on Sunday at the Pelican Women’s Championship where the drama oozed.

After a back-and-forth battle that saw Nelly Korda and Lexi Thompson tied for the lead at 19 under with two holes to play, a session of ugly golf broke out on the short par-4 17th, with Korda making a triple from the fairway and Thompson missing a 4-footer for par.

Things only got worse for Thompson, who missed two more short putts on the 18th in regulation play and OT. A four-way playoff of the elites that included defending champion Sei Young Kim, Lydia Ko, Thompson and Korda saw the gold medalist emerge victorious for a fourth time on the LPGA in 2021. Korda twice birdied the difficult 18th to put an end to the star-studded affair.

“Even though I say I think I lost hope,” said Korda, “I will never give up. I’ll go down fighting every single time.”

Lydia Koposes with the trophy after winning the LPGA Lotte Championship at Kapolei Golf Club on April 17, 2021 in Kapolei, Hawaii. Photo: Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Inspired by the recent drought-ending victories of Jordan Spieth (1,351 days) and Hideki Matsuyama (1,344 days), Lydia Ko ended her own 1,084-day title drought with a delightful dart show at the Lotte Championship.

Ko won the Lotte by a whopping seven strokes to collect her 16th LPGA title. She’d go on to win on the LET in Saudi Arabia in November and collect the LPGA’s Vare Trophy for low scoring average at year’s end.

Patty Tavatanakit takes a swig of champagne after winning the ANA Inspiration at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California, on April 4, 2021. Photo by Jay Calderon/The Desert Sun

Sunday at the ANA Inspiration was an edge-of-the-couch kind of thriller as Lydia Ko fired the lowest final round in LPGA major championship history, a 10-under 62, to nearly catch the rookie hotshot, Patty Tavatanakit.

Ko began the round birdie-eagle and then notched four more birdies to post the first 29 in ANA history. She was 9 under through 11 holes and within two shots of the lead after starting the day eight shots behind Tavatanakit.

Another birdie on the 15th made all kinds of history well within Ko’s grasp – even a 59.

In the end, the powerful Tavatanakit went wire-to-wire to make her first LPGA title a major. Ko left the desert brimming with the confidence that helped earn her first LPGA title in three years in her very next start.

Jessica Korda reacts to a birdie putt during the first playoff hole to win the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions at Tranquilo Golf Course on January 24, 2021 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images

Jessica Korda became only the fifth player in LPGA history to card a 60 at the season-opening Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions. It was a scintillating prelude to a Sunday that featured Korda playing alongside sister Nelly and fellow American Danielle Kang in the final group.

Jessica Korda and Kang ultimately went head-to-head in a playoff, where Korda drained a 25-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole to collect her sixth career title.

For the Korda family, it was only the beginning of a sensational year.