World No. 1 Nelly Korda has four majors, and the Race to the CME Globe lead in her trophy case this season, but the biggest news story she is currently involved in does not stem from a tournament in which she will compete.

Nelly Korda chose not to play in the maiden season of the Women’s Tech-Infused Indoor Golf League, and the president of the game corroborated this at TMRW Sports golf, Rufus Hack.

"We had lots of conversations with Nelly and her team, and effectively the decision was made that she wasn't going to participate in Season 1," Hack said at the league's media day on September 20.

The omission results in an obvious hole for a league that is still establishing itself. WTGL will debut on November 8 at the SoFi Center with 25 players distributed among five teams, all of whom rank within the world’s top 25, but none match Korda's name recognitio

Hack has made it obvious that the door is still open in future seasons, despite Korda opting out of this one.

"The door is certainly not closed for season two and beyond, and we continue to have very constructive conversations. And we would love Nelly to be part of WTGL at some point," Hack said.

Korda's ambivalence actually goes deeper than that of this year's negotiation process, being connected to her overall attitude on what the women's indoor golf tournament should be like.

During her interview with Golfweek in January, she pointed out that the format could miss an opportunity to combine both male and female golf games.

"I'm surprised no other girls have really spoken out about it," Korda said. "I think it's a huge and unbelievable miss that we're not playing alongside the men. There's no greater way to grow the game, and it would have been revolutionary."

This preference for a hybrid format is one reason that makes her choice much more valuable than just a scheduling issue.

Nelly Korda Explains Her Mixed Feelings On Women's Indoor Golf Format

Korda hasn’t dismissed the all-women structure as she continued to advocate for a mixed-gender version of the league. She made sure to acknowledge the value that WTGL still holds for women's golf.

"It would have been the first time that men and women were on the same playing field, playing for the same amount of money," Korda said. "But I also think it's great that we are getting this opportunity, so those are my mixed feelings."

The league runs a replica of the TGL setup with the five of seven teams, and the expectation is that the purse will come close to the $10.72 million average for the five women's majors, just like TGL's $21 million purse relates to the average of men's majors.

Scheduling is another dimension to this whole scenario, given that the WTGL has an international team and that it takes place during the LPGA offseason, meaning that travel is an important consideration in any discussion of participation.

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Written by

Utsav Gupta

Edited by

Utsav Gupta