Nelly Korda leads the LPGA Vare Trophy race with a scoring average of 69.38, but she hasn’t met the tour’s rounds requirement and remains ineligible for the award. The shortfall also puts a Hall of Fame point out of reach unless her remaining schedule meets the rules. The Vare Trophy is worth one point. Korda is currently two points short of the 27 needed to qualify.
The rulebook sets the terms
The LPGA requires at least 60 total rounds, or 60 percent of official tournament rounds with an individual score, whichever is less, to meet the first Vare Trophy requirement. A second threshold demands at least 70 total rounds, or 70 percent of total official tournament rounds, whichever is less. Her place at the top of the scoring race doesn’t override either condition.
Korda’s next expected start is The Annika driven by Gainbridge at Pelican, where she is a three-time winner. If she makes the cut there and plays all four rounds of the CME Group Tour Championship, she will reach 61 total rounds in individual events this season. That would satisfy the first requirement.
The second requirement remains the harder gate. The Dow, which Korda played over the summer, brings her potential total to 65 rounds—five short of 70 and further below the 70 percent threshold. A leading scoring average alone doesn’t decide eligibility; the rules count rounds.
A schedule with little room left
The Lotte Championship in Hawaii is the last LPGA event on U.S. soil until mid-November. Korda isn’t playing in the tournament on Oahu, and an LPGA official confirmed she hasn’t entered any of the four events on the fall Asia swing; those fields have closed. Her last event was the Solheim Cup, and she is taking a two-month break from competition.
Korda has played 15 LPGA events in 2026 and skipped both the spring and fall Asia swings. She typically plays the unofficial Grant Thornton Invitational and PNC Championship in December, extending her schedule to Christmas. She won’t play in the new WTGL. The source identifies Korda as the world No. 1, but her scoring lead doesn’t change the participation requirements governing the award.
The LPGA Player of the Year Award offers another possible route to a Hall of Fame point. Korda leads that race over Haeran Ryu by 75 points. A victory at either of her last two tournament starts would also be worth one point.
The precedent is already on the record
Korda has missed a Hall of Fame point before because of the rounds requirement. In 2021, she led the tour in scoring but didn’t play enough rounds to win the Vare Trophy. Since 1992, the tour’s leading scorer has missed the award seven times: Nancy Lopez in 1993; Laura Davies in 1996; Annika Sorenstam in 2003 and 2004; Sei Young Kim in 2020; Korda in 2021; and Jeeno Thitikul in 2024.
Lydia Ko faced the same calculation in 2021. After realizing that missing the Pelican event would leave her one round short of Vare Trophy eligibility, she re-entered the tournament. She ultimately won the award and its Hall of Fame point. Three players ahead of her on the scoring list couldn’t qualify that year: Korda at 69.074, Jin Young Ko at 69.186 and Inbee Park at 69.534.
Lydia Ko earned her 27th Hall of Fame point by winning gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Korda’s next scheduled event is The Annika driven by Gainbridge at Pelican, where the remaining rounds and results will determine what the season’s award rules allow.