Where is Nelly Korda? The former world #1 is nowhere to be seen on the Tiburón Gold Course. That may be because she hasn’t tee’d off yet. But that is not exactly what we’re talking about here. Instead, we’re here to point out how the 2024 Rolex Player of the Year is not in any of the Featured Pairings. Don’t believe us? Well, the LPGA Tour has confirmed the same on their official Instagram page.

The first round of the 2025 CME Group Tour Championship has four Featured Pairings. The first group has Leona Maguire & Patty Tavatanakit, who teed off at 8:10 A.M. (EST). Group two includes Mi Hyang Lee & Lexi Thompson started at 8:30 A.M. (EST). Grace Kim & Brooke Henderson began their campaign at 10:20 A.M. (EST). Lastly, Akie Iwai & Charley Hull started at 11:40 A.M. (EST).

As far as Nelly Korda goes, she is paired with Somi Lee. Their pairing was scheduled to tee off at 12:00 noon (EST). However, unlike the eight names mentioned above, Korda & Lee won’t get dedicated broadcast time on ESPN+. It’s worth noting that the LPGA Tour still has them as a featured pairing. It’s just ESPN+ that is not giving them special coverage.

This is not the norm for the 15-time LPGA Tour champion, who has always been one of the biggest selling points of every event over the last few years. However, that doesn’t seem to be the case in the Naples, Florida, event. Or is there some other reason behind Korda not being in the Featured Group?

Well, turns out, it’s not only Nelly Korda who is missing from the spotlight. And that might explain why the former world #1 is not being left out purposely by the 2025 CME Group Tour Championship’s ESPN+ team. Let’s try to understand why this could have happened.

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Was Nelly Korda left out on purpose from the Featured Pairings by ESPN+?

Nelly Korda not being a part of the Featured Pairings might surprise some. But then again, the fact that the current world #1, Jeeno Thitikul, is also not in a Featured Group shows that it’s not that big of a deal. The fact is, both women started their rounds quite late in the day. By then, many of the other pairs had already completed their rounds.

Having them in Featured Groups when there are already very few players on the field doesn’t make sense. The cameras will already be following Korda & Thitikul for most of their rounds. With the second round tee-times still not confirmed, if either of them tees off early, they will probably be included in the Featured Group broadcast by ESPN+. We will have to wait and see what the network decides to do tomorrow.