Ahead of the U.S. Women’s Open, Nelly Korda said she is making wedding plans with her fiancé, Casey Gunderson, and trying to balance that life change with the duties of being the world’s top-ranked player. The 27-year-old spoke exclusively with Access Hollywood’s Kit Hoover in the days before the major and used the conversation to offer a rare personal update.
On the course Korda is unambiguous about her place: she called being the world No. 1 an “amazing accomplishment” and said she hopes the visibility of her success “inspires many, many girls.” Those lines mattered because they came from a player who, by Korda’s own count, reached a personal milestone when her second Major came as her 13th win — a detail she tied to a longstanding affection for the number 13.
“It’s my favorite number. My parents are actually 13 days apart. That’s one. And then two my second Major was my 13th win. And I just always loved the number 13,” Korda told Hoover, folding small personal notes into a conversation about form and focus ahead of the tournament.
The timing of the interview makes the comments immediate. The U.S. Women’s Open presented by Ally begins June 4 and runs through June 7 on NBC, and Korda’s remarks landed while she prepares to defend her position under the brightest national spotlight the week of the major.
The interview also threaded a less-obvious storyline: celebrity attention. Korda credited LeBron James with doing more than talk — she said he “consistently reaches out and has helped elevate women's golf” and described the effect of his involvement on the sport’s audience. “His viewers have now started to transition to women’s golf, and it’s just upped our interaction with them, so it’s amazing to see. He’s so sweet. I love how big of a nut he is about the game of golf. And, he’s just always been super supportive,” she said.
Despite the praise, Korda added a humanizing wrinkle: she and James have not yet played together. The comment undercuts the easy celebrity-narrative of crossover exposure — support has been public and vocal, but it hasn’t translated into the kind of on-course companionship that makes for headline social moments.
On the personal front, Korda confirmed what fans have known since November, when she announced her engagement to Casey Gunderson. Supplementary reporting places Gunderson at an engineering firm and notes the pair first met in high school at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida — a background that anchors the engagement in a long-term relationship rather than a fleeting romance.
Still, Korda kept specifics about the wedding itself sparse in the interview. She shared plans and affection for the future but did not give a date or a fixed timeline, leaving the single practical question that matters to followers unanswered: when will the wedding actually take place?
That absence matters because Korda enters a pivotal competitive week with personal logistics on the horizon. The clash — preparing to tee off at one of golf’s four majors while arranging a major life event — is the story’s quiet tension. It frames Korda not just as a dominant athlete but as someone juggling commitments that will shape public and private chapters of her life.
The immediate next moment is fixed: Korda will compete at the U.S. Women’s Open from June 4–7. The most consequential unanswered question she leaves behind the interview is also the simplest: when will she and Casey Gunderson make their plans public in full? Fans and media will watch the leaderboard and, increasingly, a wedding calendar they hope will be set soon.
