Who is Nelly Korda’s putting coach? David Angelotti and the Phil Kenyon connection at the 2026 U.S. Women’s Open

Nelly Korda‘s putting coach is David Angelotti, the lead coach at Phil Kenyon Putting based at Sea Island in Georgia. Korda tees off in Round 1 of the 2026 U.S. Women’s Open at Riviera Country Club on Thursday as the world No. 1 and the betting favorite, and the work she has done with Angelotti is a big reason she arrives playing some of the best golf of her career.

The story starts with Phil Kenyon, one of the most in-demand putting coaches in golf and the man who works with Scottie Scheffler and Matt Fitzpatrick, among others. Korda reached out to Kenyon for help late last year, and he met with her at the Kroger Queen City Championship in September to take a first real look at her stroke.

What Scottie Scheffler‘s coach told Nelly Korda

When Kenyon watched Korda putt for the first time, the headline change he recommended was a switch away from a left-hand-low grip back to a conventional grip. Because Kenyon is stretched across a long list of elite players, he did not take her on full-time. Instead, he pointed her toward David Angelotti, the lead coach inside his own operation, and stayed involved to oversee the work on occasion.

That referral has paid off. Korda has credited Angelotti with bringing order to a part of her game that used to feel scattered. As she put it, he is finally someone who gives her putting practice a sense of structure, and that everything she does with him is very structured. For a player whose ball-striking has rarely been the question, tightening up the putter is the difference between contending and winning.

Why it matters at Riviera

Riviera is a brutal test for the season’s third major, and the greens are where this U.S. Women’s Open will be decided. The surfaces are famously difficult to read, and the USGA has set the course up to demand a complete game from tee to cup. A player who has spent the last several months rebuilding trust in her stroke and her green reading is exactly the profile that travels well to a championship like this one.

Korda was runner-up at the U.S. Women’s Open last year and has yet to capture this title, which makes Riviera one of the biggest gaps left on her resume. Putting work with Angelotti is the through line connecting her hot run of form to the one trophy she most wants to add.

Betting and DFS angle

Korda enters as the clear betting favorite and the chalk play in DFS, and the putting upgrade is the case for paying up for her this week. On a course where the field will leak strokes on and around the greens, an improved short-game and putting profile is worth more than it would be on a soft, gettable setup. If you are weighing her against the field at her price, the Kenyon and Angelotti work is the reason to trust that her recent putting numbers are real and repeatable rather than a fluke.

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Frequently asked questions

Who is Nelly Korda‘s putting coach?

David Angelotti, the lead coach at Phil Kenyon Putting at Sea Island in Georgia. The relationship was set up by Phil Kenyon, who continues to oversee the work at times.

What did Phil Kenyon change in Nelly Korda‘s putting?

After watching her stroke at the Kroger Queen City Championship in September, Kenyon advised Korda to move away from a left-hand-low grip and back to a conventional grip, then handed off the day-to-day coaching to David Angelotti.

Is Nelly Korda the favorite at the 2026 U.S. Women’s Open?

Yes. Korda is the world No. 1 and enters Riviera as the betting favorite, still chasing her first U.S. Women’s Open title after finishing runner-up a year ago.

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