Unbeaten: the winners who crowd top spots
Winning streaks that don’t seem to end are rare in sport. When they do happen, fans don’t stop to ask what it takes from the person or team. By
In recent months, newly crowned German soccer champions Bayer Leverkusen dominated the headlines, going unbeaten for a record 45 matches. In Europe’s top five leagues, Leverkusen remain the only club yet to taste defeat, in any competition, in the 2023/24 season.
In South African soccer, Mamelodi Sundowns are closing in on 50 games unbeaten in the Dstv Premiership. Masandawana last lost a league game in September 2022.
Martina Navratilova dominated women’s tennis in the 1980s. Her pinnacle was in 1984 when she won an astonishing 74 matches, including three of the four majors.
The winning streak that has golf fanatics talking is that of American Nelly Korda, who recently won her fifth tournament in a row – the Chevron Championship at the Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course in Texas.
With the victory, the 25-year-old equalled a Ladies Professional Golf Association record that was jointly held by Nancy Lopez (1978) and Annika Sörenstam (2004-2005).
In men’s professional golf, Tiger Woods won five consecutive tournaments in 2007/08, six in 1999/2000, and seven in 2006/07. John Nelson holds the overall record, though, with 11 consecutive wins in 1945.
Korda, the daughter of former Australian Open tennis champion Petr Korda, had a tumultuous few years before attaining her present heights. In addition to suffering from recurring back injuries, she revealed in 2022 that she had a blood clot in her right arm that kept her on the sidelines for some time.
Asked whether she had envisaged the success she is enjoying when she was battling ill health, Korda said: “Back then, no. Because obviously, then I was just more scared for my health. Competing was kind of on the backseat.
“But all the sad times and the health scares that I have gone through have made me who I am today. It has matured me a lot, and I would say it’s shaped me into the person I am today. I’m very grateful for the ups and downs.”
It’s underrated how
difficult it is to do the stuff that Tiger was doing and win like every single week. It takes
a lot out of you
Another US golfer on a hot streak is Scottie Scheffler. The 27-year-old won the Masters a fortnight ago and added the RBC Heritage to his haul last week. The Heritage victory took Scheffler’s record this year to four victories in five starts.
After his latest win, the New Jersey-born golfer took time to pay homage to fellow world No 1 Korda, as well as Woods.
“One of the people here asked me whether this is ‘turning into a competition between you and Nelly’ and I was like, I don’t know, man. If it’s a competition, she’s got me pretty beat right now,” Scheffler said.
“It’s underrated how difficult it is to do the stuff that Tiger was doing and win like every single week. It takes a lot out of you emotionally and physically, especially major championships.”
Korda has pulled out of the next event in the LPGA roster to rest. She is due to return to action in mid-may at the Cognizant Founders Cup, where she will be seeking to continue her winning streak.