Nelly Korda has had a whirlwind of a season that has included six wins, with 5 coming consecutively. That additionally features a victory on the Chevron Championship—the season’s first main. However she has two missed cuts to her title, too: on the U.S. Ladies’s Open and the KPMG Ladies’s PGA Championship.
Add a canine chew to all of that, as effectively.
A canine jumped up and bit Korda within the thigh whereas in a espresso store in Seattle, the place Sahalee Golf Membership welcomed the perfect feminine gamers on this planet for this yr’s KPMG Ladies’s PGA Championship. Due to the incident, she needed to withdraw from the Women European Tour’s Aramco Staff Sequence occasion in London.
However now she is prepared for the Amundi Evian Championship in France after spending a few weeks along with her household.
“It was good for all of us to be collectively,” Korda stated.
“The final time we had been collectively was November final yr, so it is actually healthful attending to spend time with household and recharge my batteries by doing that.”
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25525827/2161474744.jpg)
Korda arrives on the Evian Resort feeling refreshed—a course the place she has had loads of success however has but to snag a victory. She tied for ninth on the Amundi Evian Championship in 2023 and completed in a tie for eighth the yr earlier than. Korda additionally completed T-19 in 2021.
“I feel the actually large phrase this week is persistence. You possibly can hit a extremely good shot and get a extremely dangerous bounce, and you’ll hit a nasty shot and get a extremely good bounce. So it’s actually essential to be affected person out right here this week,” Korda defined.
“It positively took me a few years to determine it out. An important factor is to not get too forward of your self and never get too annoyed with the dangerous bounces.”
When Korda first performed within the Evian in 2017, she missed the lower. The next yr, she tied for 61st after which tied for twenty fifth in 2019. However that was earlier than she ascended to the highest of the game, the place she at the moment resides.
And but, even the perfect gamers battle with this sport, as Korda did at Lancaster Nation Membership and Sahalee over the previous two months. It’s not typically that you just see the perfect participant on this planet make a ten on a par-3, both.
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25525828/2161441891.jpg)
“I feel I’ve gone by way of each emotion potential on the golf course this season, and it is solely July. , I like this sport. I like the dangerous. I like the great,” Korda stated.
“The dangerous makes you respect the great, and that’s simply how it’s. It’s sports activities. In case you care so deeply about it, you’ll simply undergo the wave of the curler coaster. I’ve an amazing workforce and superb household that maintain me grounded and maintain my perspective constructive. All of them elevate me up even after I’m down, they usually be sure that all of us keep very, very grounded and really, very humble as a result of typically you will get somewhat too forward of your self.
“However the sport humbles you sufficient itself, which I realized an amazing deal just lately. That’s what I like about it. Even when I’m not taking part in effectively, I’ll exit and provides it 100%, work tougher, and do the identical factor. I’m actually fortunate to have the assist system I’ve, and it’s the rationale I’m nonetheless right here.”
One may argue that Korda has probably the most lovely golf swing on the planet. However her sharp psychological acumen and extremely constructive outlook are additional the reason why she is at the moment the perfect participant on this planet.
That, coupled with the truth that she arrives on the Evian well-rested, has to guide you to imagine that she will probably be part of the story in France as soon as extra.
Both method, this occasion will function an appetizer for what’s to come back on the Olympics subsequent month. Korda already has a gold medal shining proudly in her workplace. Maybe she will win one other one, too. However her focus is squarely on the Evian, correctly.
“I have a tendency simply to attempt to deal with what’s proper in entrance of me. I’ve by no means been to Paris. I’ve flown by way of Paris, so I am additionally excited to see Paris and possibly be a little bit of a vacationer if I’ve time,” Korda stated.
“However when the week comes, I do know I’m going to be so excited. I’m positively going to observe the fellows on the ultimate day, root for the U.S., and get to observe the fellows that I grew up idolizing and watching day by day on TV.”
Jack Milko is a golf employees author for SB Nation’s Taking part in By means of. Make sure you take a look at @_PlayingThrough for extra golf protection. You possibly can comply with him on Twitter @jack_milko as effectively.
