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 properly.
A canine jumped up and bit Korda within the thigh whereas in a espresso store in Seattle, the place Sahalee Golf Membership welcomed the most effective feminine gamers on this planet for this 12 months’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 mentioned.
“The final time we had been collectively was November final 12 months, so it is actually healthful attending to spend time with household and recharge my batteries by doing that.”
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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 12 months earlier than. Korda additionally completed T-19 in 2021.
“I feel the actually massive phrase this week is endurance. You’ll be able to hit a very good shot and get a very unhealthy bounce, and you’ll hit a foul shot and get a very 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. Crucial factor is to not get too forward of your self and never get too pissed off with the unhealthy bounces.”
When Korda first performed within the Evian in 2017, she missed the reduce. The next 12 months, 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 presently resides.
And but, even the most effective gamers wrestle 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 most effective participant on this planet make a ten on a par-3, both.
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“I feel I’ve gone by way of each emotion potential on the golf course this season, and it is solely July. You recognize, I really like this sport. I really like the unhealthy. I really like the nice,” Korda mentioned.
“The unhealthy makes you recognize the nice, and that’s simply how it’s. It’s sports activities. In the event you care so deeply about it, you’ll simply undergo the wave of the curler coaster. I’ve an ideal staff and superb household that maintain me grounded and maintain my perspective optimistic. All of them raise me up even after I’m down, they usually ensure that all of us keep very, very grounded and really, very humble as a result of generally you may get a little bit too forward of your self.
“However the sport humbles you sufficient itself, which I discovered an ideal deal just lately. That’s what I really like about it. Even when I’m not taking part in properly, 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 might argue that Korda has essentially the most lovely golf swing on the planet. However her sharp psychological acumen and extremely optimistic outlook are additional the explanation why she is presently the most effective participant on this planet.
That, coupled with the truth that she arrives on the Evian well-rested, has to steer you to consider that she will likely be part of the story in France as soon as extra.
Both manner, this occasion will function an appetizer for what’s to return 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 mentioned.
“However when the week comes, I do know I’m going to be so excited. I’m positively going to look at the blokes on the ultimate day, root for the U.S., and get to look at the blokes that I grew up idolizing and watching day-after-day on TV.”
Jack Milko is a golf employees author for SB Nation’s Enjoying By means of. You’ll want to take a look at @_PlayingThrough for extra golf protection. You’ll be able to observe him on Twitter @jack_milko as properly.
