SAMMAMISH, Wash. — Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings No. 1 Nelly Korda hasn’t been too bothered. Not by her last two missed cuts or any of the noise surrounding her historic 2024 season or the expectations placed on her performance this week at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
Korda has just been content to hang out in her bubble, and if her 2024 performance is any indication, that’s a very good place for the best player in the world to be with the third major championship of the season there for the taking.
In case you have slept through the first half of the year, Korda has won six times in 2024, collecting five straight titles from January to April, a record-tying feat that hadn’t been done on the LPGA Tour in nearly two decades. Her streak was broken after she finished in a tie for seventh at the Cognizant Founders Cup, but Korda returned to her winning ways the very next week at the Mizuho Americas Open, defeating Hannah Green by one shot after a grueling showdown with the Australian on the back nine of Liberty National Golf Club.
Korda’s next two starts didn’t go so well, as she missed the cut at the U.S. Women’s Open presented by Ally after making a 10 on the par-3 12th hole in the first round and then missed another cut at last week’s Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give. But those things happen – even to 14-time LPGA Tour winners – and Korda took the extra couple of days to reset and refocus, readying herself for another major test at Sahalee Country Club.
“I approach every tournament the same and differently,” explained Korda in her pre-tournament press conference. “I'm just trying to make a game plan for this week, and every week is just a refresh. I try not to overthink. I don't like to practice at events. I'll see where I need to hit it and where I can't hit it. Then I'll also put in my yardage book where I can be aggressive and where I can't. After that, it's just about playing the golf course.
“You can pick a game plan that you want to execute, but typically, it doesn't happen that way, and you just got to adapt. Everything is about adapting, and that's why I like to go out and just play the golf course and see the game that I have that day and try to adapt.”
The Florida native took home the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship title in 2021, when the event was contested at Atlanta Athletic Club in Georgia. She won by three shots that year over Lizette Salas with a four-day total of 19-under, and Korda hadn’t won a major since until she captured The Chevron Championship this past April.
And while her performance just a few weeks ago at Lancaster Country Club was a disappointing one for the 25-year-old, Korda appears to have climbed back on the horse at Sahalee, already making headlines after round one of the year’s third major championship.
Korda opened her week in Sammamish, Wash., with a 3-under 69, making one bogey, one double bogey and six birdies on Thursday in the Evergreen State, a solid showing that has started her bid for a seventh 2024 title off on the right foot.
She began the day with a birdie on the par-4 10th hole to move to 1-under but gave that shot right back with a bogey on 12. Korda then rattled off three consecutive birdies on holes 13, 14 and 15 to race up the leaderboard and get to 3-under overall.
The Rolex Rankings No. 1 cooled slightly after that stretch, making five straight pars before picking up her fifth birdie of the day on the par-4 3rd hole, now sitting at 4-under with six holes to play at Sahalee.
Korda made a double bogey on the par-4 4th hole after a wayward tee shot and a three-putt to drop back to 2-under, but she hung tough and closed out her round with a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-3 9th hole to post a 3-under 69 and claim an early spot at the top of the leaderboard on day one of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
“Not only is it hard and demanding off the tee, it's really hard with your second shots in,” said Korda. “It's hard to take the opportunities when you can and be aggressive out here because I feel like, in the morning, you can definitely be a little bit more aggressive with a majority of the pins being in the shade and a little softer. But once the greens start to see a little bit more sunlight, they start to firm up a bit more, and you have to play a little bit more defensive. Any time I can shoot under par in a major, I think that's a positive. Hopefully, that will just give me good momentum going into the next few days.”
Her unflappability in the big – and sometimes challenging – moments has served Korda well so far this season and has been a mentality that has been critical to her success, as she has won in virtually every condition and scenario imaginable in 2024.
That kind of “roll with the punches” mindset also works great when playing at difficult venues, a distinction that Sahalee Country Club has certainly earned with its narrow, tight fairways and undulating greens, and is a thought process that Korda will work to continue leaning on over the next 54 holes at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
“I've seen a lot of firsthand roller coasters happen in people's careers. I just know that if you stay positive and in your own bubble, you can bounce back,” said Korda when asked what the key is to her mentality on the golf course. “You work hard, you know what you got inside of you, and you just got to go out and execute it. You can't dwell on the past. You have to focus 100 percent on what's lying right in front of you. That's the attitude you have to have. You have to have short-term memory loss out here.”
And while Korda is absolutely locked in on what she needs to do in the coming days to contend for another title, she’s also letting herself have a little fun off the golf course at this major championship.
Korda’s sister Jessica is in Sammamish, Wash. this week to watch Nelly compete and has brought along her son Greyson, something that has been a welcome distraction for the 14-time LPGA Tour winner from the stress of a major championship. Korda has often talked about how important her family is to her, but to have her nephew in the gallery at Sahalee has been a real treat for the 25-year-old, as Jess hasn’t been able to travel too much to Nelly’s tournaments since having Greyson in February.
“I didn't know if (Jess) would come up to the first tee, but just having (Greyson) out there, I mean, I spent the majority of the afternoon with him yesterday, too,” said Korda, smiling. “Just gives a different perspective. Like takes you away from your life. His giggles just give me so much happiness.
“It's so nice to have them out here. I haven't seen her in a while. She came out early to support me on the first day, and I can't be more thankful.”
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