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US golfer Nelly Korda is certainly one of the best golfers on the circuit right now. All of 24 years of age, she has already won seven LPGA Tour events. She even bagged the world no. 1 spot in 2021 after winning the Women’s PGA Championship .
Still in her early twenties, Nelly Korda is already putting together a trail of memorable victories. In 2021, she featured in her first Olympic Games in Tokyo. She missed hitting a birdie on the 18th hole and instead double-bogeyed it, turning what would have been a round of 59 into a round of 62 in the second.
According to the LPGA.com this is what she had to say:
"I wasn't thinking about it at all. I was like, 'Oh, cool, I have a pretty good lead going into 18.' Unfortunate that double on 18, but that's golf and that's just how it goes sometimes."
Through several ups and downs, she finally won the gold medal, becoming the second US woman ever to do so in golf after Margaret Abbott at the 1900 Olympics. The US dominated the Olympic golf course as Xander Schauffele also bagged the gold medal in the men's category.
Korda will turn 26 heading into Paris 2024 and is likely to add to her Olympic medal tally.
"I definitely lost a couple years off my life with the stress that I caused," - Nelly Korda
Nelly Korda has had a tough year. Just after winning the Pelican Women's Championship in 2021 she suffered a blood clot in her left arm in February 2022.
She spoke about her hard-earned victory in 2021 with an effervescent laugh. She had birdied the first playoff hole to take home the win.
"Last year it was definitely a very interesting finish. I think I tripled 17 and then I birdied 18 to get into the playoff, and then I birdied my first hole in the playoff. So, yeah, didn't make it very easy for myself."
She returned to the Pelican Women's Championship to defend her title this week. Korda rued the fact that she had to lose a substantial amount of time on account of her surgery and subsequent recovery but also said that she was looking forward to be back at the tournament where she has tasted success in the past .
"I definitely lost a couple years off my life with the stress that I caused. Other than that, amazing memories coming back here. Hopefully I can make some really good ones this year."
The blood clot in her left arm forced her to spend almost four months away from the sport. However, the champion athlete made a thundering return to the LPGA Tour by executing five top-ten finishes in ten events. Despite that, it has been far from a smooth run.
"I would recap (this season) in it was a rollercoaster. There was definitely a lot of ups, a lot of downs. I played some solid golf since coming back, but I've also overdone it and also played some poor golf. So, definitely a learning year, more about myself, more about my body."
In her last two LPGA appearances, the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship, presented by P&G and The Ascendant LPGA supporting Volunteers of America, Korda failed to make the cut. The miss at the former marked the first time she couldn't make the cut at playing the weekend since June 2021.
Nelly Korda believed it wasn't her injury but her over-competitive desire to compensate for lost time that resulted in a dismal performance.
"I think I missed so much of the year that I kind of wanted to make it all up in a sense. I think I came back at the time that I needed to, or that was acceptable. The only thing that I may have made a mistake in is then trying to catch up and just being on the road too much and not taking a breather and stepping back and being fresh."
All eyes will be on the current world number 4 as she attempts to defend her title at the Pelican Golf Club. The Pelican Women's Championship, now shortened to 54 holes, is underway and shall culminate on Sunday, November the13.
