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 identify, too: on the U.S. Girls’s Open and the KPMG Girls’s PGA Championship.
Add a canine chunk 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 one of the best feminine gamers on the planet for this yr’s KPMG Girls’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 together 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 yr, so it is actually healthful attending to spend time with household and recharge my batteries by doing that.”
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 massive phrase this week is endurance. You’ll be able to hit a extremely good shot and get a extremely unhealthy bounce, and you may hit a foul shot and get a extremely good bounce. So it’s actually necessary to be affected person out right here this week,” Korda defined.
“It undoubtedly 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 pissed off with the unhealthy bounces.”
When Korda first performed within the Evian in 2017, she missed the reduce. 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 presently resides.
And but, even one of the best gamers battle with this recreation, as Korda did at Lancaster Nation Membership and Sahalee over the previous two months. It’s not typically that you just see one of the best participant on the planet make a ten on a par-3, both.
“I feel I’ve gone by way of each emotion attainable on the golf course this season, and it is solely July. , I like this recreation. I like the unhealthy. I like the great,” Korda mentioned.
“The unhealthy makes you recognize the great, and that’s simply how it’s. It’s sports activities. If you happen to care so deeply about it, you’ll simply undergo the wave of the curler coaster. I’ve an excellent group and wonderful household that hold me grounded and hold my perspective constructive. All of them carry me up even once I’m down, and so they guarantee that all of us keep very, very grounded and really, very humble as a result of typically you will get a little bit too forward of your self.
“However the recreation humbles you adequate itself, which I realized an excellent deal not too long ago. That’s what I like about it. Even when I’m not enjoying 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 explanation I’m nonetheless right here.”
One may argue that Korda has essentially the most lovely golf swing on the planet. However her sharp psychological acumen and extremely constructive outlook are additional the reason why she is presently one of the best participant on the planet.
That, coupled with the truth that she arrives on the Evian well-rested, has to guide you to consider that she shall be part of the story in France as soon as extra.
Both approach, 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 be able to 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 undoubtedly going to look at the fellows on the ultimate day, root for the U.S., and get to look at the fellows that I grew up idolizing and watching on daily basis on TV.”
Jack Milko is a golf employees author for SB Nation’s Taking part in By way of. Be sure you take a look at @_PlayingThrough for extra golf protection. You’ll be able to observe him on Twitter @jack_milko as properly.