A month ago Nelly Korda was, arguably, the best story in golf. She had won six tournaments in a stretch of seven events. Scotty Scheffler was playing great on the men’s side at that time, too, but not quite at Nelly’s pace.
So then what happened?
The next event was the U.S. Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club in Pennsylvania. Korda took a 10 on a hole in the first round, and it’s been downhill ever since.
She missed the cut in three straight tournaments, two of which were major championships. She went home to Florida for some family time with her parents, tennis star brother Sebastian and sister Jessica – a former LPGA star – and her own family.
As Nelly prepared to return to tournament play she was bitten by a dog. That made headlines, too. These are indeed strange times for the best player in women’s golf.
Before teeing off in the Evian Championship in France Korda offered some thoughts on what suddenly happened to her game.
“I’d gone through every emotion possible – and it’s just July – on the golf course,’’ she said. “I love this game. I love the bad. I love the good. In sports, if you care so deeply about it you’re just going to go through the waves of the roller coaster.’’
She did managed to end the missed cut streak at the Evian last week but finished only in a tie for 26th place.
“I was a little up and down,’’ she said. “It was nice to finish birdie-eagle. Hopefully that’ll give me a nice boost into my next event, which is in three weeks.’’
And that next event is the Olympics in Paris, and she is the defending champion.
Korda is looking forward to another Olympic experience, although she won’t be able to share the time with sister Jessica, who has dropped off the LPGA Tour to concentrate on her own family duties. Nelly said it’s “sad’’ that Jessica won’t be with her this time.
“The game humbles you enough, and that’s something I learned a great deal recently,’’ she said. “I’m really lucky to have the support system I have. They’re the reason why I’m still here. I’m just super grateful they were in town and we got to hang out and take time for each other.’’
Now that the Evian is over Korda is taking another break. It’s not family time, though. She’s going to see her best friend in Croatia.
“She’s getting married, but I’ll be missing her wedding for the Solheim Cup, so I’m going to see her and get back to grinding again,’’ said Korda.
The women’s golf competition at the Olympics is Aug. 7-10. The Solheim Cup – the biggest team event in women’s golf – is Sept. 10-15 at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Virginia.
Korda, just 25, remains No. 1 on the Rolex Rankings. This year she’s experienced all the good things and a most unexpected slump all in a span of seven months.
In a pro career that started in 2017 she has 14 tournament victories and earned nearly $12 million. That’s a solid career already, but Korda has a lot of great golf challenges ahead of her. It’ll be intriguing to see how she responds.