LPGA: Nelly Korda overcomes canine chew, prepared for one more main

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 chew to all of that, as nicely.

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 the planet for this yr’s KPMG Girls’s PGA Championship. Due to the incident, she needed to withdraw from the Girls European Tour’s Aramco Staff Collection 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 have been collectively was November final yr, so it is actually healthful attending to spend time with household and recharge my batteries by doing that.”

Photograph by Matthew Lewis/Getty Photos

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 believe the actually large phrase this week is persistence. You’ll be able to hit a extremely good shot and get a extremely dangerous bounce, and you may hit a foul shot and get a extremely good bounce. So it’s actually vital to be affected person out right here this week,” Korda defined.

“It undoubtedly took me a few years to determine it out. A very powerful factor is to not get too forward of your self and never get too annoyed with the dangerous 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 at the moment 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 the planet make a ten on a par-3, both.

Photograph by Matthew Lewis/Getty Photos

“I believe I’ve gone by each emotion attainable on the golf course this season, and it is solely July. You already know, I like this sport. I like the dangerous. I like the great,” Korda mentioned.

“The dangerous makes you admire the great, and that’s simply how it’s. It’s sports activities. Should you care so deeply about it, you’ll simply undergo the wave of the curler coaster. I’ve a terrific crew and superb household that maintain me grounded and maintain my perspective constructive. All of them carry me up even after I’m down, and so they ensure that all of us keep very, very grounded and really, very humble as a result of typically you will get a bit of too forward of your self.

“However the sport humbles you adequate itself, which I discovered a terrific deal just lately. That’s what I like about it. Even when I’m not taking part in nicely, I’ll exit and provides it 100%, work more durable, 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 probably the most lovely golf swing on the planet. However her sharp psychological acumen and extremely constructive outlook are additional the reason why she is at the moment the most effective participant on the planet.

That, coupled with the truth that she arrives on the Evian well-rested, has to guide you to imagine that she can 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 give attention to what’s proper in entrance of me. I’ve by no means been to Paris. I’ve flown by 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 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 by day on TV.”

Jack Milko is a golf workers author for SB Nation’s Enjoying Via. Make sure to take a look at @_PlayingThrough for extra golf protection. You’ll be able to comply with him on Twitter @jack_milko as nicely.