Two months in the past, Nelly Korda barely curled in a three-foot putt to win the U.S. Women’s Open. It was her second consecutive major win and set off a “scrappy” LPGA plan to market the greatest participant in the ladies’s recreation as we entered what was believed to be “The Summer of Nelly.”
After beginning the season 1-2-2-T2-1-1-T8-1, there was each cause to consider that Nelly Korda’s rampant tear would proceed. She was heading to Hazeltine Golf Club, a golf course that fits her strengths, for the KPMG Women’s PGA after which abroad for the Evian and AIG Women’s Open. Other than the Evian, the place Korda has struggled, the schedule arrange nicely for Korda to proceed to lap the area whereas including to her main complete and punching her ticket to the LPGA Hall of Fame.
But Nelly Korda has cooled since her win at Riviera Country Club.
A frosty putter noticed her unable to catch Haeran Ryu at Hazeltine. She then missed the reduce at the Evian and simply completed T16 at the ISPS HANDA Women’s Scottish Open, recording only one under-par spherical at Dundonald Links forward of subsequent week’s AIG Women’s Open. Golf is a sport of ebbs and flows; even the world’s greatest usually are not resistant to down stretches. Korda is aware of this nicely. She gained seven occasions in 2024 and went winless final yr whereas taking part in at an identical stage from a statistical standpoint.
But there’s a greater option to perceive Nelly Korda’s current dip after a blistering begin.
Last week at the Open Championship, World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler sat at the dais and mentioned a frustrating season that has seen him win only once whereas racking up the near-misses. He had simply missed his first reduce in 78 tournaments — doing so on the same weekend that Korda missed the cut at the Evian — and explained how being in constant contention can wear you down, even if you happen to win. Scheffler likened it to an NFL workforce that always goes deep into the playoffs however ultimately runs out of fuel and has to reset.
“I feel at peace, yeah. I think sometimes it’s not like — it’s never the best thing to miss a cut, but like I said, sometimes having a couple days off, resetting, getting some time away — throughout the year, it’s like — when you look at other sports and if you look at a football team that’s made it really far each year in the NFL, it’s really hard to continue to do that each and every year.
“I think just towards the end of the season, you get a little tired. Like I said, I got a couple days off, reset. Reset the mind. Reset the body. And just kind of get back to feeling even and at peace.”
Then Scheffler explained that all the pieces that comes with being a star — whereas they’re all good issues — may be taxing and ultimately change into a weight that you have to be taught to navigate.
“I think it’s more just like mentally, especially in this day and age, there’s just a lot of noise all the time at golf tournaments,” Scheffler mentioned. “I think golf is unique in a sense, too, with the mental grind the sport entails. There’s just a lot more stuff that’s going on at tournaments.
“I think, just being in the spotlight all the time puts a burden on a player in this day and age. Everything is being recorded. When they say hello to you, they’ve got their cell phone out. Sometimes you can be like you’re walking on eggshells a little bit, and that can drain people.”
That’s a actuality Nelly Korda is aware of all too nicely.
She began the season on fireplace. She gained and gained and gained. She achieved a lifelong dream after which went on a media tour in service of rising ladies’s golf. The highlight had by no means been brighter. She arrived at the KPMG simply two factors away from the Hall of Fame, however she made certain the actual distance between her and that objective was unknown. Because Nelly Korda is aware of the burden Scottie Scheffler described, she tries to limit the distractions as a lot as potential, figuring out that she’ll already must take care of all the pieces else that comes with being ladies’s golf’s greatest star.
“I kind of like to be oblivious about it in that way,” Korda mentioned at Hazeltine about not figuring out what she wanted to get to the Hall of Fame. “I know a lot about the stuff that I want to know about, but this, I don’t want to put extra pressure on myself. I feel like the game of golf is already hard enough. If I add more pressure on myself then it’s going to be even harder. I think it’s an amazing accomplishment and it would be one of the best achievements of my career, for sure.”
Korda left Hazeltine and missed the reduce at the Evian. After that, she took per week off and headed to Prague to reset earlier than heading into the yr’s ultimate main. Just as Scheffler did after lacking the reduce at the Scottish Open, Korda did what she might to benefit from her time away from the highlight, figuring out that she’ll be returning to it shortly.
“One, recharge the batteries,” Korda mentioned of her week off in Prague. “You live a little bit of a normal life for one week. It’s my second home. Obviously I have a home base there, so I can also practice and really kind of get back to my roots.”
Korda opened with an even-par 72 at Dundonald and made the weekend however by no means contended as Jenny Shin gained her first event in 10 years. After capturing a final-round 69, Korda turned her consideration to subsequent week’s AIG Women’s Open at Royal Lytham & St. Annes. A T16 end gained’t transfer the needle for Korda, however it was a invaluable week as she prepares for a hyperlinks golf take a look at that can give her one other likelihood to get into the Hall of Fame and full the LPGA’s profession Grand Slam (profitable 4 of the 5 majors).
“Very up-and-down week,” Korda mentioned on Sunday. “It was nice to finish with a good round on Sunday leading into next week, but I think any time that you get to play in this kind of weather right before the British, it’s great prep and you know what you’re going to get. So experienced everything this week: sunshine, a little bit of warmth, and sideways rain, gusty winds. But that’s a given out here. So just trying to get into the mindset for next week.”
Scottie Scheffler is aware of what Nelly Korda has to navigate on a weekly foundation, the weight it creates and the way vital managing it is with the intention to keep the elite stage of play that has outlined each of them over the previous few years. Scheffler parlayed his uncommon weekend away right into a T4 end at the Open, narrowly lacking out on an opportunity to seize a fifth main.
Nelly Korda has cooled off since she left Riviera. That was to be anticipated given the unprecedented heater she was on and the weight that always comes with transcendent moments. Every win, each achievement provides extra eyeballs, extra asks, extra of a burden. That’s the worth of superstardom. A toll each Scheffler and Korda are conversant in.
After per week of unburdening in Prague and a decent re-entry in Scotland, Nelly Korda now faces the greatest query of her season — one Scheffler handled final week at Royal Birkdale: Can the greatest participant in the world end her main season by doing the hardest factor in golf and win when everybody expects her to?
That’s a burden only some carry.
