Nelly Korda remains number one in the world despite not winning the LPGA Tour mid-season, but claims that there hasn’t been any additional pressure to breakthroughs at the Women’s US Open at Wisconsin’s Erin Hills Golf Club this week.
“I’m not going to think about it,” said Korda, who won seven wins in 16 events and won a major title at the 2024 Chevron Championship.
“If you want to feel it, you’ll feel it, but what really matters is that you stick to your game plan and you’re really focused on the current time, which really helped me.”
Korda was driven by the Rolex Player of the Year honors in 2024 with five consecutive wins. She is chasing her first women’s open title with her second top five finish at the Mizuho Americas Open this season.
With global rankings highlighting, it is hard to classify Korda’s outcome as struggling. She finished 22nd or higher with three top-10 finishes in six events.
She said the season so far was “interesting,” but this week she was an event known for testing patience, and claimed she would be grateful and accept this week’s position.
“That’s big,” said Korda, 26.
This contrasts with the current surge in momentum meter in 2024 entering the Women’s Open in the US. She missed a cut at Lancaster Country Club in Pennsylvania, and in the opening round in 80 seasons, Corda is pleased with the real-time game.
Erin Hills has the challenges to come as a course known for whipping wind and tight, challenging traps. And Corda hasn’t posted many memorable rounds recently. Two of her past three US women’s open rounds have resulted in a score of 80. She was eight over in the final 18 and shone the 2023 event at Pebble Beach, where she finished 64th.
“The more you are put in a moment of underpressure, the more you are fighting for, the more you learn more about yourself and how to deal with those situations,” Korda said. “Every year something has tested me, and every year I learn a little more about myself and how I treat myself in a certain situation.
“Yeah, I think it’s all about putting yourself in that place. …At the end of the day, you’re the one who places yourself there and you have to be grateful to be in that place.
Paired with Charlie Hull and Lexi Thompson, Korda focuses on what he can control in his 10th career US open start.
“I mean, that’s the biggest test of golf,” Korda said. “It definitely tested me a lot. I love it. That’s why we do what we do at the end of the day. Play these golf courses in these conditions and test the game in all respects.”