LPGA: Nelly Korda overcomes canine chunk, prepared for an additional 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 title, too: on the U.S. Ladies’s Open and the KPMG Ladies’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 the most effective feminine gamers on the earth for this 12 months’s KPMG Ladies’s PGA Championship. Due to the incident, she needed to withdraw from the Women European Tour’s Aramco Group 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 12 months, so it is actually healthful attending to spend time with household and recharge my batteries by doing that.”

Photograph by Matthew Lewis/Getty Photographs

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 12 months earlier than. Korda additionally completed T-19 in 2021.

“I feel the actually huge 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. Crucial factor is to not get too forward of your self and never get too annoyed with the unhealthy bounces.”

When Korda first performed within the Evian in 2017, she missed the minimize. The next 12 months, 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 earth make a ten on a par-3, both.

Photograph by Matthew Lewis/Getty Photographs

“I feel I’ve gone by each emotion doable on the golf course this season, and it is solely July. You recognize, I really like this sport. I really like the unhealthy. I really like the great,” Korda mentioned.

“The unhealthy makes you admire the great, and that’s simply how it’s. It’s sports activities. When you care so deeply about it, you’ll simply undergo the wave of the curler coaster. I’ve an excellent staff and wonderful household that maintain me grounded and maintain my perspective optimistic. All of them elevate 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 generally you will get just a little too forward of your self.

“However the sport humbles you adequate itself, which I discovered an excellent deal lately. That’s what I really like about it. Even when I’m not enjoying properly, 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 might argue that Korda has probably the most lovely golf swing on the planet. However her sharp psychological acumen and extremely optimistic outlook are additional the explanation why she is at the moment the most effective participant on the earth.

That, coupled with the truth that she arrives on the Evian well-rested, has to steer you to consider that she might be part of the story in France as soon as extra.

Both means, 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 concentrate on 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 observe the fellows on the ultimate day, root for the U.S., and get to observe 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 Via. You should definitely try @_PlayingThrough for extra golf protection. You’ll be able to comply with him on Twitter @jack_milko as properly.