Nelly Korda and Rose Zhang have something in common. No, we’re not talking about the fact that they both won their first LPGA Tour title shortly after turning 20. Both are in the field of the 2025 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and are facing the same on-course struggles. Surprisingly, this is something no one else might be going through. After 18 holes, the two have also ended tied at 16th with a par on the leaderboard. And in the post-round interview, Korda and Zhang shared what kept them from possibly getting a better score in the season’s third major.

After completing her 18 holes, the 22-year-old was asked about juggling her studies and golf amid her neck injury. Reflecting, she said in a press conference, “Yeah, honestly, this year has been very unorthodox. I felt like I was in a good groove last year, also the year before, but this year kind of had its moments where, obviously, the neck injury kind of flared up.” In 2023, Zhang made 12 cuts in 13 events, and then a year after that, she missed 5 cuts but earned her second win at the Founders Cup, shooting 24-under. Good seasons, one could say!

Since the start of the year, Zhang has been busy with her Communications degree at Stanford University. You see, she was away from the LPGA Tour for about 2 months to complete the Winter Quarter semester that ended on March 14, 2025. Then, she missed the 2025 Chevron Championship to recover from the nagging neck injury. Unlike her peers, the 2-time LPGA Tour champion has only appeared in 6 tournaments this season, including the ongoing major at Fields Ranch East. But injury is not the only reason she has been out of action this season.

She continued, “I spent hours and hours doing work at school, and I feel like that all played a part in the stress and coming back and trying to put up performances. Right now, I’m trying to go back into a more process-oriented mindset of trying to get things done one step at a time. Starting with being healthy and then working on the game again. But I have a very good team for that, so I’m thankful.” Clearly, her stressful schedule away from the course has also taken a toll on her health.

Before teeing off at the 2025 U.S. Women’s Open, Zhang confessed, “My expectations are very low for myself.” She admitted that she was 70% of the perfect version of herself. The KPMG Women’s PGA Championship is her first tournament since. When the media asked her about that, she was nothing but honest.

“Yeah, I feel like that week was pretty important for me. Just because that second round kind of got me back into understanding how to play competitively. The first day I was there, and I just didn’t feel like I was in a place where I wanted to be in terms of my game. I could barely get the ball off the ground, and I felt like that was probably more difficult mentally. So the fact that I could put up a decent score—I was just one player off from the cut—made me at least feel like, okay, we have a lot of good elements that we can move forward and work on.”

Zhang shot a 4-over in the first round of the 2025 U.S. Women’s Open. She followed that up with a 2-under par on Friday. She stated that it wasn’t enough for her to make the cut, as she was 1 stroke off the minimum requirement. Still, she did have a lot of positives to take from the run.

On the Thursday of the major, Zhang managed to get 6 bogeys with only 2 birdies to bring her score down. Her average driving distance was 244 yards, and she hit the fairway 10 out of 14 times. Before missing the cut, she put in a valiant effort with 2 bogeys and 4 birdies, an average driving distance of 253 yards, and finding the fairway 12 times throughout the day. Her performance at the Women’s PGA Championship has seen her score 3 birdies and 3 bogeys in the first round.

The fact that the world #1 also has had to go through the same ordeal comes as a big surprise. Nelly Korda also shared her recent struggles in the presser.

Nelly Korda & Rose Zhang: Suffering through the same pain

While Nelly Korda didn’t have her studies to take care of like Zhang, she has been struggling with a lack of consistency since the beginning of 2025. And it turns out her stress is also induced by a neck injury. Responding to a reporter’s query about her injury, Korda said, “It’s better, yeah. Getting better every day, which is nice. Just because I injured it last year, whenever I do injure my neck, it takes a little bit longer than normal. I kind of tweaked it before my round with Ariya in Vegas this year, during the night; I couldn’t move then, so thankfully it wasn’t as bad as that day.”

During the LPGA Tour’s Asian swing late last year, Korda had to skip a few events to recover from a neck injury. That has kept nagging her ever since, and she even had a scare while practicing for the 2025 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship a week ago. When asked if it hurts to swing, Korda replied, “In Vegas, I did; right now I’m good. I’m taped up, yeah. (She feels pain) just with rotation. And hard to sleep at night, too, just kind of get comfortable.”

While the pain may not have gone away completely, Korda seems to be adapting to it in her way. She has managed to score two bogeys and two birdies each to end on par after 18 holes. However, the 26-year-old does have one advantage at Fields Ranch East that Rose Zhang would probably envy. Nelly Korda’s sister, Jessica, is also at the event, looking after her younger sibling during her struggles. That should give the #1 enough motivation and confidence to push for a win in the 2025 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. She has already shown the positive impact of the same, driving a mammoth 294-yarder off the tee.