Nelly Korda was in outstanding form during the first four months of the season, stringing together a five-event winning streak that culminated in her second major victory at the Chevron Championship in April. She continued her dominance with a sixth win in seven starts at the Mizuho Americas Open in May. However, the 26-year-old struggled in the following two majors, failing to make the weekend.

She shot an 80 at the U.S. Women’s Open, which included a septuple-bogey seven on the par-three 12th, and followed it up with an 81 at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. And well, not to forget the fact that she has not been able to play for over two months due to her neck injury. She was last seen playing at the Kroger Queen City Championship in September. Now she is teeing off at the Annika. But being under the public microscope is what appears scary to her. 

The official Instagram page of the LPGA Tour shared snippets of a recent interview with Nelly Korda at the Pelican. While talking about the ups and downs of her 2024 season, the Rolex No. 1 player said, “I feel like I’ve lived nine lives since January.” She added that despite having crossed so many records, she has also been tested many times, and every year the game of golf only keeps trying her. She then mentioned how different golf is from a team sport and how much pressure a player faces when they’re on top of it, “the main difference between, I think maybe a team sport vs an individual is like when you’re on top of your game and you’re ranked high and you’re playing well, you’re just under such a microscope so if you have a bad day, like, it’s magnified.”

It was exceptionally breezy when she began the season, and then in the middle, it became rather difficult. 

“All the criticism that you hear, but you, you don’t want to look at, it’s tough to deal with, and it just made me realize like then I was like afraid to make mistakes,” added the 26-year-old LPGA Tour. However, it was then that she realized that she ended up making more mistakes when she was afraid of them, and that’s when she calmed herself down, explaining how she was also human. “I’m going to have good days and I’m going to have really bad days and it doesn’t define me,” she concluded. 

After her victory at the Mizuho Americas Open in May, Korda couldn’t secure another win and was determined to get back to her winning ways. She further added, “Going to go out, and the No. 1 goal in the back of my head is lifting the trophy on Sunday.” With her neck injury no longer causing pain, Korda is hopeful she can return to the winner’s podium at the Pelican Golf Club.

Nelly Korda aims for a comeback

It looks like the two-month break has done a great job on the World No. 1 player. She managed to score four birdies in the last five holes, scoring a 66 in the first round. “Was a little nervous on the first couple holes, just not knowing what to expect of my game because I have not been playing too much,” Korda said. Her nervousness was reflected during the back-to-back bogeys she had on the 12th and 13th holes.

On Friday, Korda scored five birdies and a bogey to bag the same score, however, her momentum seems to be picking up. She is currently in the second position with just two strokes behind Charley Hull who has taken the lead. Will she finally be able to grab another victory after six months? Stay tuned to find out!