Up and down with her game, yet Nelly Korda just 2 shots back at Chevron
“Sometimes close, sometimes very far.”
That was Nelly Korda’s answer when asked how close her golf swing is to where she wants it to be.
The world No. 2 arrived at the LPGA’s first major of the year, this week’s Chevron Championship, with a very respectable four finishes of T-6 or better in five starts this year. But she’s also yet to win.
“It’s getting there,” Korda said of her swing. “I mean, it’s a process. It looks good, but then there’s some shots that flair out, and then I hit them out right and hit them out left. They’re really subtle changes. It’s more just being comfortable. I feel like when you’re in tournament golf you kind of revert back to your old tendencies because last thing you’re trying to do is think about it and you’re playing in wind and maybe you’re swinging a little bit more. Some stuff kind of starts to creep in when playing in windy weather, so overall I think I’ve just been making pretty good strides forward, so hopefully I can continue doing that and it clicks one week.”
Clearly it hasn’t fully clicked this week at Carlton Woods, yet Korda still finds herself in contention with only Sunday’s final round to play. And arguably it’s been her ball-striking that’s gotten her there, as she hit 14 greens in regulation for the second straight day to offset 61 putts on the greens the past 36 holes.
After averaging six birdies per round through two days, Korda notched just three birdies in Saturday’s third round while shooting a second straight 2-under 70.
“Overall, it was kind of an up-and-down day,” Korda said, “but I’m happy to get under par.”
At 8 under, she’s two shots off the lead shared by Angel Yin and Allisen Corpuz.
Korda said she typically has her dad, Petr, or her caddie, Jason McDede, give their thoughts on her swing during rounds.
“Typically, when I hit a bad shot, I can’t see myself, I don’t know what I’m doing,” Korda explained. “… If I mis-hit a shot, I usually ask him if he saw anything there.”
For Korda, she says such feedback is more helpful than distracting because, “It’s always so simple.”
It’s unclear if that goes for her putting stroke, too.
Full-field scores from The Chevron Championship
The eight other players besides Korda either leading or within two shots have combined for just two major victories. Five of those players have three or fewer career top-10s in majors.
So, if Korda, with her one victory and eight total top-10s in majors, can find that simple swing fix Sunday and start making putts, she’ll have a great shot at a second career major title after missing out on the Chevron a year ago because of a blood clot in her arm.
“A win, every single time I’m in contention, it means the world to me,” Korda said. “I feel like with every win, I feel like everyone is overcoming something or battling something. It’s not always smooth sailing I feel like in golf. I mean, for [Jon] Rahm it is right now, which is nice. But I feel like especially at a major championship, you’re trying to get into contention and you’re trying to win, so I’m going to give it my all. But obviously it means a lot, not being able to be not playing last year and then a year from now being in contention.”