SOUTHERN PINES, NC – Nelly Korda is locked in.
Like REALLY locked in.
It’s Saturday at the US Women’s Open, but it could be anywhere in the world. In this moment, there is Nelly Korda and there is the task at hand. Nothing else.
She walks in tall, calculated strides, which suggests that the advantage of the earth beneath her.
Suddenly, she turns and takes two more carefully strides forward, reaching down and pulling out a small chunk of turf.
She rubs her thumb over her forefinger, watching emotionlessly as blades of grass fall behind her.
The wind is whipping now on the 5th hole at Pine Needles, and it’s about time for Nelly to mount a charge.
Nelly Korda’s superstar status has, to this moment, been restrained within the borders of women’s golf. Before she was Nelly, she was the latest teenage phenom; one-half of the LPGA’s brightest sister duo; winner at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship; and World No. 1.
But at the US Women’s Open, it’s clearly her stardom has shifted. There are a few theories as to the catalyst – the gold medal triumph in Tokyo, the four-win 2021, the Forbes ’30 under 30 ‘honors – but it’s not difficult to see the reaction.
The swarm around Korda at Pine Needles on Saturday afternoon was decidedly different than the galleries that came before (or after) it. Fans pressed against the ropes to grab a photo, screamed her name as she walked by, and followed her in galleries that looked (and sounded) a lot like those following the biggest stars of the men’s game.
“It was really cool,” Korda said afterward. “Honestly, super special. I don’t think I’ve ever done that at a Women’s Open on Saturday, not even being in the last pairing. ”
For the game’s biggest player in its biggest event, the fan reaction was striking. It was also moving, considering that the next time she’d be hearing from them at all.
It was a rainy morning in mid-March, the Friday of the Players Championship, when Korda’s arm started to swell. She called her doctor, who advised her to visit the Emergency Room as a precaution.
Not long after, Korda was diagnosed with a blood clot in her subclavian vein. Doctors advised that the clot, which would take her away from golf for the foreseeable future.
She rehabbed the injury for the better part of three months, slowly regaining her form at home in Florida with the help of her swing coach, Jamie Mulligan. Finally, in late-May, she shared the Instagram announcing her return.
“See you guys @uswomensopen next week.”
Korda arrived in North Carolina with uncertain expectations. Her tempo felt good, but she hadn’t played a tournament round in more than four months. She tried her best to embrace the unknown, stamping her yardage book with “Be Proud. Be You. ” and “Chin Up, You Got This!”
Once play started, though, Nelly was her regular old self – smashing drives and smoothing irons with her blissful, effortless swing. Well except for one thing. While her notorious intensity returned, it was abutted by a newfound sense of purpose.
“I’m just happy to be out here,” she said. “I’m doing what I love doing in the US Women’s Open, and a couple months back I wasn’t sure if I was going to do that. So I’m just grateful. ”
Her opening saw two rounds at three-under, and entered Saturday at Pine Needles on the outskirts of contention.
After a birdie on the 1st, Korda started the long walk out of the clubhouse. Before long, her meticulous strides brought her to the furthest point on the property: the tee box on No. 5.
The 188-yard par-3 is beefy, and on Saturday it plays into a stiff wind. Most competitors have played a hybrid or a wood off the tee, but not Nelly. She’s stuck between two irons, and when Andrea Lee’s tee shot falls well short of the putting surface, she makes up her mind.
She picks up the iron and holds a low conversation with Jason McDede, her caddie. Eventually, the two come to an agreement, and Nelly carefully crouches over to a place on the ground. Her eyes are locked on the target as her focus lengthens.
Finally, she addresses the ball. Quietly, she watches her club carry back to ankle height before returning to her place next to her ball. Then she went across the club all the way back and through in one smooth slash. The ball pierces through the air, tugging slightly toward the back-right flagstick.
Her only flicker of emotion is a clubtwirl, which brings the blade back to her hip. She likes it.
Eventually, the ball returns to earth some 10 feet from the flagstick. The crowd erupts. Without breaking her stare, Nelly picks her tee from the ground and hands her club to McDede.
The crowds followed behind Nelly on Saturday at the US Women’s Open.
Darren Riehl
Nelly’s Saturday won’t end in a charge. She makes a birdie on the 5th and at one point climbs all the way to 7 under – just three consecutive bogeys close her round in a whimper. She enters Sunday nine strokes back of the lead, her championship hopes are usually doused.
When she makes it to the scoring area, she’s still frustrated by the way her round ended. But a larger part of her is thrilled. She’s here, playing the biggest tournament in women’s golf, realizing in real time that she has the most attraction her sport has had in some time.
Does Nelly Korda enjoy the challenge?
“Yeah, I definitely do,” she says, flashing a smile. “I didn’t really enjoy the challenge on my last three holes, but I did, yeah.”
Perhaps the better question is: which one?
There’s not much Korda can’t for. In just a few years, she’s become the top-ranked golfer in the world, won the attention of millions, and become something of an international celebrity … and she’s still only 23.
If there’s been one constant in her life, it’s the ability to dismantle the words we used to define her. So maybe it’s time we stopped restricting ourselves to “woman,” and start calling Nelly Korda what she is.
Golf’s next superstar.
