Nelly Korda isn’t focused on what a win on Sunday afternoon in New Jersey would mean.
After two weeks off, and a trip to the Met Gala, Korda hasn’t had much time for it.
“If I’m being honest, I have not thought about it at all,” she said on Wednesday. “I’ve had so much going on those two weeks.”
Korda, the top-ranked women’s golfer in the world, will go for a sixth win in as many starts this week at the Cognizant Founders Cup. That would set an LPGA Tour record.
Korda has won five straight times on Tour, which is something only two other players in history have accomplished. Her fifth win, a two-shot victory at the Chevron Championship last month, marked the second major championship win of her career. Annika Sorenstam was the last Tour player to win five times in five starts back during the 2004-05 season.
Korda’s first win during the historic stretch came at the LPGA Drive On Championship in January. She then won three times in as many weeks, and then had just a week off before her win at the Chevron Championship in Houston. She was going to compete in the JM Eagle LA Championship immediately after the major, but she withdrew. Korda said she was “definitely feeling exhausted.”
She’s now had two weeks off, which was much-needed.
“I definitely spent a good bit of time with my couch the first couple days. Turned on the TV. Just it was more about sleep the first couple days,” she said. “I just felt like I just mentally really needed it. I was so mentally tired going through all those situations and high pressure moments.
“And then that’s one of the reasons why I really needed two weeks. I feel like when you get one week you kind of, not that you feel guilty to take more days off than you’re training, but I just needed to work my game as well. Two weeks really helped me mentally rest up.”
Though she’s on an incredible tear, Korda struggled last season in the same event at Upper Montclair Country Club. She missed the cut at last year’s tournament, and then missed the cut the following week at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in New Jersey.
So, at least in the early rounds, Korda is trying to keep it as simple as possible.
“My track record hasn’t been the greatest in New Jersey. … I’m really just trying to keep it one shot at a time, see how it goes. This golf course is tough. It’s very, very narrow off the tee. The rough is very penalizing. And it’s wet this year, so it’s even worse.
“So just not getting too ahead of myself and taking it a shot at a time. As boring as it sounds or as many times as you’re going to hear me say it, that’s the motto and I’m going to stick to it.”
