Nelly Korda plays a shot during the 2024 Chevron Championship. | Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
Nelly Korda will try to make history this week by winning her 6th consecutive tournament at the Cognizant Founders Cup.
Nelly Korda has had quite a year already.
She has won five consecutive tournaments and clinched her second major title at The Chevron Championship. This past Monday, Korda even attended The Met Gala, where she walked the red carpet alongside pop culture’s finest.
Now, her attention shifts to the Cognizant Founders Cup, where she looks to win in her sixth straight start in historic fashion. Nobody in LPGA history—not even Annika Sorenstam—has accomplished that feat.
But Korda explained why another victory is likely not in the cards in her pre-tournament press conference.
“If I’m being honest, I have not thought about [this tournament] at all because I’ve had so much going on those two weeks,” Korda said.
“Then obviously, Monday I had The Met, so I haven’t had too much time to think about it.”
In addition, Korda has not played her best in New Jersey, which also hosted the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship one year ago. Korda missed the cut at Baltusrol by six shots after totaling an 11-over score through 36 holes.
Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images
Nelly Korda during the second round of the 2023 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Baltusrol.
She also missed the cut at last year’s Cognizant Founders Cup, which saw Jin Young Ko prevail.
“My track record hasn’t been the greatest in New Jersey,” Korda added.
“I’m really just trying to take it one shot at a time and 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.”
Playing courses in the Northeast in the spring always proves challenging. Weather is always a factor, and to nobody’s surprise, temperatures will hover around the low 60s this weekend in New Jersey. Friday and Sunday’s forecast calls for rain, too.
That means the golf ball will not travel as far as it would in sunny and dry conditions, making it much more challenging on the field.
Yet, Korda cannot get herself to look too far ahead.
“I just cannot get too ahead of myself; I have to take it one shot at a time,” Korda added.
“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.”
That motto has worked so far in 2024, and she should not shy away from it this week in New Jersey. Despite that, she gave plenty of reasons as to why her winning streak would end.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
