Nelly Korda during the final round of the 2024 Cognizant Founders Cup. | Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images
World-number-one Nelly Korda will play at Liberty National for the first time this week, as she looks to return to the winner’s circle.
Nelly Korda’s winning streak came to a screeching halt at last week’s Cognizant Founders Cup, where Rose Zhang prevailed by two over Madelene Sagstrom.
Korda still played relatively well, finishing in a tie for seventh, but she fell short of her high expectations.
“I was just frustrated with the way I was hitting it over the weekend,” Korda explained Wednesday.
“It just felt like I was a completely different player from the first two days [compared] to the weekend. So that just happens. I’m human. I’m not going to play well every single day or every single week. Still fought it out and finished inside the top 10 on a pretty tough golf course.”
The 25-year-old opened with a 3-under 69 and posted a 6-under 66 on Friday to soar into contention at the midway point. But she carded a pair of 1-over 73s over the weekend, ending her chances of breaking an LPGA record and winning her sixth straight start.
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Nelly Korda chips onto the 18th green during the final round of the 2024 Cognizant Founders Cup.
Now, her focus shifts to Liberty National for the Mizuho Americas Open, the tournament hosted by Michelle Wie West in the shadows of the Freedom Tower and the skyline of Lower Manhattan.
“This week is a new challenge. It’s my first time on the property. It is a completely different look; it’s more of like a links style, but I know they got a lot of the rain, so it’s also very soft,” Korda said.
“It’ll just play differently. Just going to take the challenge that’s ahead of me and take it a day at a time.”
The New York City area received a ton of rain on Wednesday, and Thursday’s forecast calls for more showers. Friday will feature some sun, but wet and blustery weather returns on Saturday and Sunday. That will make Liberty National play even more challenging, considering its exposure to the Hudson River and the New York Harbor.
But Korda and the LPGA have battled adverse weather conditions all year, so this will be nothing out of the ordinary for the players. That also makes Korda’s winning streak even more impressive.
“The only thing I was thinking about [last week] was the golf course and the weather at hand, and that already fills your mind up with so much,” Korda said of her mentality last week.
“After the day is done you’re so mentally exhausted you can’t think about the streak. You’re just thinking about getting ready for the next day. It was an amazing streak that I was on. Honestly, it’s something that I never thought I would be able to do, so to be able to do it makes me think I can hopefully do it again one day. But it’s not something that I’ll really think about too much. Winning once out here is really, really hard with all the talent that is out here.”
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.
