Nelly Korda shines at LPGA’s The ANNIKA after extended injury absence

In her first competitive round in nearly two months, Nelly Korda picked up right where she left off.

Newly minted Player of the Year Nelly Korda has not played competitively in nearly two months, but based on her opening round at The Pelican on Thursday, you could never have guessed that was the case.

She opened with a 4-under 66, a round highlighted by her closing chip-in birdie on the 18th hole.

“I pulled my 8-iron a little bit. It shot through the green and practiced that chip a good bit during the two practice rounds I played on the back nine,” Korda said of her hole out.

“Just rolled in perfectly. Happy not to putt.”

After tying for fifth at the Kroger Queen City Championship in September, Korda announced that she had suffered a neck injury, forcing her to withdraw from two of the events apart of the LPGA’s Asian Swing in Malaysia and South Korea. Her neck injury, come to find out, stemmed from migraine headaches that Korda had before the Solheim Cup.

“That was my first time [having one]. Ever. Yeah,” Korda said.

“I never knew what—I was lucky enough not to know what a migraine was before then.”

She also feels blessed to be back playing, as she made six birdies on Thursday to get off to a great start. It’s the third time this season Korda has opened with a 66 or lower, and in the other two instances, she went on to win, per statistician Justin Ray.

But she did endure a tough stretch in the middle of her round, which was the first time she had walked 18 holes since September. Korda played holes eight through 13 in 2-over par.

“At the start of the round, I hit a lot of really good shots. I don’t know what happened in the middle,” Korda said.

“So maybe I got a little tired or lost some concentration in the middle of the round. But I brought it back and talked to [my caddie] Jason about what he was seeing. It’s kind of tough for him to see stuff from the angle he’s standing on. Just talked through and tried to dial in for the last couple holes to finish off under par.”

After making a bogey on the 13th hole, which dropped her back to even par for the championship, Korda rattled off four birdies over the final five holes to post her 4-under score. Talk about finishing strong.

“Pretty happy with the way I played,” Korda said.

“Hit a couple of loose shots in the middle of the round, but other than that, I mean, that’s something I can work on.”

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.