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U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

May 30, 2019

Nelly Korda

Charleston, South Carolina

THE MODERATOR: All right, everyone. It's my pleasure to welcome Nelly Korda into the media center.

Nelly, a 2 under par, 69 in her opening round. Starting on the 1st hole, 35 going out, 34 coming back in. Nelly, seven birdies out there. Seven birdies, five bogeys, a little roller coaster round. Can you assess how you played today?

NELLY KORDA: Yeah, I played pretty solid. Started out with a bogey and birdied No. 11. I said, I didn't think I would birdie this at all this week. But, yeah, it was definitely a roller coaster out there today. I was hitting it quite solid. I was flying it really far, and I guess that's how some of the bogeys happen because it was just unexpected how far I was hitting it.

THE MODERATOR: So let's go through your card a little bit. You start with a bogey on 10 and then a birdie on 11, a hole that a lot of people have talked about this week. What club did you hit in there?

NELLY KORDA: Actually, when I was on the tee, the wind was picking up, so I hit a 5 rescue in, and I hit it pin high just left. I had probably 15 feet.

THE MODERATOR: And dropped shots on 12 and 14, then you get to 16, hit a nice approach shot in there.

NELLY KORDA: Yeah.

THE MODERATOR: Par 4. Sorry, 15 was the par 5. I skipped ahead. You had a birdie on 15 first.

NELLY KORDA: Yeah, 15, I just chipped up to probably 4 feet and made that. Then 16, I had a controlled 9 iron in, and that's also a pretty tough hole, but we played it up a tee today. So it was downwind, so I kind of got some height under that ball and got it to land softly.

THE MODERATOR: You turned at 1 under, bogeyed 3 to go back to even, and then a birdie 4, another nice approach shot.

NELLY KORDA: Yeah, I was definitely sticking it today on my back nine. I had a lot of wedges into the green, so that helped.

THE MODERATOR: And then what club did you hit in there on 4, the wedge?

NELLY KORDA: On 4, I hit 50 degree.

THE MODERATOR: And then followed it up with another nice birdie on No. 5, the par 5?

NELLY KORDA: Yeah. My caddie and I, Jason, we were discussing if I should hit 3 wood because I bombed my drive, and I didn't want to hit 3 wood because long is just dead and the pin's in the back. So I just hit a rescue just short of the green and chipped it up to about 2 feet.

THE MODERATOR: And bogey on 6, but come back with birdies on 7 and 8. What club did you hit on both those holes?

NELLY KORDA: I hit a 58 degree actually, a controlled 58 degree. I think I had 92 to the hole, and I was downwind, and it was -- the pin was pretty accessible.

THE MODERATOR: And then closed it with a nice birdie on No. 8?

NELLY KORDA: Yeah, that was a good putt. I was above the holes downhill, right to left, kind of snapping. I just hit that perfectly.

THE MODERATOR: And finally for me, how did the heat and the wind out there affect your approach when you were playing your first round?

NELLY KORDA: Yeah, I definitely wasn't expecting it to be so windy today, but I'm used to the heat. I think what I struggled with was how bright the sun was. I got a little lightheaded kind of towards the end of the round, but I drank a lot of water.

THE MODERATOR: Let's open it up to questions. Nelly, what was your first impression of this golf course, and what kind of scores did you think you'd see this week?

NELLY KORDA: I thought it was pretty open. I thought the greens were really difficult. I think they're just going to get worse and worse throughout the week. I think they're going to get firmer and harder throughout the week.

It's kind of hard, if you aren't hitting it long off the tee, to get it close to the pins with longer irons. So I definitely thought the greens were going to be a really big challenge this week.

It's pretty open. So I also thought it was going to get pretty windy out here.

Q. You started off the year sort of gangbusters. Can you describe how you felt your game was coming into this week?
NELLY KORDA: Yeah. Throughout your career, you're going to go through ups and downs and not feel 100 percent with your game. Last week I was a little bit iffy. I've been kind of iffy with my irons from L.A., so kind of today I actually got my feeling back a little bit more, and I started hitting it more at the pins like I used to be.

Q. Do you know what was the difference, aside from a feeling?
NELLY KORDA: I think it's just mental. I don't know what it was. Something just clicked on the range.

Q. Nelly, the leaderboard here, many players from different countries, very similar to what happens week to week on the LPGA. Your father played pro tennis, which has always been a real global thing. What's it like playing on this Tour now with so many players from so many different countries.
NELLY KORDA: I think it's really cool. You meet so many interesting people out here. You're friends with people from different cultures that it's cool to talk about. Yeah, it's my third year on Tour, so by now I've kind of traveled a lot, experienced different cultures, and I'm pretty friendly with most of the players out here, so it's just cool.

Q. What was your favorite memory from your first U.S. Women's Open?
NELLY KORDA: My favorite memory, God, I don't know what hole it was, but on Sunday, I think, there was a drivable par 4, and I hit it to about probably 4 feet, and I think I like donated -- I don't know. It made like $20,000 to like a children's hospital, and I got asked what it felt like or what I was thinking over the shot, and I was 14, and I was just like, "You got to risk it for the biscuit."

Q. How much did that championship kind of shape the player that you would become? Because that was a big week for you.
NELLY KORDA: Yeah, ever since then, I've been really motivated to just get out on Tour and be consistent out here and kind of made me fall in love with the game more and more.

THE MODERATOR: Nelly Korda, an opening 69, first round in the 60s at the U.S. Women's Open in 17 rounds. Congratulations and a great round. Best of luck the rest of the week.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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