MARATHON CLASSIC PRESENTED BY DANA

August 6, 2020

Nelly Korda

Quick Quotes

Q. All right, Nelly. I believe this is your first time here since 20 -- oh, sec -- first time here since 2017.

NELLY KORDA: Yeah, you're right.

Q. For you, what was it like out there today and how did you get feeling so comfortable?

NELLY KORDA: I started off with a bogey which wasn't great, but it's a very scorable golf course. You got to hit it well off the tee and give yourself a lot of opportunities.

The greens out here are pretty small, so any time you're inside in the middle of the green you have a pretty good look at birdie.

Q. Definitely a different golf course than Inverness last week. What was it like changing kind of the strategy from what you saw at Inverness to this week?

NELLY KORDA: Yeah, definitely a much harder golf course last week, I think, and the scores show.

But, yeah, this week you can be a lot more aggressive, so I think's the approach we'll be taking into the next three days hopefully.

Q. After the bogey at the start, what did you say to yourself to get yourself back on track?

NELLY KORDA: Pretty much I still have 17 more holes to play and anything can happen really.

You know, I wasn't really hitting it too solid last week, so I'm really just trying to focus on making good, solid contact, hitting it on the fairway and hitting it in the center of the green. I'm trying to keep it as simple as I possibly can.

Q. I know you've talked about also that you've changed your clubs a little bit. Are you feeling more comfortable with what you've been putting in the bag?

NELLY KORDA: Yeah, definitely. I have a whole -- pretty much 90% of my bag is different, so just playing under pressure and getting some more reps in definitely helps.

Q. Obviously you played well here in 2017, and then another great round today. Do you just feel comfortable? Do you feel like this course suits your game?

NELLY KORDA: I like golf courses that have small greens that you can be aggressive on, so I definitely think this suits my game.

Q. And then just like the contrast from last week, I know not all golfers are the same, but is it hard at all to kind of go from really difficult and just, I don't know, kind of play a different type of game?

NELLY KORDA: I would say yeah it is hard just because you know you have to shoot under par every single day, while at Inverness it was more like if you shoot even you're still on top of the leaderboard.

Q. Yeah.

NELLY KORDA: So I think girls will put more pressure on themselves just because they know they need to shoot low numbers out here.

Q. How important is the first round on a course like this, like you said, that's scorable? How nice is it just to be in the clubhouse with a good score in the first round?

NELLY KORDA: Yeah, it's definitely nice. You can never win the tournament on the first day, but you can definitely lose it. Staying consistent throughout the week is definitely a goal of mine.

Q. I know last week you got your first taste of being able to play without fans. A lot of players say when they think of the Marathon Classic they think of all the fans that come out. Is it a little different than your first time in 2017?

NELLY KORDA: Definitely. I think it was just odd seeing 18 without the grandstands. That's what threw me off.

Q. Does not having grandstands mess with like sightlines? Maybe you get in positions that you normally wouldn't be?

NELLY KORDA: Yeah, I think so. And also, like visually taking lines. Usually let's say you've taken a line every single year at some part of the grandstand and now it's not there, so visually it's a little different.