COGNIZANT FOUNDERS CUP

October 7, 2021

Nelly Korda

Mountain Ridge Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Back here with Nelly Korda. 4-under 67 today. It's like you never left the tour. Welcome back. How was the first round back today?

NELLY KORDA: It was good. Felt nice to kind of get the juices flowing again. Yeah, not complaining about today. There is some stuff that I can work on, but not complaining.

Q. We'll get back to that. Tell us the highlights of your round. A bunch of birdies, two bogeys. Any birdies particularly stand out to you?

NELLY KORDA: Probably the one on No. 8. Kind of drained a longer putt. That one felt nice. These greens are big and undulated, so when you get to drain a long one it's kind of nice.

Q. Any guess on how long that was?

NELLY KORDA: No idea. I'm sorry. It was probably like 30, 35 feet, 40 feet.

Q. That's the nice thing about the stats program.

NELLY KORDA: I would say 30 feet, yeah.

Q. That's the thing about the stats program. I can look it up now.

NELLY KORDA: Yeah, exactly. Don't ask me.

Q. No problem. Thoughts now that you've seen a round on Mountain Ridge in competition? Did it stand up to what you thought it would?

NELLY KORDA: Yeah, it felt like -- I felt really nice out there. I had a couple shorter clubs in which I was actually expecting it to play a little longer, but I'll take advantage of hitting shorter clubs into the greens.

Q. So you said you had a few things you wanted to work on. Care to elaborate?

NELLY KORDA: Yeah, just I made kind of some stupid mistakes on the back nine. I don't know if it was because I was a little tired or not, getting back into it.

But it felt pretty much just my putting and maybe a couple of loose shots here and there. Other than that, it's just kind of you hit bad shots and you hit bad putts, so just tidying things up a little.

Q. I know we're right at the end of the runway often in Portland, but this is kind of crazy.

NELLY KORDA: It's super cool. I actually asked my caddie, I was like, Do you think one of our dives could hit one of the planes on nine? They're pretty low. I don't know if you get to redo your shot or not. They come in pretty low.

Q. Like Phil and the drone at the PGA.

NELLY KORDA: Yeah.

Q. So overall what do you take from today that you hope to apply to tomorrow. Jin Young is out there lighting it up. Couple strokes, but still right on the leaders for you.

NELLY KORDA: Yeah, you don't win it on day one, but you can definitely lose it. Just trying to stay consistent and play my golf and get some opportunities where I can sink some putts.

Other than that, taking it a day at a time and see how it goes.

Q. Nelly Korda, firing a 67 in her first start in more than a month. How would you describe the round today?

NELLY KORDA: It was good. Drained some long ones; hit some close shots. But other than that, I think it was pretty solid. Obviously you're not going to play perfect all the time.

Made a little bit of an oopsy on one of the holes, but you're going to do that. Overall I think I played pretty solid today.

Q. You said earlier this week you felt like this course favored longer hitters. How were you able to take advantage of that today?

NELLY KORDA: I had a lot of shorter clubs in. I think majority of my shots into the front nine were pitching wedges, so I was really working on that pitching wedge on the front nine.

But, yeah, when you get to hit a pitching wedge into most greens, it makes it a little easier to stuff it close.

Q. We're seeing the sun shine here this week for the first time. Big departure of from the first two days. How would you describe the conditions today?

NELLY KORDA: Yeah, I did not dress for it to be sunny and warm. I actually have like a fleece-lined shirt and pants on. I'm like, okay, it's going to be cold. I just came back from Florida.

But, yeah, it definitely kind of -- it was chillier this morning and hotter this afternoon, so the ball is going to be flying a little further, too.

Q. Nelly, the last competitive normal event other than Solheim Cup was the AIG Women's Open. First time in competition other than Solheim. Did the rest make you appreciate what you accomplished a little more?

NELLY KORDA: For sure, yeah. I got to kind of kick back and kind of think of everything and really enjoyed it honestly. Three weeks was really nice. I really needed it.

Q. Did you view yourself any differently? Fans view you differently. The media views you differently. Do you view yourself as a player any differently?

NELLY KORDA: No. I think I just go about my business the same as I would be ranked 20th, top 10, No. 1. I'm still trying to achieve goals.

There are girls still hunting for me. There is still a lot I would like to accomplish in my career. I'm hoping to put my foot on the pedal still.

Q. This course has been known as the hidden gem. So many great golf courses around. Secret is out now with you guys playing here. How much do you enjoy playing this type of traditional Donald Ross golf course?

NELLY KORDA: I love Donald Ross. I play it at home, too. It's obviously a little different there, bermuda. But I do like Donald Ross a lot.

I like how you really have to think about it, especially on these big greens. They're very undulated so you definitely have to section them off where the pin is.

You have to think a lot and it's longer for sure, so I like that as a longer player.