CME GROUP TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP

November 19, 2021

Nelly Korda

Tiburon Golf Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Joined by Nelly Korda after a 3-under par 69 in the second row of the CME Group Tour Championship. Nelly, four birdies on the scorecard today. The wind picked up. How much of a factor was that?

NELLY KORDA: Yeah, for sure. I think towards the back nine it really picked up. It's always a lot tougher when it does because you have to play for it, so definitely got a little tougher on the back nine.

But I managed to go at it pretty well.

Q. You played with Georgia. Nice pairing.

NELLY KORDA: Yeah.

Q. How did that go, especially with the back and forth with some good play from both of you?

NELLY KORDA: It was great. It was really funny. She made that longer putt on 18 and she fist pumped and was like, Yeah, I hope we play together tomorrow.

I love Georgia. She's always so much fun to play with and she was playing well today, so there was a good energy.

Q. We talked about it before and you mentioned how tough it is to win back-to-back, but you did it earlier this year. What's a bigger motivating factor, first major staring you in the face or $1.5 million?

NELLY KORDA: I think the biggest motivator I think is just a tournament in general and to play your best and finishing on top.

I don't think -- I don't really look at the money too much. I just go in every week -- the fields are so strong and almost everyone on top is playing, so I just try to come out here and play my best and hopefully be in contention.

Q. Have you had a chance to look at the schedule yet? If so, your thoughts? There have been a lot of purse increases for next year.

NELLY KORDA: Yeah, that's amazing, honestly. Even this event, everyone, sponsors are stepping up, showcasing women's golf at another level, and I don't think we can be more grateful for them.

It's honestly -- from my rookie year to right now it's been an amazing journey. It's been so cool to see how much the sponsors love supporting us, and hopefully we give them a great show as well.

But as an aspect of schedule, not really. I kind of saw it when I was walking over to the range. I just saw that there was a pretty big gap from the first three events to Asia, but that's it really. I haven't been able to look at it.

Q. Can you describe your miss on 14, second shot, what happened with that?

NELLY KORDA: Oh, the par-5?

Q. Yeah.

NELLY KORDA: Yeah, I just hit it a little heely and just floated out to the right. That's usually my miss. I mean, the ball is above your feet. I was trying to be a little aggressive with it, and my misses have been a little left, so I kind of lifted up and hit it out to the right.

Q. And then contrast that with your feeling on 17. You hit your second shot and gave us a little club twirl there.

NELLY KORDA: Yeah. I hit that good. You know, those shots that keep you coming back. (Laughter.)

So it was nice.

Q. Going into the weekend, what are some things you want to work on to help move yourself up?

NELLY KORDA: I think just in general everything. I think I can make more putts and I think my iron shots have been loose sometimes on a couple holes here and there.

You're not going to hit every shot great, so I think I've handled it pretty well. Hopefully I can give myself some better looks at birdies going into the weekend.