PNC CHAMPIONSHIP

December 16, 2021

Nelly Korda

Petr Korda

The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club

Quick Quotes

Q. All right, we'd like to welcome Nelly and Petr Korda to the interview area here at the PNC Championship. Making your first start after a wonderful year. Just what are you most looking forward to playing with your dad in this competition, Nelly?

NELLY KORDA: Probably just like creating memories. Also playing right in front of Tiger Woods is pretty cool too. I'm not going to lie. I'm being a little selfish here, but that's pretty cool.

No, we've been looking forward to this event for a really long time, and I've been telling my dad, I'm like it's my offseason. Like you're the star of the show. It's your time to shine. So you're going to be -- he's going to be the one dropping bombs.

But I think we're just really happy to be here together, and hopefully we make some good memories.

Q. Petr, do you feel any pressure after that statement? And what are you looking forward to most about playing this weekend?

PETR KORDA: Definitely looking -- you know, playing with Nelly, it's creating some new memories, and it's also a great honor, I believe, for the women's golf to be in the same event with other players, other greats, from Mr. Nicklaus, Palmer, Trevino and other guys.

NELLY KORDA: Tiger Woods.

PETR KORDA: Yes. Obviously I wanted to finish with, you know, the cherry on the top of the cake having Mr. Woods here.

So it will be special. I told Nelly, I'm the tennis player. I feel like I don't belong over here. I'll try my best, and hopefully she's not going to be disappointed.

NELLY KORDA: The sun shines.

PETR KORDA: That special role I had when I was telling my kids what to do, not to do, I think after this tournament will be gone because they will be the ones telling me what to do and how to do it. So it will be really special. Hopefully we'll have a good time, and that's what's most important.

Q. Petr, before we asked Nelly who her favorite player in the field is. I'm curious when you first played golf and when did you first start to really like it?

PETR KORDA: That's a little bit difficult story. But when Ivan Lendl was on the tour, he was traveling with a golf club, and I always told him what the hell you're having in your hands --

NELLY KORDA: Beep.

PETR KORDA: Yeah. But, you know, it's -- I start kind of paying attention when Mr. Daly was -- when he won the British Open, when Constantino Rocca missed the chip and then he made the phenomenal putt.

And then the other year, I believe '96, playing in Cincinnati, tournament over there, and was U.S. Men's Championship, and Tiger was as a young one playing, and I believe was only 15, 14. He made that incredible eagle putt when he was down. So I said gee, that kid is quite good.

So, you know, that's kind of I start paying attention to the golf, and when I stopped, Jess picked up the golf, and so we've been around the golf, obviously with both girls, but my kind of -- I'm always outside of the ropes. This one will be something special, and I'm looking forward.

Q. Nelly, are you a better tennis player or is your dad a better golfer?

NELLY KORDA: Oh, he's for sure a better golfer. Yeah. I'm not a very good tennis player. I barely play.

Q. What's the (indiscernible) part of his golf game?

NELLY KORDA: Because he played tennis, his feel is really good. I would say even, I don't know -- when was the last match we played together? It was like, what, two years ago?

PETR KORDA: Yeah, I broke --

NELLY KORDA: I win like only like 1-up, and I don't give him any shots. Like either he just gets in my head, or he just turns it on when he putts. But I would say his feel is really good. And, yeah.

PETR KORDA: I gave up my golf club eight years ago. I gave it to my friend. Obviously there's a lot of golf clubs in our garage. And I haven't played golf, just occasionally with Nelly, once a year, then I kind of, you know, wanted to donate the money because when she was young --

NELLY KORDA: Five dollars?

PETR KORDA: We played for the money, I was the one who was collecting at that time. Then, you know, she wanted to get the money from me. But, I mean, I stood my ground, and I did play exceptionally well that day.

NELLY KORDA: Yeah.

PETR KORDA: But, you know, got two months ago the new clubs, and I've been playing a little bit. But also I've been playing a lot of tennis. And tomorrow I'll be on the tennis court with Seby at the USTA center. So I will be mixing up golf and tennis this week.

NELLY KORDA: As long as she shows up in one piece on Saturday, we're good to go.

Q. Petr, how nervous are you for this compared to what it was like in a grand slam?

PETR KORDA: I passed a good test today, Vijay Singh on the 10th tee, he came and, you know, checked me, and on 18, Dan Hicks, Roger Maltbie, Peter Jacobsen, you know, that's -- I passed the test. And I hit fairways, quite a long drive. And trust me, I was realistic. But, you know --

NELLY KORDA: I got his first shot on video. A little low, but it hit the fairway.

PETR KORDA: I mean, listen, I'm not going to lie, my shots are not -- I mean, my swing is not perfect. But if I can square the ball correctly, I'll be very happy.

But it's not about how I'm going to play, but how good time we will have here. And also, you know, people coming, how good time they will have. And there will be one victorious team, and we will try our best to see how far we can go.

Q. Petr, what made you give the clubs away?

PETR KORDA: I believe, you know, when I'm with the girls, I need to give them my time. And once you have your clubs, you know, you want to play by yourself. So I'm -- I just gave it up. And I think it was a good choice to do.

I think it's -- I played, you know. Hopefully, I will pick it up one day, but right now Seby is doing quite good in tennis, so still have a few years left before I start to play golf a little bit more.

Q. Nelly, you touched on it a second ago, but this being Tiger's return, what does that mean to you personally, and how do you describe what it means to the sport?

NELLY KORDA: Yeah, I mean, when I heard the news, I was in complete shock, especially since it being his first event back. I mean, for him to come back from what he went through -- when was his accident, February? Incredible.

He's had so many comebacks, and he's always come back even stronger I feel like, and not many people expect it.

But he's done so much for the game of golf. We wouldn't be where we are nowadays without him. He brings a completely different atmosphere.

I always say I don't really watch a lot of golf, but when Tiger is in contention, I'm always glued to the TV. So that's just the impact he makes on the game of golf. And it will be super exciting just to be playing in the same field as him.

Q. Nelly, I was curious, what your earliest memory was of Tiger?

NELLY KORDA: Can't even tell. I don't know. Don't remember.

Q. (Indiscernible)?

NELLY KORDA: Yeah, I mean, I watched him a lot on TV. He was always on. We always had sports, golf or tennis, on TV. So we watched a lot growing up. I can't tell you. I really don't know.

Q. Nelly, do you feel a sense of representing women's golf and the LPGA Tour here in a big event like this?

NELLY KORDA: Yeah. I mean, it makes me incredibly proud to be invited to this event, playing with such legends and just the history of this event. Obviously playing alongside my dad.

PETR KORDA: Thank you.

NELLY KORDA: Thank you, yeah, welcome. But I think women's golf, I feel like we're making strides in the right direction. A lot more people are listening to us, a lot more people are kind of just looking at us. And I think we're growing in the right direction.

Q. How did this event get on your radar? You noted you wanted to play in it for a while, and how exactly did the invite come across?

NELLY KORDA: Yeah, I think since there's no events, usually offseason is in December, and this event being in December, I feel like when you watch a little bit of golf, you kind of turn it on and watch.

And obviously last year with Charlie and Tiger playing and J.T. and his dad, I was glued to the TV the entire time. And I just thought it would be really special to be able to play in that one day. Here I am thinking, you know, Jess is also a golfer, so I was like, hmm, who would my dad play with.

Q. I realize different sports here, but what traits do you think Nelly has taken from you?

PETR KORDA: From me?

Q. Yeah, characteristics.

PETR KORDA: You're asking too much about our kitchen and over the years I never talked what's going on in the kitchen, but most important is both girls, they have a big love of the game and they're looking to share -- I mean, they're showing quite nicely on the golf course.

And that's something for me, as a parent, you want to see your kid, whatever she does, she brings that passion. And as we said many times, my wife and I, we are very proud of them. No matter what, what they do, and that's all I will let you into my kitchen.

Q. Nelly, this might sound like an odd question, but as you touched on it at the Olympics a little bit, but how much has Jess meant to you in terms of your development, and how much do you think she's meant to Seb, or has she?

NELLY KORDA: I mean, she's definitely meant a lot of both of us. I can't speak for him because he'll have to on his behalf. But for me, I would say, you know, when you're a rookie out on Tour, you don't really know anyone and you're kind of very timid to talk to people, you don't really know kind of the way of life, Tour life is.

And having Jess out there and kind of showing me the ropes was really helpful. And having a dinner buddy really night is really nice, because it does, it gets really lonely out there and it gets really hard on long. And I think just having the guidance in Jess has really helped. And she's my best friend, and when something goes wrong she's right there next to me, and vice versa.

Q. How many of your competitors do you know this week?

NELLY KORDA: Like know, know? I mean, I know J.T., obviously, and his dad. I actually saw his dad grinding. I was -- Jess got married last week, so I was over at Jupiter, and I saw his dad grinding up there, and I was like, oh, are you ready to defend, like it looks like you're taking it really seriously. But, yeah, like personal level I probably just know J.T. And Bubba.

Q. Petr, a question for you, you mentioned earlier in this interview watching The Open championship and Constantino Rocca and John Daly. Now, I don't know if you're aware, but you're paired with Team Daly on Saturday in the first round. Did you ever think it would be possible back then to say that, hey, I'm going to be playing with John Daly in a tournament?

PETR KORDA: Probably not. Definitely not, not probably not. But I think it's none of tennis greats or tennis guy can say would make the field with the players like that. I think it's phenomenal. I'm here because of Nelly, and just, I mean, I'm going to have -- as I said, you know, it will be kind of my dream, you know, seeing the guys who I watched in the past 20, 30 years on the TV, learning about the game, how they handling themselves in the good days and the bad days. So have them with the same field, it's pretty special.

Q. Nelly, have you had a chance at all to look back on the year? And if you do, do you find yourself thinking first of Tokyo or Atlanta?

NELLY KORDA: It's kind of --

PETR KORDA: Good question.

NELLY KORDA: Yeah. Kinda, I kind of watched my highlights literally five days after the season, and I don't really like to watch highlights, but I just wanted to just to kind of reminisce a little. I watched KPMG first. I feel like Olympics, very, very special. As a golfer and back in the day, you grew up wanting to win majors, right? The Olympics weren't even a thing. Like you didn't even dream about going to the Olympics as a golfer.

So a major championship is what I strived for for most of my career, and finally getting that under my belt felt really, really nice. And then winning the gold, like that's amazing too. That comes once every four years, and that's such a huge honor to represent your country and to stand on that podium.

But I would say definitely what I think about first is KPMG just because like that's -- as a kid, that's what I really, really wanted, was a major championship. But both. I mean, both are so high on the spectrum.

Q. Where did you play better do you think?

NELLY KORDA: I'd say I played really well at both. You have to play really good golf just to win on our Tour, or on any Tour, really. So I could say both I played really well.