AIG WOMEN'S OPEN

August 2, 2022

Nelly Korda

Press Conference

OLIVIA McMILLAN: Thank you so much for joining us at the AIG Women's Open. We are here playing at Muirfield this week. Have you had a chance to get out and look at the course yet?

NELLY KORDA: Yes, I got to play in a little bit of nicer weather yesterday. Played all 18, so touched all of them. It's a really nice golf course.

OLIVIA McMILLAN: The weather today obviously is probably more what we all expect from Scotland. Do you feel like practising in this wind will be important for your preparations?

NELLY KORDA: For sure, yeah, you just never know what kind of weather you're going to get out here. We were extremely lucky to see the sun and it to kind of be calm yesterday. It was honestly a very beautiful day -- oh, my God, that is a huge spider right here (giggles).

Yeah, I think you just never know with the weather up here, and it's good to kind of get all of it before you start on Thursday to see how the golf course can play so many different ways.

OLIVIA McMILLAN: Links golf, is that something that you typically enjoy playing?

NELLY KORDA: Honestly I do enjoy playing it because it's so fun. You use so much of like a different type of creativity in golf. I think it's very similar to maybe some of the golf courses I've played in Australia but I don't have much experience playing links golf.

So every single time I do come over, I try to soak it all up.

Q. Where do spiders rank on things you're afraid of?

NELLY KORDA: I do not like spiders. It's worrying when it disappears. That's when I don't like it, somewhere under the desk. Spiders, I've seen a couple of them this week. A lot of Daddy-Longlegs out here. I was like, okay, this is just not my type of situation I want to be in here.

Q. I've definitely heard you talk about before being from Florida, enjoying calm conditions and not liking to play in the cold weather. How did you get yourself prepared for this month of golf where there's a lot of things that you can't predict?

NELLY KORDA: We get a lot of wind in Florida. I'm near the water, so obviously it's a little warmer there, which I prefer playing in.

But I like playing in the wind. Again, I think it's such a great test to your creativity and your golf game, and it's so much fun. I definitely would not do it every week, but I do really enjoy playing links golf.

Q. First question has to be you, Olivia, was it really a big spider, being Australian?

OLIVIA McMILLAN: I think Nelly is safe with an Australian sitting next to her.

NELLY KORDA: The fact that it disappeared is worrying.

Q. Can you talk about being here, how special it is to be at Muirfield, and knowing the welcome you've received coming through the gates and the whole experience so far?

NELLY KORDA: Yeah, it's been great. Like I said, I've just only played 18 holes. The grounds are beautiful, really nice views of the water, as well. Everyone's been really welcoming, practise facilities amazing. I love that. The ninth hole comes back to the clubhouse.

Yeah, it's a beautiful golf club, beautiful golf course, and so far everyone has been really welcoming. I think it's going to be a great test to see how the weather is going to be but I saw that -- I think they have hosted 16 Open Championships, so it's going to be special to finally host a Women's, too, this week.

Q. Have you ever played a course before where you have holes where you outside and then come back and inside --

NELLY KORDA: No, I've had where the ninth hole is literally the furthest away from the golf course, from the clubhouse. Yeah.

Q. The round you played yesterday, what do you feel the strengths are going to be required this week to do well here?

NELLY KORDA: I mean, definitely, all of it. If you want to win a tournament in general, everything kind of has to come together but the par 3s are definitely tough. I think the greens are a bit more undulated for British-style golf courses I've played.

If it gets windy, the greens are going to be really tricky. The par 3s are long. There's definitely a lot of fall-offs on the front of the greens.

Overall, I think the entire golf course, you have to strike it well. The fairways are not really too wide either. Sometimes you just have to be aggressive and just take the shot in the fescue to be closer to the green. But yeah, I think the golf course is going to be a great test depending on the weather, too.

Q. Have you ever had a bad experience with a spider, and what are your superstitions, if any?

NELLY KORDA: Thankfully, I don't think I've had any bad experiences with spiders. I did have one in my shower this week. When I first looked at it, instantly flushed it down the drain.

Q. Maybe it's come up?

NELLY KORDA: No, I made sure the water was on it for a while.

Superstitions, of course, every athlete has superstitions. Typically, I mean, I'll give one away. I always have three tees in my hair, and then when I break them, then I put three tees back into my hair again. That's like a whole funky superstition of mine.

I have a few, but I'll keep those to myself. I'll give one away.

Q. First time you've been over here since you've had a tough year health-wise. Obviously all good now? Can you just talk us through how difficult that spell was for you?

NELLY KORDA: Yeah, I'm all good now thankfully. I've taken the right steps. Taken time off. It was tough as well missing the first major of the year and the first part of the season but I'm thankful I'm here and I can be playing golf, doing what I love travelling the world. I just have to monitor it.

Obviously if you go through something like that, you just have to be more aware of these situations, and I've learned more about myself and learned more about my body and I'm grateful that I'm just out here playing.

Q. Give you a scare, what you went through?

NELLY KORDA: Yeah, of course. It was definitely very difficult to go through. I didn't really imagine going through something like that. It just makes you grateful for everything that you have and being healthy.

Q. I imagine this is your first time here; correct?

NELLY KORDA: At Muirfield? Yes.

Q. Were you curious about this place? It created news in the last five years, so many men's Opens here. Did you ask people in the months running up to this event, what's Muirfield like, and were you interested in what you were going to find here before you got here?

NELLY KORDA: Well, I didn't really ask too many questions this year was I out for the majority of it.

But yeah, I was extremely excited to come out and play this event this year. I knew the history and the fact that we were going to be the first female tournament out here, too, was pretty amazing.

So I was just more excited to actually be out here and to get to play this golf course and soak it all up, as well as the history of this place.

OLIVIA McMILLAN: Nelly, thank you so much for your time today. We wish you the best of luck this week.