THE LPGA DRIVE ON CHAMPIONSHIP

January 26, 2024

Nelly Korda

Bradenton Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. I'm here with Nelly Korda after her second round at the LPGA Drive On Championship. Solid round today. Can you talk about your game and kind of what stuck out there.

NELLY KORDA: Yeah, overall I've hit it pretty well the past two days, drove it well, given myself some opportunities. At the end of the day, made some putts. Definitely capitalized on the par-5s on the back nine. Just in general, I went for all of them today, the three.

Q. It seems like you have a lot of support out there, a lot of fans watching. It seems like you guys had a fun group. How much did that affect you and maybe help you the past few days?

NELLY KORDA: It's been great to see the support. I haven't played a tournament in Bradenton in a really, really long time. Seeing the support Brooke gets when she's near home in Canada, it felt really nice.

It's been cool to see the big crowds come out and support and the hometown feel.

Q. A bogey late, but put the pedal down the last four holes. What was the mindset shift that helped you birdie 3 of the last 4?

NELLY KORDA: I just knew that I could probably take advantage of the two par-5s. I knew I had two par-5s coming up, and if I had good drives, they're both reachable.

Everyone is going to make mistakes. It's all just about minimizing it. I was in between going for it and possibly risking hitting a tree and bouncing out OB, but actually Jay talked me into just taking the safer route. Sometimes just taking a bogey where you could possibly make a bigger number is important too.

Q. That birdie on 9 is a bonus, I'm sure. Got the roar from the crowds. How cool is that just to hear that cheer from them?

NELLY KORDA: It's been really nice. It's honestly such a cool feeling. Today when we teed off, we had a really big crowd going down 1 too. I've definitely felt a lot of support. Hopefully I can bring out more family and friends this weekend too to become louder.

Q. How good is the game feeling right now?

NELLY KORDA: It feels good. I worked really hard, didn't really have too long of an off-season.

I had my coach Jamie Mulligan come out this week, which is always nice. I love him so much. He brings such a calm vibe. Obviously I didn't perform my best last week, but it's always nice when he comes out here and I get to spend some time with him and we kind of reset.

Q. 62 putts through two days. How comfortable are you on the greens, especially with the left hand low?

NELLY KORDA: I've definitely bounced back and forth a good bit recently with that conventional to left hand low, and I finally just committed to a putter that I putted with in 2020 and 2021 and I've had a lot of success with it.

I just went back to what worked back in the day. Sometimes you try to over complicate things, and I'm just trying to simplify things right now.

Q. What's the putter?

NELLY KORDA: It's just a Squareback Scotty, yeah.

Q. So you were talking about the crowd support, but what's your memory here of Hollis Stacy, World Golf Hall of Famer, what's your relationship with her? How did she sort of -- because she's been a member here for so long, to kind of help you prepare a little bit for this golf course?

NELLY KORDA: Hollis obviously plays out of here, and she plays out of Concession. I see her mainly when she plays out of Concession because I don't come out here.

She's great. I remember before I won my first ever LPGA event, I was putting on the putting green at Concession, and we were just talking about just how I haven't won out here yet. It was like the end of my second season. She just said something to me, and she's like, when the time is right, it will happen.

I put it actually in my yardage book, and I went out to play in Asia, and I won in Taiwan. And I had it in my yardage book.

Whenever I get to see her, she's such a positive energy, and she's so nice. She's very vibrant. Always love seeing her around.

Q. What was the club on 9 here, your 18th?

NELLY KORDA: 6-iron.