THE CHEVRON CHAMPIONSHIP

April 19, 2024

Nelly Korda

The Club at Carlton Woods

Quick Quotes

THE MODERATOR: All right, get things started here with Nelly Korda. Just open it up in the front with Sarah.

Q. Way to recover. Heck of a round out there. Walk us through your day and take us through what was going through your mind after the opening struggle and the battle back?

NELLY KORDA: Yeah, started out with a double. That was fun. I hit two shots out of the left fairway bunker. Just kind of didn't catch it super clean and it didn't actually hit the bunker lining, just the grass, and bumped back in.

Then I bounced back with a birdie and made a birdie on the following par-5.

Yeah, kind of all over the place on the front nine, but pretty clean scorecard on the back with two birdies.

Q. What mentally were you saying to yourself to recover from that?

NELLY KORDA: I actually didn't feel bad at all. Sometimes when you start to make mistakes you just don't really feel confident or you don't feel that great.

But I just kind of, you know, told myself that it's the first hole of the tournament today. Even though I may have made a double, I wanted to save a bogey. There is still so much golf to be played and there is still a good bit of gettable par-5s.

So that's usually what I think about, is just the opportunities that I have ahead.

Q. You've played some really good rounds the golf in the last stretch that you've been on. 7-under 65 at Ford was impressive, but where does this one rank for you personally of some the most solid golf that you've been able to play?

NELLY KORDA: Yeah, I think in a major championship you just have to play well. You just sometimes -- like on No. 10 today, that was just not a pin that you can kind of attack. That's just a major championship par where you hit it into the middle of the green and you two-putt for par. You have like a 30-footer.

A lot of positioning definitely with the firmness of these greens and just playing smart. Proud of myself for sticking to the game plan.

Q. What does your recovery look like between now and tomorrow?

NELLY KORDA: Now and tomorrow I'm going to go get some lunch, get treatment, and then just chill. My parents are here, so just going to go spend some time with them. Go get a good coffee and, yeah, just relax, watch a show or something.

Q. Any additional thoughts on the course through two rounds?

NELLY KORDA: No. I think it's crucial to hit the fairways out here. If you don't hit the fairways it's so hard to stop it.

And then it's just I think the greens and hitting the fairways are very crucial. I landed that shot on 18, landed it probably a foot on and released probably 25 yards.

The firmness of the greens with longer clubs in is really, really tough.

Q. You had a lot of bounce-back birdies today. How much more important is that in a major championship where maybe a lower score is going to end up leading?

NELLY KORDA: Yeah, I mean --

Q. Sorry, higher score.

NELLY KORDA: I think having the mentality that there are opportunities out there and I'm hitting it good, and that there are some wedge shots, and making sure that I don't get too down on myself is really important during a major.

It takes a lot of patience to win. At the end of the day the person that makes the least amount of mistakes or recovers the best from their mistakes ends up usually winning.

Q. What do you tell yourself after the first two rounds when people say this is beginning to have a feeling of inevitability for a fifth straight win going into the weekend. What do you tell yourself when you hear people saying say that?

NELLY KORDA: I'm just at the halfway point right now. The amount of golf that I've played, I still have that to go. There is still a lot of golf left and anything can happen.

Just going to stick to my process and vibe with it is what my coach says. (Smiling.)

Q. Not only this week, but over your victory run you've been dominant on the par-5s. What has allowed you to unlock consistently capitalizing on those longer holes over the stretch?

NELLY KORDA: Hitting the fairway really helps. I've just been hitting the driver really good, and, yeah, just capitalizing on good drives. When you hit the fairway, I mean I had a 5-iron in on this 18th hole and 8 I had a 6-iron in.

So I'm just hitting the driver really well and exactly kind of where I want. I think that's key on par-5s.

Q. You talk about opportunities to clean up mistakes and looking forward to it. Are those par-5s part of that, where you know you're scoring so well at the moment you know those can be a birdie for you later on?

NELLY KORDA: I try to look at over every hole like an opportunity. Something like 10 today, you can possibly drain a 30-footer but you're trying to make par on that hole.

If I'm continuing to hit my driver the way I do, I have some shorter clubs in compared to maybe some other girls, so just sticking to my process.

Q. You are going to be in contention going into the weekend on national TV with a number of people tuning in to watch you for the first time. What would you want those fans to know about you who are seeing you for the first time?

NELLY KORDA: I don't know. (Laughing.) I mean, that I just never give up. No matter, what no matter how much adversity is thrown your way, they know that I never give up and I give it my all.

Q. After yesterday, talking about your battery level being a little bit low, how were you feeling out there today and did you have any special snacks?

NELLY KORDA: No, actually felt better today than yesterday to be honest. Yeah, just recovered well. Went straight home. Didn't even go hit the range or putt or anything, which usually I tend to do.

I made sure to prioritize my recovery. Had treatment, ate my Uber Eats and went to sleep.

Q. This 18th hole proved to be quite pivotal last year and I am sure will be again. Can you take us through your yardage, what you had in and what you hit and --

NELLY KORDA: First let me look. The tee was up. I think it was up actually 20 yards. I had 189 front. Hit a 5-iron and was it downwind and like 212 total, and I hit it probably a foot on and it rolled to the back of green.

I stayed on the top tier and had a pretty straight kind of downhill, uphill, left-to-righter.