KPMG WOMEN'S PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

June 18, 2024

Nelly Korda

Sahalee Country Club

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: All right, joined now by Nelly Korda here to the KPMG Women's PGA Championship. Just finished the pro-am. Probably had a practice round yesterday. What have you made of the course and your time so far here at Sahalee?

NELLY KORDA: Yeah, gosh, it's such a beautiful place. Definitely have to hit your shots out here. Yeah, I mean, I did not get to play in 2016. My sister did and she just told me you really have to hit your shots out here, especially your tee shots.

It's just a really beautiful golf course as well. You kind of get lost in the nature out here.

Q. You guys have played up in Vancouver, down Portland, similar Northwest kind of courses to this. Is there anything you can take from those experiences at Shaughnessy and Edgewater to kind of bring out here?

NELLY KORDA: No, not necessarily. I mean, probably the only thing that you can kind of take away from that is maybe in the mornings it just doesn't fly as far. It's cold in the mornings. Even this time of year versus maybe anywhere else that we play.

So other than that, it's just a completely different looking golf course than Portland and Vancouver that we played last year.

Q. It looks really narrow off the tee. For a player that I know likes to hit her driver, how many drivers will you take this week, and what kind of golf are you trying to play out here with those narrow tee shots?

NELLY KORDA: Yeah, still going to be aggressive. There's a couple holes where I can't hit driver, but majority of the round I will be hitting driver just because you don't want a longer club into these greens.

Yes, the tee shots are pretty intimidating, but the greens, the second shot in is pretty tough as well.

So overall, I mean, if you have the length you may as well -- you have to hit it. This is the type of golf course where you just got to sack up and hit your driver.

Q. I know obviously last major we were at was Lancaster and that prep probably looked different than this perp. What have you worked on coming into this week to get yourself ready for another major test in a short amount of time?

NELLY KORDA: Yeah, I feel like there are so many majors coming up and big events. Yeah, two completely different golf courses with obviously Lancaster being super undulated. That was such a hard test and it was just an amazing golf course.

But off the tee, you know, it was narrow but it wasn't as maybe intimidating with the tree line. I think the rough was a little thicker than it is here. If you hit it a little off line here off the tee, you have a bunch of trees in your way so you're pitching out the majority of the time.

But, yeah, I mean, I approach every tournament the same and differently. I'm just trying to make a game plan for this week, and every week is just a refresh.

Q. And then I know one of the big storylines this week in addition to this major championship is the Olympic period ends Monday. I am sure everybody is relieved about. Reigning gold medalist, what does it mean to go back to Paris, and how excited are you to be there in a month and a half?

NELLY KORDA: I have never been to Paris, and the one thing I'm really looking forward to is the croissants probably on every corner. I love bakeries and baked goods, so that's one thing I'm really looking forward to.

And obviously representing my country and getting to compete in the Olympics is such an incredible opportunity.

I'm just super excited to get there and even just to play that golf course. I got to watch it in Ryder Cup. To be able to play such amazing golf courses like we do nowadays will be such a treat.

Q. What's the over/under on strokes gained croissant?

NELLY KORDA: I have definitely been crushing too many recently.

Q. When you're in a brand new venue, what's the normal process to learn a place and do you do that pretty quickly?

NELLY KORDA: Yeah, I try not to overthink. I try to really -- I don't like to practice at events. I'll see, you know, where I need to hit it and where I can't hit it. I'll draw some Xs on my yardage book and then I'll also put in my yardage book where I can be aggressive, and where I can't.

After that, it's just about playing the golf course. You can write as many things into your yardage book and you can pick a game plan that you want to execute, but typically it doesn't happen that way and you just got to adapt.

Everything is about adapting, and that's why I like to go out and just play the golf course and see the game that I have that day and try to adapt.

Q. A lot of people would assume a missed cut you wouldn't pull anything out of that. Seems like you could pull momentum of how you drove it on Friday.

NELLY KORDA: Yeah, I mean, I try -- you can dwell on the negatives, but that will never lead you anywhere, so you try it look at the positives.

I did hit it really actually good on Thursday afternoon. I just -- my course management wasn't very good. I was flying my pins and leaving myself in really tough spots, and on kind of bumpy po greens in the afternoon it's hard to be aggressive with your putting and to kind of gain confidence from that.

And then I did have a good round on Friday and I drove it really well, so trying to take the positives from that.

But that's golf. I mean, I'm going to go through these situations so many times where I feel like I'm playing really well and I'll go through a little lull where golf is the hardest thing in my life right now.

So that's I feel like what grows myself as a person and what makes me appreciate the sport so much and makes me appreciate the wins and the highs and good shots, the crowds out there as well.

Q. After having so much build earlier in the year as you're winning, winning, winning, does the vibe feel different coming into this week? Is there less pressure on you you think?

NELLY KORDA: I feel like pressure is privilege, and that's something that you're the only one that can kind of control that. You can listen to the outside voices, but at the end of the day, when you have pressure you can take it in a positive way that you are doing good and playing well.

But, yeah, I'm just going to stay in my bubble this week and go out and try to execute my shots, be confident in what I have. This golf course is already hard enough, and if I'm going to put more pressure on myself, then I think it's just going to make it even harder this week.

Q. Can you tell us about the champion's dinner last night? What was the best part? What did you enjoy the most?

NELLY KORDA: The dessert was pretty good. Ronni picked the menu. We had tomato and burrata for our appetizer with some sushi and some really good scallops, steak, broccoli. I mean, can't go wrong with that.

At the end of the night they asked us -- everyone had to speak and everyone asked if what their favorite Broadway show and movie was. I think three of us were like, we've never been to a Broadway show. I have not been to one.

Maybe eventually I will. I don't spend too much time in New York.

But it was nice. Very intimate. It was actually my first time doing a champion's dinner just because in the years prior with COVID and everything since my win it's been tough.

It was cool to get us all in a room with everyone.

Q. Any of the holes out here in particular make an impression on you due to their difficulty or just the way they present themselves?

NELLY KORDA: I think they're all super, super tough. You know, No. 1, the tee shot, you know, that's going to be your first tee shot of the day and that's a really hard hole.

And then the par-5s, I mean, something like 11 or -- like 10 and 11, those two holes with the water on the left on 10 and having to sack up on 11 and take it very close to the left side tree line.

But overall, I think every hole looks a little different. They're all intimidating and great in their own way.

Q. When So Yeon Ryu gave her retirement press conference earlier this year she talked about the fact that she never really enjoyed competition, wasn't a competitive person. Which is interesting for a former No. 1 player in the world.

NELLY KORDA: Yeah.

Q. Wondering if you have an early childhood memory of when you realized how much you do love competition. And it doesn't have to be golf related.

NELLY KORDA: Yeah, like I grew up very much so like hanging out with the guys. Like I was always during recess, during class, I was always a goalie playing with the boys or we would be playing tag. I feel like the adrenaline and the fun that you had playing against people and competing I've had since a really young age.

We've played sports since we were really young in our family, but like competing I think back in the day my sister and I played the same exact FCWT, gosh, I think somewhere in Florida. I don't even remember. I won my age group and she won her age group at the time.

Like those little moments from competing and just looking back, I think that's kind of what fueled my competition.

For me, I love the competition and the game. I appreciate every golf course that I play. Like I think -- I'm not a huge golf course nerd in a sense where I'm like, oh, my gosh, this place is spectacular. But I'll more appreciate every golf course that I've played and I just love the competition playing week in and week out against the girls.

Q. This is random, did you happen to see or listen to Roger Federer's commencement address at Dartmouth?

NELLY KORDA: I've seen snippets of it, yeah.

Q. Did any of it resonate?

NELLY KORDA: It's funny how he's only won 53 percent of his pints in his lifetime. That's the same thing with golf. They get second serves. If we mess up and make a big number on a hole, it's a little bit more penalizing than if they double fault, let's say, depending on where they are in the match.

It's true. You're going to fail more than you win, and I think that's what fuels a player as well more in sports.

Q. Back to the champion's dinner, what was your favorite movie and who was your favorite th athlete? What Broadway show do you want to see?

NELLY KORDA: So athlete, pretty easy, Nadal. Broadway show, probably Lion King, just because I love lions and that was one of my favorite movies growing up.

Now that I said that, I don't really know if I would -- I have a favorite movie, but a show I watch every single day is Friends. It's just a show that like I put on when I fall asleep and when -- it's just like a feel-good show. I laugh at it every single time. No matter how many times I watch the same exact episode, I pick up on something else every single time.

Q. I know obviously '21 was a big year. You've come into your own this year. You seem so much more comfortable, super confident. I feel like I and I this every single time you win, but how much fun are you having with all that's been going on this year, everything you got going for you off the golf course and on the golf course?

NELLY KORDA: Yeah, I mean, I think you can kind of dwell on as athletes we're never home, we're traveling so much. I look at it like I get to do what I love for a living, hopefully inspire the next generation. I love seeing the little kids out here.

Last week I was 4-over through I don't know how many holes, and these kids were giving my fist pumps and they're like, good job, and I'm like, thank you. I'm like 100 something, but thank you.

So that to me is so much fun, doing that out here. I have such an amazing team that we always keep it so light, so fun. There is no filter. We just all understand each other. I love traveling and hopefully I love competing and inspiring the next generation.