AIG WOMEN'S OPEN

August 22, 2024

Nelly Korda

Mixed Zone

Q. How was it out there today?

NELLY KORDA: It was good. Yeah, it was windy, but especially at kind of the start to the middle. But kind of the last three, four holes it died down and was able to be a little bit more aggressive. But overall I think our group had a very good day.

Q. How long did the round feel today?

NELLY KORDA: Oh, my gosh, like really long, especially when we were waiting on the 11th tee box. I mean, that was, I think, a 30-minute wait, and then waited again on 11. There was a lot of waiting on that back nine. The front nine was kind of flowing a good bit. Obviously in the tough conditions you have people stepping off and the flow to the round is a little slower, but you're kind of expecting that. But then once we hit the 11th tee box, it was just full-on breaks.

Q. How did you pass the time waiting?

NELLY KORDA: I mean, we chitchatted and once we got closer to hitting our tee ball, then started moving a little bit more because when you just stand still, you get a little bit colder.

Q. (No microphone.)

NELLY KORDA: I mean, obviously not, but with circumstances of the wind and then with it kind of intersecting between two holes, it's kind of a given. I think we all knew that kind of playing the golf course for the first time on Monday.

Q. It was such a quality three-ball. Were you sort of dragging each other along?

NELLY KORDA: Yeah, I'm sure. When you're all kind of playing well, the momentum is kind of up. Charley and Lilia played really great, and I think overall we had a really good day, and hopefully the crowd enjoyed it as much as we did.

There's something fun about playing in these conditions, too. Not that I would do it every single time. But it's just there's like a different creative side to it, which I enjoy.

Q. The crowds obviously love her, but Charley is fun to watch.

NELLY KORDA: No, she's fun to be around. I really enjoy always playing with her.

Q. (No microphone.)

NELLY KORDA: Yeah, so nice. I was actually in between two clubs. In between a full 6-iron and a hold 5-iron and went with the 5-iron because I was a little bit on an uphill slope on the fairway, and landed perfectly and rolled up to about seven feet and made that putt, obviously.

Q. As one of the fastest players on Tour, what do you do to keep yourself from getting overly frustrated over there on a six-hour round?

NELLY KORDA: I really just try to stay present. I already know going into the round that the weather is not going to be good and it's going to be slow out here. I already prepped myself going into it. There's some days that when you're playing well obviously it's flowing a little better, and when you're playing bad you get a little bit more frustrated. But today I just tried to stay really present and to have a good attitude with the weather that we had.

Q. How good does it feel to get a good round in to settle in to what's to come the next three rounds?

NELLY KORDA: Yeah, any single time I get to climb the leaderboard, even if -- you can't win a tournament on day one but you can definitely lose it, so I've put myself into good position, and hopefully I can keep trending in the right direction.