CME GROUP TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP

November 19, 2024

Nelly Korda

Tiburon Golf Club

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: All right, pleased to be joined by to Rolex Player of the Year Nelly Korda. Nelly, start with the year as a whole. Have you gotten to take a chance at any point this year and kind of sat down and been like, this year has been insane.

NELLY KORDA: Yeah, I think in the middle part of the year where I took some time off or where I've had an extended period at home I've definitely reminisced a little bit about the season, but I've also been motivated to finish the year strong knowing that I still have tournaments left in the season.

Q. Have you decided on a favorite point in this year, whether on the course, off the course, The Met, becoming an aunt, any of that?

NELLY KORDA: All of it. Honestly becoming an aunt to little Greyson would be my favorite obviously off the golf course, but I think all the moments that I've gone through, the lows and highs, they've shaped me to who I am. They're constantly shaping me to who I am; constantly growing.

I can't pick one certain point because I've just enjoyed kind of all of it.

Q. After Sunday's win I know you got to be feeling really good about where your game is. Coming into this week, how confident are you feeling in your game?

NELLY KORDA: Yeah, I feel good about my game. It's nice to have my coach, Jamie Mulligan, out here as well for the practice days. Definitely going to prioritize the rest of the next few days.

So, yeah, I mean, I know that I have the ability to play well. I've played well on this golf course. I feel comfortable out here. So it's more about prioritizing probably rest and recovery after last week.

Q. Obviously nobody has seven wins on they're bingo card for one season. Did you ever have one season with seven wins on your LPGA Tour career bingo card?

NELLY KORDA: No. Honestly, it's been a crazy year. I'm grateful for all of it. I am grateful for the highs; grateful for the lows; grateful to be doing what I love in front of people hopefully inspiring the next generation.

It's really tough to win out here against such great players. The caliber of players is really, really high out here. I would say to me, it's really, really nice to know that all the hard work that I put in with my team is paying off.

Q. You putted lights out last week; it was incredible seeing all those putts. Just buried them.

NELLY KORDA: Uh-huh.

Q. What have you found with your putting that really helped lift you to victory last week and what os working well on bermuda specifically?

NELLY KORDA: Yeah, I putted well really with the Scotty, the squareback at the beginning of the year, and then kind of went throughout a little bit of a slump in the middle of the year and just needed to look at something different. The Spider was something that just sat really well after the Olympics. I putted really well. Put it into play at the British and then putted well at Solheim; played pretty well in Cincinnati.

Then my next event after that was last week. So overall, really happy with the putter and sometimes you just need a changeup. It's never going to go with our way full time. It's nice to look at something different occasionally.

Q. Obviously you won and won big this year. However ever have you ever thought what a $4 million win would mean?

NELLY KORDA: No, I have not. I'm the type of person that likes to stay very present. You can ask me that if I'm in contention on Sunday.

Q. Last week the slow play issue popped up again.

NELLY KORDA: Yeah.

Q. Do you think it's an issue on the LPGA?

NELLY KORDA: Yes. I personally think it's a pretty big issue. I think it's not good for the fans that come out and watch us. If it was me personally, I would be very, very annoyed watching for five hours, over five hours, five hours and 40 minutes, close to six. I just think it really drags the game down.

I think that it really, really needs to change.

Q. I'm not sure if you heard Charley's solution.

NELLY KORDA: I did, yeah. Funny, yes.

Q. Do you have your own solution?

NELLY KORDA: I think just needs to be -- players just need to be penalized. Rules officials need to watch from the first group. Once they get two minutes behind, one minute behind, it just slows everything down.

To be standing over a putt for two to three minutes, that's ridiculous. When a group in front of me is on the green and I'm in the fairway, I'm already getting ready. I'm getting my numbers ready, talking about the shot, so by the time it's my turn, I already have my game plan.

Like I'm already -- I'm hitting right after the person that just hit in front of me. I think people just need to be -- people overanalyze, one, and I think people just need to be ready faster.

People start their process a little too late and they stand over it too long. Again, I think we need more people on the ground to monitor pace of play. I don't think we have enough people to monitor it.

Q. With this year and the increase in interest in women's sports and the interest in obviously your success this year and the interest in Caitlin Clark's play in the WNBA, do you think the LPGA has done a good job capturing that moment and promoting that?

NELLY KORDA: I mean, obviously I'm the one hitting a golf ball, but at the end of the day I don't I don't know the logistics behind everything. I focus on my career and what I'm doing, so I don't really know if I can answer that question.

Q. Maybe on a similar topic, with a lot of change in men's golf and women's golf, there is a lot of ideas on the table. I guess if you had a pitch to make, what's a big ticket change you would make?

NELLY KORDA: Well, one, I would focus on pace of play. I would circle back to pace of play.

I think we need primetime TV. We need more hours on TV. I mean, we have a great product out here. We have so many amazing stories. We just need to be on primetime TV.

Q. Is there a lower ticket item that maybe is only specific to you, something that bothers you that you were like, man, I wish they would fix that?

NELLY KORDA: Nothing is really coming to mind right now, no.

Q. With $4 million on the line for the winner this week, what do you remember about when you first got started, your first check when you were a professional?

NELLY KORDA: Yeah, it was in the Bahamas. I just remember I finished inside the Top 5 and I was like, okay, I'm good. I have enough money to get me for the next couple weeks.

Obviously going from Symetra back in the day, now Epson, I mean, didn't really have -- one, I was lucky enough to have a sponsor to help me. Two, every paycheck really counted at the beginning.

For me playing well right off the bat took some pressure, some weight off my shoulders.

But to see the difference, even from 2011, I mean, I've been lucky enough to kind of know what life on Tour is like through Jess' eyes.

So to see the steps and the progress that has been made since 2011 has been incredible. Hopefully we keep taking advantage of the trend in women's golf and all the amazing stories and women in sports and continuously rising from it.

Q. Do you remember how much this first check was for?

NELLY KORDA: I think aren't like 50 or something. Yeah, something around there.

Q. You said after your win last week, referencing your round, it's not how you get started but how you finish that's important.

NELLY KORDA: Uh-huh.

Q. You would probably use that to describe your season as well, getting off to such a string start and now here you are again finishing out the year. In your mind, what would be a finish you would be printout proud of here this week?

NELLY KORDA: I mean, I'm just proud of everything that I've overcome this year and everything that my team and I have accomplished, so no matter how I finish this week, I'm going to be proud of the season and how we all worked together.

Finishing high is just going to be a cherry on top obviously. The goal in mind is to come out here and win. That's not going to take away from how proud I am of my team.

Q. What do you feel like was the biggest challenge that you overcame this year?

NELLY KORDA: Just the middle part of the year, a little bit of a mental slump. I said like at the beginning year just felt like it was kind of flowing. I would never say golf is easy, but I was just in a state of just a flow.

Then in the middle of the year just felt like the hardest thing in the world, and kind of overcoming that with my team, being able to lean on the people that mean the most to me, I think that was probably the hardest and also the most rewarding.

Q. Would you say you're back in the flow?

NELLY KORDA: I mean, hopefully. Gosh, with golf it's up and down. It's a rollercoaster. You can never be comfortable.

Q. Nelly, your own personal pace of play is aspirational.

NELLY KORDA: Thank you.

Q. Did you come by that naturally, or was there a point where you realized that deliberating too much wasn't good? Anything in your own personal routine?

NELLY KORDA: Jason actually has to slow me down sometimes. I don't know. Just always like my first instinct is just the best instinct. You see it, you hit it. Today with Charley, Charley and I played together today again, three rounds in a row, practice round.

She was talking and it's like either a 5 or a 6, like you got two options. It's either wind is off your right or wind is off your left, wind is into, wind is down. You can't -- it's just people just try to overcomplicate it.

I just always say your first instinct is your best instinct I would say. Just be ready when it's your turn.

Q. And then you were talking about when you got out of the flow. Was there anything that someone on your team said that really resonated that you kind of play over in the back of your mind mentally to help you get out of that?

NELLY KORDA: Yeah, I mean, I have such an amazing family and amazing support system outside my family. The people on my team are like my family. Just having them all there for me and just realizing that it's not a race, it's a marathon and you're going to go through up and downs and that's just life.

Life is going to throw you curve balls. You got to dodge them sometimes as well. Sometimes they just got to hit you and you got to dust yourself off and get back up again.

Q. I know you planned to play in a few more extra events if you hadn't gotten injured.

NELLY KORDA: Yeah.

Q. What's an ideal number of events that you think you would like to play each year that's reasonable for your health as well?

NELLY KORDA: Yeah, I like to float around the 20 number, 22, around there. That's kind of my sweet spot. I don't like to play over three weeks in a row, so just making sure that I do take time off for my body, my mind as well, is really important.

But I haven't hit it in the past three years, but over 20, just over 20.

Q. Nelly, kind of a lighthearted question. My 16 year old nephew is trying to break 80 for the first time; shoots in mid-80s, high-80s. What's one tip you would give him?

NELLY KORDA: One tip I would give him? Well, two. A lot of the people that I see what are ams never have a stick down on the range. If you don't know where you're aiming there is a high chance you don't know where you're aiming on the golf course.

Tip two, I see a lot of people stand on the range and just drilling golf balls or just practicing a lot instead of going out and visualizing.

At the end of the day, golf is a game of creativity and you're never going to have your A-game. One day the wind will be off the left and one day off the right. The hole will play completely different. It's all about creativity.

So going out and playing a lot.

Q. Circling back to slow play, wondering if you saw Charley Hull's proposed solution for slow play and if you have any solutions for slow play on the LPGA?

NELLY KORDA: If I saw Charley's? Oh.

Q. What was your response?

NELLY KORDA: My solution would be I think we need to start monitoring. Obviously the LPGA know who the slow players are. The rules officials by now know there are people that are a little slower. So making sure they're monitoring those groups. Even if they get one minute behind, you got to be on top of that. Then everyone else falls behind.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you for your time, Nelly.

NELLY KORDA: Thank you.