Reigning women’s Olympic golf champion Nelly Korda is already gearing up for her trip to Paris later this summer as the World No.1 looks to defend the gold medal she won in Paris three years ago.
Korda is set to lead USA’s team of three over to Europe, being joined by Lilia Vu and Rose Zhang for the four-day competition at Le Golf National just outside France’s capital city between August 7-10.
After the men’s qualifying period ended at the culmination of the US Open last week, the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship this week marks the final opportunity for Korda and her peers to secure their spot.
Not that qualifying is of concern to Korda, who is already assured of a place in Paris as a result of her extraordinary success this year which included five wins in a row.
Already giving room to think about her European trip in August, Korda admitted there is one aspect that quite literally whets her appetite more than anything else.
Nelly Korda won gold at the Tokyo Olympics
(Image credit: Getty Images)
The self-confessed foodie said: “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 [the] Ryder Cup. To be able to play such amazing golf courses like we do nowadays will be such a treat.”
And after being asked what the over/under on Strokes Gained: Croissant might be, Korda said: “I have definitely been crushing too many recently.”
Turning attention back to the third women’s Major of the season, Korda is entering the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship off the back of two missed cuts yet is still a pretty sizeable favorite to reign supreme in the eyes of the bookmakers.
Six wins in 10 starts this season means the American is by far and a way the most feared player in the field among her competitors, even if two rough opening rounds in her past two starts had threatened to shake Korda’s nerve somewhat.
However, the World No.1 is made of sterner stuff these days and is choosing to take the positives from much stronger second rounds at the US Women’s Open and the Meijer LPGA Classic as she aims to lift another title.
Explaining her outlook after an underwhelming couple of weeks, Korda said: “You can dwell on the negatives, but that will never lead you anywhere, so you try it look at the positives.
“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.”
Nelly Korda with the Chevron Championship trophy
(Image credit: Getty Images)
And what about the pressure placed on her to keep winning after a record-equalling stretch of golf in the first third of the year?
Korda said: “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.”
Korda will take on 155 other players at the brutally narrow Sahalee Country Club in Washington for the largest share of the $10.4 million purse.