Hear from 2021 KPMG Women's PGA Champion Nelly Korda.
THE MODERATOR: All right, 2021 KPMG Women's PGA champion Nelly Korda joins us now. Nelly, welcome to Fields Ranch East at Frisco. How do you feel about your game heading into Thursday?
NELLY KORDA: Yeah, had a week off at home coming into this week, so feel good. It's going to be a test, especially if the winds pick up out here. It's kind of like a very open field, so not much protects you out here from the wind.
It will definitely be interesting to see how this week plays out with that. Yeah, it's pretty demanding off the tee into the greens with how windy it is.
I played yesterday, and it was really calm out, and I played today with it picking up a little bit more, and it was like a completely different golf course.
Q. You talked about the fact that it's going to be a test out here this week. You pretty much conquered a pretty big test at Erin Hills. How much confidence does that give you looking ahead to a new course, new venue that we really don't know too much about yet?
NELLY KORDA: I know that this golf course is a little newer, so I'm guessing the greens, just by playing newer golf courses in the past, they're going to be pretty firm.
If it does get windy out here, you'll see a lot of girls have trouble holding the greens.
But at the end of the day, this is what I love about playing in majors, this is what I love about the game, is that it tests you in every single way. You may show a little more emotion here and there, but at the end of the day, playing under pressure and playing in these kind of conditions is the most fun.
Q. I think I saw yesterday on Jessica's story Greyson looking at an airplane window. Are they coming this week?
NELLY KORDA: They're here, yeah.
Q. How excited are you to have them watching?
NELLY KORDA: I think it's going to be a little too hot for him, but having them at the house and chilling and seeing them. We don't live near each other, we live on opposite ends of Florida, opposite coasts, but every single time I'm with him, just seeing how much of a personality he's developed, how fast he's becoming, I love spending time with them.
At the end of the day, Jess is one of my best friends, so having her out here is also like a nice comfort blanket.
Q. So you have played all 18 holes now?
NELLY KORDA: Yes.
Q. Is there a certain stretch that jumps out to you as kind of the most difficult?
NELLY KORDA: I think it all plays pretty difficult depending on the wind. All the par-5s are pretty much three-shot holes for me. So just dialing in. The downwind holes, I think are going to play probably the hardest just because it's quite hard to hold the green, and if you do hit it a little bit short with that fluffy Bermuda, it kind of just stays, so you can't play for a run-up.
I just think every hole looks really different. You just have to pay attention all 18 holes, and that's kind of what's great about major championships, is that you have to give 100 percent to every single shot on every single hole. You can't kind of disconnect a little and be like, okay, this is an easier hole; a little bit of I can take a deep breath and maybe bounce back with a birdie because every shot out here, the rough is so thick.
It's a Bermuda rough where it just sinks to the bottom, and it's really hard to get it out. So it's just every shot is going to be really demanding.
Q. If you don't mind an off-course question, there's a lot of buzz about your appearance on Happy Gilmore. How much time did you spend filming that?
NELLY KORDA: It was just a day. It was so much fun. Got to do it alongside Nancy Lopez, which was super fun. To meet Adam Sandler and just be part of that whole experience kind of stepping outside my comfort zone was a lot of fun, and I'm super grateful I was part of it.
Q. Something you do a little bit more in your comfort zone off the course is a YouTube video I recently saw where you went shot-for-shot with current PGA champion Scottie Scheffler, hitting some wedges. Those experiences where you're creating content, is that purely a release for you, or do you get something out of those experiences?
NELLY KORDA: That content we actually shoot at the end of the year with TaylorMade. We have a two-day shoot with them where we create really fun videos. I get to see the guys that represent TaylorMade, and we all get to kind of spend time together, talk about our seasons, and at the end of the day, create fun content that maybe we normally wouldn't do for fans out there.
It's fun getting to do something with Tiger, getting to do something with Scottie. It was a lot of fun.
Q. What were your impressions of what Scottie was able to do at Quail Hollow and how you can mimic some of that here this week?
NELLY KORDA: Yeah, he's just an incredible player, incredible human being, and how consistent he is week in and week out, that's something to look up to.
Q. 15 winners on Tour this year; no multiple winners. I'm wondering what you make of that.
NELLY KORDA: Yeah, it's golf. Every year is just so different. Last year coming into this event, I had five wins. I think even Hannah green had multiple wins under her belt too coming into this event. It's just -- it's just golf. You kind of just have to ride the wave, and the competition is getting better and better every year.
To win once, to win twice, it's really good.
Q. Wondering if you had any more interactions with Craig this week. I know he's been working the range. What that's been like, if so.
NELLY KORDA: Yeah, so we met briefly today. I was warming up. I had an early Pro-Am. We met maybe for like three minutes because I was warming up. Hopefully we can catch up this week.
Obviously it's probably very busy for him this week, also for me with it being a major. So we have some time to catch up. It's great to see him making his rounds and introduce himself to each player. It's already going in a great direction there.
Q. Ahead of the U.S. Women's Open, you said you put in a lot of time working on your game. What did you focus on coming into this major championship?
NELLY KORDA: Playing two weeks in a row, major championships are very mentally demanding, especially coming off from Erin Hills, and then played ShopRite the week after that.
So took the first two days and really didn't touch a golf club, tried to take a rest, and just tried to dial in what I kind of saw was not going so well at ShopRite, made my irons just a little bit of putting.
So just trying to always work on stuff that I kind of see I need to improve on.
Q. And the tape on your neck, is that an injury from last year or something that you're currently dealing with?
NELLY KORDA: No. I hit a shot out of the rough yesterday, and my neck went into a full spasm. It's getting better, but yeah, it was not very good yesterday.
Q. How are you feeling physically now? Is this impacting your swing and your preparations?
NELLY KORDA: A little, yeah. Obviously with the injury that I had last year, every single time something kind of flares up in my neck now, I think I feel it a little bit more than what I used to.
But I have a great physio who takes care of me. Trying to work through it, but I'll be ready by Thursday.
Q. Where did it happen yesterday?
NELLY KORDA: On one of the holes on the front nine in the rough, yeah. Just golf (laughter), yeah.
Q. I guess that's a good example of what you're saying of the majors testing everything.
NELLY KORDA: Yeah, even your body, yeah.
Q. So I wonder how do you deal with it? How do you structure your week to be able to withstand the mental and the physical pressure?
NELLY KORDA: It's going to be hot this week too, so making sure you're rested, and depending on how your body feels, you have to kind of make a plan just how your body feels and be smart about it.
Q. What about the mental part?
NELLY KORDA: Mental part, I mean, I feel like you've played in so many major championships, you've played in so many events that you just have to go out and give it your all.
Q. You called Erin Hills kind of a heartbreaker with how it ended. I'm curious, just over the course of your career, whether it's a poor shot, poor hole, or a tournament that you come up short, how do you mentally -- what's the key to moving past that and getting back on the horse?
NELLY KORDA: I think it just makes you hungrier. For me, I hate making mistakes; obviously I love winning. You don't get to win often, but there's nothing like it being in contention, so I think that's kind of what makes me hungrier to come back and to work harder and put myself into that position.
At the end of the day, I did put myself into that position. I was still in contention and feeling the adrenaline rush on 18, trying to win a major championship. That's the reason why I play this game, and I love it so much.
You can look at it in a positive way, you can look at it in a negative way, but at the end of the day, three weeks after I can spin it in a positive way, and it's going to make me hopefully hungrier.
Q. There's been a lot of talk about Rory and getting the career grand slam and trying to find the next mountain to climb. As someone who's achieved a lot in this game and has checked off dreams, I'm sure, how did you find your ability to both enjoy achieving dreams and then finding the next thing to climb?
NELLY KORDA: I think it's just by loving the game, by inspiring the next generation, seeing all the little girls. Today I had a girl come up to me, and she gave me another Lego set. It was so cute. I'm getting them every week now. I love it. It's saving me money (laughter).
But moments like that, interactions like that, that fuels my love for the game. Then competing against the best players in the world, I think it all comes down to like, if you internally want it, and that's a question you always have to ask yourself.
Q. Obviously champions dinners are always a fun time for you. Can you speak to what happened last night and any stories you have?
NELLY KORDA: I didn't go because of my neck. I was so sad to miss it, though. I messaged Amy; the menu looked unbelievable. I love Korean food. So I was really jealous.
At the end of the day, I need to prioritize my body. So I wasn't able to go, but I missed out on a good dinner.
