Nelly Korda’s record-tying run of five straight wins on the LPGA Tour has her mentioned in the same sentence as Tiger Woods, but also for a unique reason in a spotlight away from the golf course.
Arguably the face of the LPGA Tour, World No. 1 Korda became the first golfer since Woods to attend the Met Gala on Monday, the annual event that draws stars from the worlds of fashion, show business and sports.
“I never thought I would be able to walk the red carpet there. I feel like I lived out a little girl dream of mine,” Korda, 25, said Wednesday in Clifton, N.J. “Gosh, it was so, so crazy. You’re standing in line ready to get on the carpet and you’re like seeing all these people you usually watch in TV shows or movies and they’re like famous singers and you’re starstruck the entire time. It’s the best people watching for me. I was just silent looking at everyone’s dresses.”
Korda has put away the Oscar de la Renta gown she wore for her more customary visor and golf clothes to compete this week at the Cognizant Founders Cup starting Thursday at Upper Montclair County Club.
It’s her first tournament since her LPGA record-tying victory — and second major title — at the Chevron Championship on April 21 in The Woodlands, Texas. She joined Hall of Famers Annika Sorenstam (2004-05) and Nancy Lopez (1978) as the only players in LPGA Tour history to win five straight starts.
Korda played 25 holes on the final day to make up for a weather delay on Saturday on her way to winning her 13th LPGA Tour event. She was able to stay in the moment and make clutch shots down the stretch.
“I feel like every time I do learn more about myself and I can lean on what I’ve practiced on and I can lean on the situations that I’ve been through to help me through that and to really take it a shot at a time,” Korda said Wednesday.
“Getting ahead of yourself is just going to lead you down a bad, bad rabbit hole. We made sure we were very, very present coming down the stretch. Even if I had a five-shot lead I was still going to be very nervous.
“To be very present during that time really helped me to soak in the entire moment as well.”
It could apply to her Monday evening in New York City, and to her approach to the possibility of a record-breaking result this weekend in New Jersey.
“If I’m being honest, I have not thought about it at all because I’ve had so much going on those two weeks,” said Korda, who took a short break from the tour and hosted her first junior amateur event. “Then obviously yesterday — or Monday I had The Met, so haven’t had too much time to think about it.”
She noted that her “track record hasn’t been the greatest in New Jersey,” as she missed the cut at this event as well as the Women’s PGA Championship at Baltusrol in 2023.
“I’m really just trying to keep it one shot at time, see how it goes,” Korda said. “This golf course is tough. It’s very, very narrow off the tee. The rough is very penalizing. And it’s wet this year, so it’s even worse.
“So just not getting too ahead of myself and taking it a shot at a time. As boring as it sounds or as many times as you’re going to hear me say it, that’s the motto and I’m going to stick to it.”
–Field Level Media
