There’s a lot on the line for Nelly Korda this week — LPGA Tour Player of the Year is the big one, other than the chance to win $1.5 million at the CME Group Tour Championship.
But the fact that the tournament is in her home state of Florida — where she won last week — puts at her ease even more than just being familiar with the state’s Bermuda grass.
There’s also comfort in the chaos with her family being around. That helped lead to a 6-under 66 Thursday, leaving her two strokes behind leader Jeongeun Lee6 at Tiburón Golf Club at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort.
“It’s nice to kind of get distracted with family time, going out to dinner every single night,” she said. “It’s a good kind of distraction and keeping it within the circle I think.”
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And fellow LPGA Tour player Megan Khang, who grew up playing junior golf with Korda, also is in the field this week and is a frequent dining companion.
“We try to do dinner once a week even during tournament weeks, so, I mean — (her sister) Jess as well,” Khang said. “The whole family is an amazing family. I always joke that they’re my tour sisters, stuff like that.”
Other than being friends with Korda, Khang has watched her golf game continue to take off even more so this season, with multiple victories and leading the Race to the CME Globe in addition to being in contention for Player of the Year.
“Nelly is playing incredible this year,” Khang said. “I think from when we were younger we both knew that — like I knew Nelly was always going to be a great golfer and it was going to be very competitive us two.
“It helps that we’re really good friends and she pushes me to be a better golfer, and just kind of push myself and try to compete with her and keep up; really have something to chase after.”
As for her round, Korda said a Tuesday nap helped ease some fatigue after a long week — “that felt great” — that was capped with a playoff win Sunday near Tampa. She hit all 14 fairways and 16 of 18 greens. Korda made eight birdies, including three in a row on Nos. 9, 10, and 11, but had pair of bogeys, on Nos. 12 and 15. The 23-year-old closed with birdies on Nos. 16 and 17.
.@ROLEX Rankings #1 @NellyKorda is two strokes off the lead after a first-round 66 at the @CMEGroupLPGA
pic.twitter.com/H7fUdRHPWS
— LPGA (@LPGA) November 18, 2021
“I think I just struck it really well,” she said. “I gave myself some good looks probably inside 10 feet. Two oopsies with two three-putts, but I think I hit a majority of the greens and gave myself some really good looks.”
Weather forces easier setup
With pins placed in the middle of greens and a couple of tees moved up to try to speed up play and beat incoming weather, Tiburón Golf Club’s Gold Course took a bit of a beating Thursday.
But tour officials put it right there in front of the players to make sure they could finish. And most of them finished with birdies.
Nearly everyone in the 60-player field shot par or better. Only five didn’t.
“Honestly, I feel like the course was just set up pretty easy,” said Jennifer Kupcho, who’s tied for second at 7 under. “I mean, preparing for rain moved a lot of tees up, as well as put the pins right in the middle of the green I feel like, so it was pretty attackable.”
Webb chats with Green
LPGA Tour legend Karrie Webb of Australia was out at the course, and talked with fellow Aussie Hannah Green after her 6-under 66.
“It’s amazing she’s even out here,” Green said. “She said the last time she was watching me play was in 2019 at Hazeltine, so it’s pretty cool to even have her watching me back then, as well.
“It’s great that she’s always supporting us. There’s a few amateur golfers that are here at the moment, and she played golf with them (Wednesday), so she’s always giving back. She probably doesn’t realize how much of a big deal it is to those players and myself. I have to say thank you to her.”
Buffett performs concert
Jimmy Buffett played an invite-only concert with all proceeds going to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital after the CME Group Tour Championship Pro-Am at Tiburon Golf Club on Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2021.
No word if cheeseburgers were served in Paradise Coast, the local tourism department’s marketing name for Southwest Florida, but Jimmy Buffett did serve a select audience with a concert Wednesday night between Tiburón Golf Club and the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort on a huge stage.
Cheeseburger in Paradise was the name of the 74-year-old “Margaritaville” singer’s restaurant chain.
Concert-goers were invite-only through tournament sponsor CME Group. All money raised went to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Greg Hardwig is a sports reporter for the Naples Daily News and The News-Press. Follow him on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter: @NDN_Ghardwig, email him at ghardwig@naplesnews.com. Support local journalism with this special subscription offer at https://cm.naplesnews.com/specialoffer/