NAPLES, Fla. — Nelly Korda, for all her otherworldly talent, echoed the masses on Friday at the CME Group Tour Championship.
“Golf is just crazy,” said Korda. “You go from playing so well last week to not being able to find the center of the club face yesterday. Always humbles you, but that’s what you love so much about it.”
Korda rebounded from an opening 72 with a dazzling 6-under 66 at Tiburon Golf Club on a sunny, windswept day in south Florida. The bogey-free round included a hole-out for eagle on the third hole.
The World No. 1 headed to the range after Thursday’s round and came away with one simple swing thought.
“I get kind of like slung open, and then when I swing my face open, then I just don’t hinge properly,” she said.
“So going straight back, which in a sense is like a closing club face on the way back, and then just hinging puts me in a good spot on the top.”
A hole out for eagle from the rough?!? @NellyKorda is UNREAL
pic.twitter.com/Bj4VZo71kF
— LPGA (@LPGA) November 22, 2024
Armed with a good plan, Korda headed back for a little room service and some much-needed rest. Her physio, Kim Baughman, came by to knock on the door early Friday morning for treatment on her neck.
“It’s getting better every day, yeah,” said Korda, who skipped the tour’s fall Asian swing after suffering the injury. “Doing a lot of rehab still with Kim, strengthening.”
CME Group Tour Championship: Leaderboard | Photos
A seven-time winner on tour this season, Korda tops the LPGA’s money list with $4,164,430 but can nearly double that total with an historic $4 million winner’s check this week. Korda currently holds a share of fourth.
The first American to win seven times in a season since Beth Daniel in 1990, should she go on to win this week, Korda would be the first American to win eight times in a season since Nancy Lopez in 1979.
It’s also worth noting Korda came from behind to win four times this season, the most of since Jane Geddes in 1987.