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A16 SPORTS
Thursday 22 augusT 2024
Nelly Korda looks to rediscover unbeatable form in Women’s
British Open at the home of golf
ST. ANDREWS, Scotland April amid a tear of six wins
(AP) — Nelly Korda was in seven starts on the LPGA
playing such good golf in Tour, Korda missed the cut
the first half of 2024 that in three successive events
her rivals were starting to including in two majors for
hope she wouldn’t turn up the first time in her career
for tournaments. and was outside the top 20
“I played in LA a couple at both the Evian Cham-
weeks ago and she pulled pionship and the Olympic
out,” No. 40 Georgia Hall Games in Paris.
said of the world’s top- So, where does Korda
ranked player. see her game heading
“I texted her and just said, to the home of golf at St.
‘Thanks for giving us a Andrews, which is staging
chance.’” the Women’s Open for the
One of the greatest win- third time?
ning streaks in the history “You’re going to go up.
of women’s golf sure has You’re going to go down,”
come to end, however, Korda said Wednesday. “I
heading into this week’s think the best part of the
British Open the fifth and Nelly Korda, of the United States, hits her shot from the 14th tee during the third round of the downs is that you learn so
final major of the year. women’s golf event at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, at Le Golf National, in much about yourself and
After a run of five straight Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France. it’s always a learning op-
victories from January to Associated Press portunity and I enjoy that.
“I always try to think of ev-
erything in a positive mind-
set.
Compared to the start of
the year, obviously I’ve
had some finishes that
weren’t the best.
But at the end of the day,
I’m still learning and I’m still
getting better from it.”
For Korda at this stage of
her career, it’s about “not
getting ahead of yourself.”
That will apply to this week,
too.
The Old Course should
provide a stern test for the
best players in the world
because of the rain and
strong winds potentially
more than 30 mph that
have been forecast for
Thursday and Friday.
Stacy Lewis, the Ameri-
can who won the event
the last time it was held at
St. Andrews in 2013, said
Wednesday she reckons
“maybe 60% of the field”
will start off the week with
the kind of mindset that
will prevent them from win-
ning.
“There’s a lot of people,”
Lewis, the captain of the
United States’ Solheim Cup
team, said, “when they get
off the plane and they see
the weather, it’s not going
to fit them.”
Korda, whose only top-10
finish in seven British Opens
was a tie for ninth in 2019,
said it was important to
“stay present.”q
