![Nelly Korda makes adjustments to her golf swing and attracts attention with her unexpected success. Nelly Korda makes adjustments to her golf swing and attracts attention with her unexpected success.](https://i1.wp.com/www.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=https://arc-anglerfish-washpost-prod-washpost.s3.amazonaws.com/public/LYS6HAFF7RDH5EGOEYKL4JEVJM.jpg&w=1440&w=1200&resize=1200,0&ssl=1)
LANCASTER, Pa. — Nelly Korda was recently browsing the US Women’s Open Instagram page when she came across a post of her swing in 2016. The world’s top-ranked golfer recoiled almost instantly, shocked by the deficiencies in her mechanics.
Korda had been turning his hands too much during his serve, a flaw that made getting the clubface square at impact more challenging than necessary. He modified the move after beginning to work with swing coach Jamie Mulligan, who also instructed Patrick Cantlay, the world’s No. 8 men’s golfer.
That solution has, at least in part, propelled Korda to a winning pace unmatched in the history of her sport heading into this week’s US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club, where she seeks her first victory in golf’s most prestigious event. female. Korda’s streak of six wins in seven starts this season included the first major of the year, the Chevron Championship in April.
She is the first player to achieve such a streak since at least 1980, when the LPGA Tour began keeping official statistics. Her most recent victory came this month at the Mizuho Americas Open at Liberty National Golf Course in Jersey City, in the shadow of Manhattan. The only time she didn’t win during the streak? She still tied for seventh place. That’s why hearing her talk about her 2016 swing sounds so jarring.
Nelly Korda has almost twice as many ranking points as the world number one. 2 players.
LPGA wins in a single year
Korda has already won six tournaments in 2024, the most by any player since 2013.
Sweden’s Annika Sorenstam won at least six tournaments five years in a row, between 2001 and 2005.
South Korea’s Inbee Park was the last player to win at least six tournaments in one year, in 2013.
Since February, Korda has doubled his world ranking points.
Source: LPGA and rolexrankings.com.
Nelly Korda has almost twice as many ranking points as the world number one. 2 players.
LPGA wins in a single year
Korda has already won six tournaments in 2024, the most by any player since 2013.
Sweden’s Annika Sorenstam won at least six tournaments five years in a row, between 2001 and 2005.
South Korea’s Inbee Park was the last player to win at least six tournaments in one year, in 2013.
Since February, Korda has doubled his world ranking points.
Source: LPGA and rolexrankings.com.
Nelly Korda has almost twice as many ranking points as the world number one. 2 players.
LPGA wins in a single year
Korda has already won six tournaments in 2024, the most by any player since 2013.
Annika Sorenstam from Sweden
won at least six tournaments five
consecutive years, from 2001 to 2005.
Inbee from South Korea
Park was the last
player who wins at least
six tournaments in
per year, in 2013.
Since February, Korda has doubled his world ranking points.
Source: LPGA and rolexrankings.com.
“I was watching (the 2016 video) and I knew my swing was really bad,” Korda said. “It shows that there is always hope, really for anyone, because I worked very, very hard on my swing. For us Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays are very, very important to make sure my swing is on the right plane, in the right spots. …
“Making sure I hit my positions is really key for me because if I start rotating too much on the way back, it’s hard for me to get back into that position on the way down. It may look on the same plane, but even if you’re half a degree off, your face is half a degree open, that’s going to go to one side.”
With a swing considered by players on the LPGA and PGA circuits to be perhaps the strongest and most repeatable in the game (particularly in the highest leverage circumstances), the 25-year-old came here as the prohibitive favorite in the second of five majors. . women’s golf calendar championships.
Joining her in Lancaster is Mulligan, whose presence has been invaluable to the two-time Grand Slam champion during this momentous season. In previous years, Korda relied on video calls with coaches, including veteran short game instructor David Whelan, to correct his swing. Those sessions didn’t necessarily translate into better results on the field.
Mulligan was right next to the 18th green after Korda’s victory in the Chevron Championship and has been with her regularly this year. She made sure to thank him during the trophy presentation after taking a ceremonial jump into a lake at The Club at Carlton Woods, part of a tournament tradition.
“I rarely had a coach here with me last year and the years before, and I love the fact that I have one here now because before, if I wasn’t doing well, it’s different having someone here versus FaceTiming. them and try to figure it out on their own,” said Korda, who met Mulligan several years ago through his sister, Jessica. “Actually, having that face-to-face conversation and being put in that position and feeling it, because feeling versus real is very, very different.”
Korda’s supremacy from tee to green has left his teammates in awe. That includes world No. 6 Rose Zhang, the only player to win an event Korda participated in during her streak.
“I don’t know how to explain it or how to express it correctly, but what Nelly is doing is not something that anyone can do, and the story tells it,” Zhang said. “I’m witnessing a crazy story and it’s really inspiring to see it here and play. She almost seems unfazed, and I think it’s because she’s very solidified in her prep work, she’s very solidified in the people around her, and she loves the game. “She really just comes out here and plays for herself.”
Zhang, who shot 24 under par to win the Founders Cup by two strokes over Sweden’s Madelene Sagstrom, is in one of the featured groups during Thursday’s first round in Lancaster, which last hosted the U.S. Women’s Open in 2015. In Gee Chun he won that year. by one blow over fellow South Korean Amy Yang and by two over Stacy Lewis, captain of the US Solheim Cup team, and over Inbee Park, also from South Korea.
Korda’s uprising has brought more attention to women’s golf at a time of boom for women’s sports. The NCAA women’s basketball final between Iowa and South Carolina attracted an average of 18.9 million viewers, a record for women’s basketball at any level. The WNBA Draft, in which former Hawkeyes star Caitlin Clark was chosen first, also broke ratings records, and Clark’s arrival has caused a surge in WNBA ratings.
Meanwhile, the final round of the Chevron Championship peaked at nearly 2 million viewers, according to KeynoteUSA, making it the most-watched Chevron Championship since 2010. And the purse for this US Open, $12 million, It is the largest in women’s golf. The winner took home $2.4 million.
“It’s an incredible moment for the women’s game,” said U.S. Golf Association CEO Mike Whan, who was commissioner of the LPGA Tour from 2010 to 2021. “I think anyone who knew Nelly through Over the years I knew it was there. I don’t know if any of us thought she was this kind of streaky, but her ability to have multi-win seasons was never in doubt. One thing I know from being around the LPGA… there are 70, 80 players probably working harder now than ever, so that’s what makes these races difficult, because there’s a lot of talent. “It’s deeper than ever.”
Keynote USA
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