CLIFTON, N.J. — This past week has been a whirlwind for Nelly Korda. And no, she didn’t win another tournament. At least not yet anyway.
Last weekend, the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings No. 1 had the opportunity to host 66 junior female golfers at Concession Golf Club for the first edition of The Nelly Invitational. The AJGA event was Korda’s first foray into tournament hosting, and the 25-year-old, not too far removed from her days as a junior player, couldn’t have been more grateful for the opportunity to welcome the game’s next generation to her home club in Bradenton, Fla.
Aphrodite Deng, who hails from Short Hills, N.J. – a roughly 20-mile drive from this week’s Cognizant Founders Cup – won The Nelly on Monday after finishing with a three-day total of 2-under at Concession. And while she wasn’t there to hand out the trophy in person, Korda was delighted to have given a crop of talented junior golfers an experience that they’ll hopefully never forget.
“That was such a neat experience,” said Korda. “I feel like just yesterday I was playing AJGAs, playing in The ANNIKA Invitational. Having her out and seeing someone who has done so much for the game was very inspirational. It was great to see all the girls out, and all my sponsors supporting the event. I hope they had fun on the golf course. I was very grateful that Concession hosted it, and they were very gracious to give us the golf course for a few days.”
The 25-year-old also got to spotlight a local animal shelter in the Bradenton, Fla. area during her event, a cause that is near and dear to the superstar’s animal-loving heart. Korda brought out Marvel, a dog from Satchel's Last Resort Rescue and Sanctuary who is currently up for adoption through the organization.
“I did volunteer at the shelter a couple of days before that on Monday and got to walk him,” said Korda of Marvel. “He's such a sweet, sweet boy. Seeing everyone interact with him on the first tee was very, very wholesome. That always gives me really good energy. You're your most genuine self when you see a puppy.”
After a fulfilling few days at The Nelly, Korda then flew to New York City to yes, prepare for this week’s Cognizant Founders Cup in nearby Clifton, N.J., but also to attend the Met Gala as a guest of Casey Wasserman. The annual fashion event benefiting The Metropolitan Museum of Art is always held on the first Monday evening in May, and Korda got to walk the red carpet, brushing elbows with some of the world’s biggest names in the fashion, film, music, sports and television industries, something that she never imagined she’d get to do because of her prowess as a professional golfer.
“As a girl, I watched it growing up and was just in awe of all the dresses,” said Korda. “To be on the red carpet – or green carpet – was a dream come true. I feel like I lived out a little girl dream of mine.”
Korda was dressed by Oscar de la Renta in a floral, ankle-length gown that fit perfectly with this year’s theme, “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion,” as red poppies are often associated with peace and sleep. She wore silver jewelry and a nude heel to complete the look, and even though Korda wasn’t instantly recognized by her fellow Met Gala attendees, a couple of people did come up and say hello to the 13-time LPGA Tour winner.
“You're standing in line ready to get on the carpet, and you're 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,” said Korda. “I was just silent looking at everyone's dresses. I saw Shakira, and I love Shakira. She's so beautiful.
“Jaden Smith was really nice. He was the first person to say hello to me and introduce himself. Everyone was amazing. I can't just point out one person. The dresses were unbelievable, and the whole evening was a dream come true.”
Korda’s look was featured in an article on Vogue.com, and the golf community loved the major champion’s look on one of fashion’s biggest nights, with many of her LPGA Tour counterparts giving glowing reviews on her fashion choices. But the dress that Korda ended up sporting actually wasn’t her original first choice.
“I got a couple of dresses to try on from Oscar de la Renta, and they were all so stunning. It was so hard to decide,” Korda explained. “I actually switched it up last minute, probably like 20 minutes before I started to get ready, and I had to completely change my entire look.
“I was going to go with a long-sleeve gown, so I was going to have my hair up. Then I saw this amazing red dress, and I changed my entire look probably 20 minutes before I started to get ready. Switched it up on everyone. That was my first time walking a red carpet, and I went out with a bang. I think it's just downhill from here.”
Korda was back to business on Tuesday at Upper Montclair Country Club, preparing to track down a historic sixth straight LPGA Tour victory at the Cognizant Founders Cup. After a couple days of pre-tournament work, she opened her campaign in the Garden State with a 3-under 69 on Thursday, a solid round that saw her make four birdies and one bogey at a challenging venue and an effort she was pleased with, considering she missed the cut at this event in 2023.
“Didn't really make too many mistakes, and if I did - this golf course is very, very narrow off the tee - I gave myself a good chance at par,” Korda said. “I played pretty well the first day last year, and then the second was not very good, so I'm hoping for a good day tomorrow. It's a completely different golf course compared to last year. It was so firm and fast, and then the wind picked up a lot last year when I played. You can definitely be a little bit more aggressive with how the course is this year.”
Recording a round in the red with the weight of an entire sport on your shoulders is a pretty impressive feat, made even more so if you consider what’s at stake for Korda this week at the Cognizant Founders Cup. While she has already put her name in the LPGA Tour record books alongside the esteemed Nancy Lopez and Annika Sorenstam as the only other known player since 1978 to win five tournaments in a row on the LPGA Tour, a sixth win would ultimately put Korda in a category of her own.
But Korda hasn’t gotten this far by thinking ahead and has instead chosen to stay in her “bubble,” put her head down and go to work each week on the LPGA Tour, letting the results take care of themselves, an attitude she’ll continue forward with at Upper Montclair Country Club.
“I have not thought about the streak at all, honestly,” said Korda. “I think that's only going to do more harm for me than do good. The big thing for me is taking it a shot at time and being present and in my own bubble. That's what I'm focusing on. I'm not trying to think about the outside noise. Would it be amazing? Of course. But it's still so far away, and I’m proud of what I've achieved so far.”
If she doesn’t get to six and extend the streak? This past week has already been more than a success for Korda, who seems to have arrived as the “next big thing” for women’s golf.
And no matter what ultimately happens in New Jersey, Korda is already winning in more ways than one.
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