After luggage scare, Nelly Korda set to chase first title of 2025 at the Evian in France

Yahoo

2 days ago

No professional golfer is immune to lost luggage, not even those with an airline sponsorship. World No. 1 Nelly Korda has flown Delta her whole career and calls her partnership with the airline - announced in July 2023 – her most organic sponsorship.
So when she took to social media to plea for help after her bags didn't arrive in Geneva for the 30th playing of the Amundi Evian Championship in nearby France, it was an act of desperation.
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"With us being six hours ahead and landing in the morning," explained Korda, "all my contacts were sleeping."
With the help of an LPGA media official whose father works in the industry, Korda's bags arrived in Geneva by Monday, and her practice was not hindered. She enters the LPGA's fourth major championship of the season fresh off a two-week break and in search of her first victory. Korda said she didn't touch a club for four days after the taxing KPMG Women's PGA in Texas and tried Pilates for the first time.
"Sometimes pushing through and practicing harder than you would normally around this time of year is not going to be an advantage because then you're just mentally draining yourself and not going to be as fresh as you want to be when you're competing," said Korda.
"So just having a balance. I am entering my tenth year as a professional golfer, which makes me feel very old, but you kind of learn this."
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The LPGA's 2025 season has been historic in the number of different players that have won – a record 18 – and none of them named Korda. After the top four players in the world collected a total of 15 titles last season, those same players – Korda (7), Jeeno Thitikul (2), Lydia Ko (3) and Ruoning Yin (3) – account for only two so far this year. Both Thitikul and Ko have each won once in 2025.
"I think it's much more difficult to win," said Ko of how the tour has changed since she was a rookie. "Not saying that it wasn't difficult to win then, but I think there is more diversity on the leaderboard; more players from Japan than I've ever seen, from Thailand and from the U.S., where I think it was a little bit more saturated when I first came on tour."
Lydia Ko of New Zealand and caddie prior to The Amundi Evian Championship 2025 at Evian Resort Golf Club on July 09, 2025 in Evian-les-Bains, France.
The last time Ko was in France, she won Olympic gold in Paris to play her way into the LPGA Hall of Fame. The 28-year-old New Zealander won her 23rd LPGA title earlier this year at the HSBC Women's Championship in Singapore but hasn't cracked the top 10 in her last six starts. Still, no player on tour has played the Evian better than Ko since 2013, the year the championship transitioned to a major. She won the Evian in 2015 and has six additional top-10 finishes in 11 starts.
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When Ko won in France a decade ago, becoming the youngest major champion in tour history at age 18 years, 4 months and 20 days, she beat Lexi Thompson by six shots. She played a draw back then and hit it shorter off the tee. The event was played in September rather than its traditional summer date, and the course played wetter and a bit wider as the trees have grown in.
"I remember the year I won, I putted really well," said Ko, "so I think that's obviously going to be a really big key for me this week, too."
Through 10 starts in 2024, Korda had amassed six victories compared to zero this year. And yet, her scoring average is actually lower in 2025 (69.67 compared to 70), and she has more strokes gained in ball-striking and putting compared to last season, according to KPMG Performance Insights.
The Evian remains the only major championship in which Korda has yet to crack the top five in seven starts. With wins at both the KPMG Women's PGA and Chevron Championship, she has tied for second in both the U.S. Women's Open (2025) and AIG Women's British (2024).
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"I feel like with major championships, you just can't get comfortable," said Korda. "You kind of live in the uncomfortable state because you never know what's it's going to throw at you. Especially here Evian. You get some weird bounces even if you hit a good shot."
Korda's older sister Jessica is in Evian this week, making her debut as an on-course reporter for Golf Channel, though she has taken on the role previously for ESPN+. In May 2023, Korda announced that she was taking an indefinite break from the tour to heal a nagging back injury. Later that year, she announced her pregnancy.
"I love having her at events and obviously her being on other side the ropes and commentating is a little new for her, but I think it's exciting, and for her, stepping outside of her comfort zone and trying something different is fun," said Korda.
"Also having (son) Greyson and Johnny, her husband here, having dinner buddies, that is something that I had to adjust to when she got pregnant, was I kind of lost my automatic dinner buddy and my best friend. So having her out here is really nice."
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: After luggage scare, Nelly Korda poised for breakthrough at Evian