Nelly Korda celebrates 27th birthday by preparing to end victory drought at British Open

USA Today

29-07-2025

The final major of the LPGA season began with Nelly Korda's 27th birthday. The World No. 1 celebrated on Monday with her caddie, coach and a good friend who came to Wales from London. She also got her first glimpse of Royal Porthcawl.
At this time last year, Korda had won six of her first 12 starts on the LPGA.
In 2025, however, Korda has yet to win in her first dozen starts heading into the AIG Women's British Open – yet boasts a lower scoring average and better strokes gained total and strokes gained putting averages to this point last year, according to the tour's KPMG Performance Insights.
While Korda dominated last season with seven wins, no player has won twice so far in 2025.
This marks the first playing of the AIG at Royal Porthcawl, and Korda comes into the week after trying something new: playing the Scottish Open the week before.
'Typically with my body structure, I don't love to play two weeks in high winds because I start to sway a lot more,' said Korda, who finished fifth at Dundonald Links. 'Just something that I've noticed throughout the past couple years, but it just lined up perfectly with my schedule. For me, everything is about my schedule flowing.'
Softer conditions at Dundonald led to more aggressive play, which won't be the case this week in Wales. Korda played the front nine at Royal Porthcawl on her birthday and chipped and putted around the back nine. She called the views on the first four holes breathtaking and said that with some wind, it will be a 'really, really hard test.' The forecast calls for gusts up to 25 mph on Thursday and 30 mph on Friday.
'I feel like it's maybe a little bit more demanding off the tee,' said Korda, 'as in maybe with other links courses, you can hit driver and there are some bunkers in the way, but here you definitely can't hit driver. It sometimes may be an iron off the tee, but then with the wind direction and the wind strength, there's just way too much trouble on the fairway.
'Once you're in one of those bunkers, like in all links golf courses, it's just a pitch-out.'
Korda played alongside the hottest player in golf – Lottie Woad – for three rounds at the ISPS Handa Women's Scottish Open and called her achievements 'absolutely amazing.' In the month of July, Woad won the Irish Open as an amateur, finished tied for third at the Amundi Evian Championship to earn her tour card and then won in her pro debut in Scotland.
'I was very impressed with her composure, her process,' said Korda. 'I think, when it comes to her shot routine, especially under pressure and in the heat of the moment, sometimes people seem to fidget and kind of doubt themselves, but she stuck to it, she stuck to her process every single time, and I think that's one of the main things that I noticed is how mature she is for her age and how comfortable she was in the heat of the moment.'
Korda noted earlier in her press conference that golf is a 'game of confidence,' and there's certainly no shortage of that right now with Woad.
'I've really been just enjoying myself,' said the humble Englishwoman who now ranks 24th in the world. 'Enjoyed being in these events and competing and being in contention, just try to have fun with it and not add too much stress really.'
This week marks Korda's 10th appearance in the AIG. She has five top-15 finishes in nine starts, including a share of second last year at the Old Course.
Her eight top-5 finishes in the majors – including two wins – since 2019 are the most on tour, with Minjee Lee coming in second with seven (and three wins).
Korda was asked how important it is to her to be successful in an event like the British Open and establish herself as a global force.
'I feel like I don't really have anything more to prove to people ever,' said Korda. 'For me, it's just, I'm passionate about the game. I love the game. I love playing in these kind of conditions, testing my game, and getting to play against the best players in the world.
"Having something to prove to myself, I don't think I really need to do that. For me, it's just enjoying it and being in the heat of the battle.'