Latest news with #TheNellyInvitational
USA Today
02-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
As Nelly Korda hosts on AJGA, she tells kids not to compare: 'I wasn't even a top junior'
BRADENTON, Fla. – There was a time when Nelly Korda thought seriously about college golf, with Wake Forest and Texas as her top two choices. She was 15, shooting in the 80s and struggling to enjoy the game. 'I wasn't even a top junior,' said Korda while walking down the second fairway of her home course, The Concession Golf Club. 'I played Junior Solheim Cup once. I wasn't selected for Junior Ryder Cup. I wasn't selected for anything growing up.' Her advice to young players in the field at The Nelly Invitational: Don't compare yourself to others. With the help of instructor David Whelan, Korda rebuilt her swing and fell back in love with the game. The 15-time LPGA winner, Olympic gold medalist and current world No. 1 is already in the give-back portion of her career, hosting one of the best junior events in the country at her home club. Guests of The Nelly junior-am were welcomed on Wednesday by Sawyer, a rescue dog from Satchel's Last Resort, a no-kill animal shelter in Sarasota that's one of the event's two designated charities, along with the local Boys and Girls Club. AJGA Executive Director Stephen Hamblin said the event will raise $100,000 for charity, rare air for a junior event, particularly one that's just getting started. Korda has always had a special place in her heart for animals. Earlier this week, she said goodbye to her 15-year-old cat, Rafi. "I was like oh my god, something that's 6 pounds can weigh so much on your heart, right? It's so crazy," she said. "He was with me through so, so much. It's unconditional love no matter what kind of day you're having." The AJGA has had PGA Tour and LPGA pros hosting its events for decades, with Raymond Floyd and Tom Kite among the first. Today, there are 38 tour players' names attached to the AJGA's 147 events and 110 qualifiers in 2025. Korda won her first of two AJGA titles in 2015, weeks before her 17th birthday, at the Yani Tseng Invitational presented by Swinging Skirts. Three years later, she came full circle with her first LPGA title at the Swinging Skirts LPGA Taiwan Championship. Korda never competed in a U.S. Girls' Junior and teed it up in only one U.S. Women's Amateur, losing in the first round to Lydia Choi. Back pain forced a long layoff in 2014, and she fought hard to make up for lost time. Through it all, her parents reminded their three kids that everyone has their own path. 'For us, we were just all very active,' said Korda, whose older sister Jessica is a six-time winner on the LPGA while brother Sebastian is a top-ranked tennis pro. 'We went and practiced, we just stuck to our own bubbles. I think that's why I always say it is, because even growing up, it was family time. It was family and no one else. 'We didn't really look at what anyone else was doing, we just kind of stuck to what we were doing because there was already so much knowledge in the household.' Growing up, Korda had a safari-themed room and a lion was her first stuffed animal. Her late July birthday makes her a Leo, and the lion symbol now lives on in her logo, which is ever-present at Concession this week. 'I was always like referred to as one even when I was young because I was a little feisty, but I always worked really hard and I always kind of fought through it,' she said. 'It just became a symbol for me. There are so many ups and downs in life. You always try to fight through it, right? You always try to be a lion and like grit your teeth and keep going.' That fight was on full display as recently as last week, when Korda fought back after an opening 77 at the Chevron Championship to make the cut and ultimately take a share of 14th. She took this week off from the tour to focus on her event, riding around in a golf cart on Wednesday to meet with sponsors and juniors as they played. Chevron's commitment in 2025 enabled The Nelly to give the highest travel stipends in tour history of $2,000 for U.S. players and $2,500 for international players. The Nelly also strengthened its field in 2025 by extending invitations to the top-10 eligible international players that may not be AJGA members and/or didn't previously qualify for the event through the Rolex AJGA Rankings. Korda oversaw and insisted on small details this week, like allowing parents to come eat with their kids in the clubhouse, to big things, like extending a major championship invitation to the winner. After playing in the junior-am, Chevron Championship executive director Glenn Weckerlin was getting a printed invitation to the 2026 event ready for Sunday's winner. It was at a major championship – the 2013 U.S. Women's Open – that Korda first realized that this is what she wanted to do for the rest of her life. 'I could've played a million junior events,' said Korda, 'but there was some type of different feeling playing in a major championship. … I was like, I want to feel this over and over and over again.' The Nelly offers perks not often seen at this level. The TaylorMade tour truck, for example, was parked on the range on Wednesday. Korda plans to return to the club on Friday for Nike Night from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., where players will enjoy a host of Nike goodies and design their own shoes. The Nelly has quickly gained a reputation for having the best swag on the junior circuit. 'No. 1 by far,' said 15-year-old Honorine Nobuta Ferry. 'By far.' Players this week might need an extra carry-on for all their gifts, including two dozen TaylorMade balls, hats and a tournament-logoed head cover, a mini Tumi backpack, Stanley water bottles that are personalized and logoed, a Flye1+ wireless audio transmitter and receiver for the plane and a pin flag signed by the host. The Nike products players will receive include the Nike Free golf shoes Korda helped design, along with a tech fleece hoodie, leggings, slides, a duffle bag and custom off-the-course shoes they'll create on their phones. A grateful Korda lights up when talking about it all, noting that to this day she gets giddy about tournament swag. 'It's so crazy, but it's also like the little things that makes the experience of you wanting to come back," said Korda. The girls spreading the word that, oh, this event is really cool, this is what we got this year, we can't wait to see what we get next year. I couldn't have done any of it without my sponsors. For them to kind of bring my vision, or our vision, to life has been really fun.' Korda will float around the room on Friday night, making herself available to the elite field of 66. That suits her style more than a formal speech or program. Weckerlin noted that Korda's commitment to being involved not just in name but in person was a big selling point for Chevron's multi-year sponsorship. 'I don't know how to put a value on that,' said Weckerlin. 'It makes a difference.' Of course, while The Nelly offers the opportunity to compete in a major championship field, it also exposes young players to Korda's sponsors. The affable Ryleigh Knaub, a senior headed to LSU, was offered an internship on the spot from Ernst & Young by the end of Wednesday's round. Sophia Ellestad of Houston was in Korda's gallery on Sunday at the Chevron Championship and was struck by her calm demeanor. The high school senior signed with Oklahoma State, and The Nelly will be her final AJGA event. 'Everything is perfect,' she said, walking off Concession's 18th green. Korda considers the practice facilities at Concession to be among the best in the state, perhaps even the country, and, like many, jokingly refers to her home course as 'Concussion.' Last year, on the day Korda left for the Chevron Championship, she played nine holes with a member and shot 42. 'I was like, well, this is great prep for a major,' she said with a smile. 'I feel fabulous.' Korda, of course, went on to win that week for her fifth consecutive LPGA title. Concession tests every part of the game, she said, and has especially helped her improve around the greens. Aphrodite Deng won last year's inaugural Nelly Invitational with a 2-under total. Only three players finished the 54-hole event under par. Petr Korda, a Grand Slam tennis champ who will be out with his daughter as she practices this week, takes pride in what Nelly and her team have created for the next generation. 'It's just respect,' said Petr. 'That's what I've been answering, you know, what my daughter does for golf. She does her way; she has her vision.' And she's just getting started.
USA Today
27-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
If she could go back, Nelly Korda says she'd do this differently at Chevron Championship
If she could go back, Nelly Korda says she'd do this differently at Chevron Championship THE WOODLANDS, Texas – If Nelly Korda could go back and do something different at the Chevron Championship, she would've tried to get more reps in early week. It's not easy to get from a 6 p.m. finish in L.A. to Texas. And with the champions dinner on Monday, Korda didn't get a look at the golf course until she played in the nine-hole pro-am on Tuesday afternoon, when she couldn't do any extra practicing. The world No. 1 came out early on Wednesday and got some practice in before the course was closed due to dangerous conditions. With an early tee time on Thursday, she chose not to come back out later that afternoon when the course opened. "At the end of the day, I mean, you've got to roll with the punches and you have to continue learning," said Korda. "I just played the pro-am the front nine, so I didn't get to chip, putt, see how the greens were releasing with this new pro-am protocol where we can't chip or putt anymore, so not having that kind of sucked. But at the end of day, I did have the chance to play in the afternoon on Wednesday and I didn't take it, so that's on me." Angela Stanford, the 2026 Solheim Cup captain who is working for ESPN+ this week as an on-course reporter, got chills listening to Korda's comeback round in her headset on Friday to make the cut. After an opening 5-over 77, Korda rallied back on Friday with six birdies over the last 11 holes to make the weekend. "She's that type of player that any time she could flip a switch," said Stanford. "And she can flip a switch because she's good at bouncing back and leaving things in the past." On Sunday, Stanford worked Korda's group and said it was the first time she'd had an opportunity see Korda's game under a magnifying glass. "It's just beautiful to watch," said Stanford. "There are not many players in the world that you can watch and it's just poetry, it really is." Chevron gifted Korda a LEGO bouquet set after a closing 2-under 70 moved her up the leaderboard into the top 15. Korda will host her own AJGA event next week, The Nelly Invitational, at The Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Florida, and get prepared for her next title defense at the Mizuho Americas Open. When asked what area she'll focus on, Korda said she talked to her caddie, Jason McDede, about it and thinks she'll spend more time playing and less on time on the range. "My dad will probably go to every one of my practice sessions next week, which I really enjoy," said Korda, "he did it with me before I left for L.A. It's nice because sometimes he just tells me to take a break when I don't want to." When will Nelly Korda play again on the LPGA? As for how she'll prepare for the next four majors, Korda will skip the new event in Mexico, the Riviera Maya Open, one week ahead of the U.S. Women's Open. And because she'll play in the ShopRite LPGA Classic, she'll skip the Meijer in Michigan this year ahead of the KPMG Women's PGA because won't play four in a row. She'll skip the Dow Championship team event ahead of the Amundi Evian but she will play the ISPS Handa Women's Scottish Open for the first time ahead of the AIG Women's British Open in Wales.
USA Today
01-03-2025
- Business
- USA Today
Nelly Korda's AJGA invitational adds Chevron as sponsor, will award LPGA major exemption
Nelly Korda's AJGA invitational adds Chevron as sponsor, will award LPGA major exemption Nelly Korda's not playing this week in Singapore, but she's still making history. The world No. 1's junior event, The Nelly Invitational, will offer something no other AJGA ever has – direct entry into a major championship. With the announcement of Chevron as the new presenting sponsor comes a special exemption to the winner of The Nelly into the LPGA's first major of the season, the Chevron Championship. The second edition of The Nelly will take place at The Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Florida, from May 1-4, and which means this year's champion will be exempt into the 2026 Chevron. Korda, of course, won the 2024 Chevron Championship for her second career major title. While The Nelly is already an AJGA invitational, the field will be strengthened even more in 2025 with invitations to the top-10 eligible international players that may not be AJGA members and/or didn't previously qualify for the event through the Rolex AJGA Rankings. Those players will be selected off the World Amateur Golf Ranking. And to ensure no player is left behind due to financial barriers, Chevron will offer $2,000 travel stipends for entry fees, flights, hotels and rental cars, the highest stipends in AJGA history for a stroke-play event. International players will receive an additional $500. Chevron signed on for a three-year commitment. "I'm thrilled to welcome Chevron to The Nelly Invitational," Korda said in a release. "With their support, we're creating an event that not only brings together some of the best girls from around the world but also provides a platform to inspire and empower the next generation. Chevron's investment helps us build on last year's success and take this event even further." The Chevron, previously known as the Dinah Shore, has a long history of inviting top amateurs. In 2014, there were 10 amateurs in the field. Jasmine Koo won low amateur honors last year after she hit the floating logo on the 18th hole and bounced onto dry land, managing to close with birdie.
