Nelly Korda, the best golfer in the world at the dawn of history

CNN
—

The story can weigh heavily on some. Trying to trace a path never before taken, trying to be the first can become too heavy a task, even for the greatest. The expectation, the pressure increases with each step taken towards this feat never achieved before.

Yet, two rounds, or 36 holes, away from possibly making history, Nelly Korda is an athlete who seems comfortable with what could await her.

“I’ve done a really good job of staying present and just staying in my own little bubble,” she told reporters after her second round at the Cognizant Founders Cup, before laughing that those words might be a drinking game so often she says them.

It’s the bubble that explains how the American was able to produce such a stunning bogey-free performance in difficult conditions in Clifton, New Jersey, to put herself back in contention for what would be a sixth consecutive LPGA Tour title.

Korda, the world No. 1, was six shots off the lead after her first round. Her second-round score of under-par 66 was just one of three bogey-free rounds on a rainy and windy day and propelled her to third place on the leaderboard, four shots behind Madelene Sagstrom and Rose Zhang who share head overnight.

At last month’s Chevron Championship, Korda won her fifth straight title to join Annika Sörenstam and Nancy Lopez as the only players to win five in a row on the tour.

Should the 25-year-old win a remarkable sixth title in as many outings, it would be one of the greatest sporting achievements. Not only can she claim to be the best golfer in the world, but a strong argument could also be made that she is currently the best athlete on the planet. Certainly, few have been so dominant in their chosen field.

“It’s about staying very in the moment, staying very present in these kinds of conditions, especially on this golf course,” she added after the second round.

The 13-time LPGA Tour winner, whose last defeat came in January, has unsurprisingly been the center of attention ahead of this tournament and her celebrity is on the rise, as evidenced by her appearance at the Met Gala this week.

She told ESPN before the tournament that her busy schedule meant she hadn’t had time to think about being on the cusp of history.

Again, in this interview, she emphasized that she would stay in the moment, taking “one photo at a time,” but also admitted that recent successes had taken their toll.

She chose not to compete in the JM Eagle LA Championship last month because she was exhausted.

“I just felt like mentally I just needed some rest,” Korda told ESPN. “I was so mentally tired through all these high-pressure situations and moments.”

Refreshed and back, Korda put herself in a strong position on a course in which she had not been successful last year.

According to the LPGA, she has only led at the halfway point once in her previous five wins in 2024, so she is more than capable of overhauling Sagstrom and Zhang.

The question is: if the story moves closer and closer in these final stages, can “the bubble” protect it from the burden of trying to achieve what no one else has ever achieved?