On March 13, 2022, Nelly Korda took a leap into the unknown. Doctors detected a blood clot in her arm and the American golfer, who was then 23 years old, began to tremble. “I was very scared. I heard many times and from many different people that my competition might be over. I forgot about golf. I was only worried about my health,” she admitted this Sunday, minutes after taking the traditional leap into the 18th hole lake as champion of the Chevron Championship, the second Major of her career and her fifth consecutive victory.
A month after announcing her illness, the younger of the Korda sisters underwent surgery and her future was filled with uncertainty. She had to be on the sidelines and it was impossible to know how and when she would return. Even if she was going to be able to do it… That changed her way of seeing life, made her mature overnight and turned her into who she is now, among other things, a fabulous winner. “When that happened, all I did was keep my head down and work hard to come back. I took refuge in my team, my whole environment helped me a lot and thanks to them I am here today,” she says. Nelly specially mentioned her caddie: “He’s my punching bag, my best friend, my partner. Without his constant encouragement, it would be impossible to be here with the trophy,” she adds.
Korda was out of competition for more than four months. She left as the world Number One and fell to sixth place. She never stopped having good results, but they did not reach the excellence she was looking for. “If you asked me to give advice to the girls who watch us on TV and follow us, I would tell them four things: never give up, always get up after something bad, be patient and do not compare yourself with others, make your own way,” she explains.
Nelly did not have a good time in the last nine holes on Sunday, despite having a significant lead in the standings. “They have been very long. It has been very hard. I was very eager to win this tournament, maybe too eager, and I was very nervous. Now, at last, I can breathe,” she confessed to the journalists yesterday, trembling again, but this time not from fear, but from the cold after having jumped into the water.
As reflected in her leap that will go down in history, Korda has proven that she is the bomb, she is breaking records and wants to continue doing so. The sixth consecutive victory is already on the horizon. The appointment is this week in California, at the JM Eagle LA Championship.
