Nelly Korda arrives at the AIG Women’s Open 2025 with mixed feelings. The World Number One, who turned 27 this Monday, faces the last Major of the year with the obligation to make a statement: she has not won any tournament in 2025 and her position at the top of the world rankings is in jeopardy. If she doesn’t finish among the top 25 at Royal Porthcawl, she will surely lose the throne.
Royal Porthcawl could mark a turning point in the American’s season. A good result will allow her to defend the world throne, lift her third Major and dispel doubts; a stumble, on the other hand, would close a year without Majors. She wants to clear the air, but the reality is that she knows she is at a crossroads. If she doesn’t win, she will only have the LPGA grand finale as a major incentive, but for a player like her, that prize feels insufficient, especially after the great 2024 season.
Her year cannot be considered negative. She finished second in the US Open, has been among the top twenty in six of the last seven events and has five top ten finishes. Not bad, but she knows she can and should win more to stay in the mix. Her worst result is T43 at the Evian, in the rest she has been among the top thirty. She has been very consistent, but she is missing the sparkle on Sundays. When your name is Nelly Korda, it weighs on you.
That is why when asked how important it is for her to win a tournament of this nature, she becomes defensive: “I feel like I have nothing more to prove to anyone. For me, it’s simply about my passion for golf. I love this sport, I love playing in these kinds of conditions, testing my game and competing against the best players in the world. I don’t think I have to prove anything to myself either. What I’m looking for is to enjoy it and be in the thick of the battle. Of course, I want to achieve more. I have goals I’ve set for myself, personal objectives.” A somewhat exaggerated response to an innocent question, and one where she was seen thinking twice about what she was going to say.
“I don’t need to win to feel fulfilled, but of course I want to. I want to feel the thrill of being in the fight on a Sunday again. That’s the reason I’m still here,” Korda insists. “Obviously, I always want to win, but for me, it’s not about proving anything to others.”
The reality is that the British remains one of her unfinished business. Last year she was second, and this edition in Wales represents a new opportunity to conquer the third Major of her career. “It’s a very demanding course. You have to be precise from the tee, many times you can’t even use the driver. If you get into a bunker, as often happens on links, you’re doomed to just get it out,” she explained about Royal Porthcawl.
Korda insists that confidence is key: “You can be in the top 5 in the world, and if you don’t trust yourself, you won’t perform. But if you’re in good mental shape, it doesn’t matter the wind, the draw, or the conditions. You have to trust your work.” It’s no surprise she’s sending out a warning about herself. It doesn’t matter if you’re Number One if you don’t trust yourself at these moments.
To turn the situation around, Nelly will have to keep a close eye on one of the summer’s main protagonists: Lottie Woad. The young Englishwoman has also faced the media and admits she is still not very aware of everything that is happening to her. However, meticulous as she is, she acknowledges that she visited the Welsh course a month ago for a first test of the field. By the way, the emerging star is clear about what she will invest her first prize money in. This Tuesday, she confessed that she needs a car in the United States and that it will be her first treat after winning the Scottish Open. It seems she has earned it.
