Rolex Rankings No.1 Nelly Korda is looking forward to making her Old Course debut in the AIG Women’s Open at St Andrews this week.
The 26-year-old Floridian saw the town for the first time in her rookie year in 2017, when the championship was played at Kingsbarns, but would love to collect her third major, following the 2021 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and 2024 Chevron Championship, which was the fifth of six LPGA titles she won from January to May this year.
Talking about her experience so far, the United States star said: “Well, I’ve experienced all weather already and it’s just Wednesday. No, last time I was here, just in St Andrews was during my rookie year. Played Kingsbarns and haven’t been back since.
“Getting to come back now and get to play this golf course, so much rich history out here, it’s been really exciting. I played Monday, played Tuesday and then played an 18-hole Pro-Am today and experienced all sorts of weather, and I know that’s what’s going to happen throughout the next couple of days. So I’m excited for the week.”
Strong winds are forecast for Thursday’s opening round and she added: “You can prepare all you want. You can play Monday through Wednesday but then, you know, it’s all about the weather and taking it a shot at a time, being very present.
“And it’s also fun because it’s a different creative side to golf where you have to work the ball sometimes more than you’re used to when you’re hitting different shots, bumps-and-runs. It’s just a little bit more creative and for me that’s fun to do. So I will have a lot of fun with it.
“I played the back nine on Monday, and then I played the front yesterday for the first time. For me, more of it was coming down 18 and the views there are spectacular. I mean, I don’t know, when was it, two years ago they hosted the men, or three years ago?
“Getting to see that on TV and knowing that we were going to be here this year, I was really excited for it. The rich history out here and getting to play it ourselves, it’s going to be such an amazing week.”
