Eight-time LPGA Tour winner Nelly Korda catapulted into contention on Moving Day at The Amundi Evian Championship, matching the low round of the week with a bogey-free, 7-under 64. The Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings No. 2 got off to a hot start, making four birdies in her first seven holes, two of which came back-to-back on Nos. 6 and 7. After turning in 31, she grabbed three more birdies on the back nine, including two in a three-hole stretch from 12 to 14 and one to close out her day on the par-5 18th hole.
The 64 is Korda’s lowest round of the 2023 season and is her first round of 64 or better since the final round of the 2022 ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican when she shot a 6-under 64 at Pelican Golf Club. Considering she celebrated her 25th birthday just yesterday on July 28, today’s round was a perfect belated birthday gift, one for which Korda was incredibly grateful as she now has a shot at capturing her second major championship on Sunday at Evian Resort Golf Club and first since the 2021 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
“The entire round was flowing really nicely. It was not like the momentum just set off at one point,” said Korda, who hit 8 of 13 fairways and 16 of 18 greens on Saturday. “I hit a nice drive on 1; wedged it really nicely and then rolled in. And thank God I hit the back of the hole on No. 2 because I was coming in hot. Other than that, the entire day was kind of flowing nicely for me where I capitalized on the good shots I was hitting.
“It was super nice to see all the hard work kind of pay off today. Obviously, still have 18 more holes, anything can happen, but I made a push today on Moving Day, which I’m really happy about.”
The major champion has had a rough go of it lately on the LPGA Tour. Korda stepped away from competitive golf following the Hanwha LIFEPLUS International Crown to rehab a lingering injury and then missed the cut at the Cognizant Founders Cup and KPMG Women’s PGA Championship when she returned to the Tour. She made the cut at the U.S. Women’s Open, but a rough final round at Pebble Beach Golf Links dropped her into a tie for 64th overall.
Having dealt with plenty of adversity throughout her career, Korda isn’t a stranger to overcoming challenges. She fought her way back to the winner’s circle on the Ladies European Tour two weeks ago, winning the individual title at the Aramco Team Series – London event, and now sits just a few shots back of the lead with 18 holes to play in Evian-les-Bains. The Florida native credits that victory in England as the reason for the momentum shift we are seeing this week and hopes to capitalize on all of her hard work on day three as she searches for her ninth LPGA Tour title.
“London was really big,” said Korda, who now has three wins on the LET. “I’ve been practicing a lot on my swing. The game of golf is just crazy. It’s like one day you’re just autoing top 10s and then the next day you don’t know how to make a cut, make a putt. So you can have it and then you can lose it really fast. I think that’s the beauty of it, too. That’s kind of why I appreciate the game so much. Having a week like I had in London after a little bit of a poor start after my injury was really, really nice.”
But no matter what happens tomorrow, Korda has a consolation prize this week. Her caddie Jason McDede became a father in April when he and his wife, LPGA Tour player Caroline Masson, welcomed their son Benton David. This week at the Amundi Evian Championship marks the first time that Korda has met Benton in person and she’s already making plans to babysit so his parents can have a date night the next time the foursome are all together later this year.
“This is my first week meeting (Benton) actually,” she said. “He’s going to probably come out to Solheim and then the week after I’m playing an LET (event) in France, too. We’ll get some good bonding time, give the parents a date night. Benton and I will chill in the room, Uber Eats.”
