Five starts. Five wins. Nelly Korda is inevitable. She’s now the owner of two majors after conquering the Chevron Championship, while also joining the extremely short list of golfers who’ve won five in a row. Nancy Lopez. Annika Sorenstam. Nelly Korda. That’s it.
That familiar feeling of Nelly-induced inevitability surfaced again around midday on Friday when Nelly first took the lead at Carlton Woods. The leaderboard would shuffle the following days, but the end result was the same. Another winning putt, another trophy hoisted. Nelly won the way she’s won all season. Mistakes were few and far between, with only one double bogey all week. She played the par 5s in 10-under par. There were flashes of brilliance mixed in, like her near-ace on the 71st hole. Most importantly on Sunday, she stayed within her bubble on a marathon day that began before sunrise.
Nelly’s bubble has become her comfort zone, her security blanket. It’s given her the tunnel vision mentality that’s been needed to maintain her excellence over the past few months. She focuses on what she controls, eliminates distractions, and gives zero energy to outside influences. Just this week alone, the bubble was mentioned in her pre-tournament press conference, in her interview with SportsCenter on Thursday, in her post-round interview on Thursday, and in her press conference on Sunday shortly after her winning putt dropped.
The bubble might become even more of a comfort zone after the win yesterday. Her streak has brightened the normally dim spotlight shining on women’s golf. There will be interview requests and photo shoots. You may be seeing her on morning news shows shortly after reading this newsletter. The crescendo will rise throughout the week, as Nelly gets set to tee it up in Los Angeles to go for six in a row. She’d prefer to focus on golf and only golf, but that becomes impossible when you win every time you play.
LPGA and World Golf Hall of Famer Judy Rankin was around for the other two times a run like this occurred. On The Big Pickle podcast, she told Grant Boone and Beth Ann Nichols that Nancy Lopez thrived in the spotlight. Annika Sorenstam, on the other hand, was much more reserved, needing an adjustment period to figure out how to handle all of the attention. Nelly leans more to the Annika side of things, but she’s now showing signs of accepting the responsibility that comes with being the face of her sport.
She’s offered more insight than usual in her interviews since the streak began. Yes, she loves stock answers during interviews, but she’s finally showed her sense of humor and has given us small glimpses into her personal life. She’ll be asked to give more though, and it’s something both Judy Rankin and Solheim Cup Captain Stacy Lewis would like to see her embrace.
When asked before the tournament began about Nelly’s responsibility, Lewis said, “I would tell her to do as much extra stuff as you can for us. I’ve been in her shoes. I’ve been the No. 1 in the world and top American, and you’re asked to do a lot of things. But give the media a couple hours every week. That’s what she’s going to have to start doing. Like I said, her playing great golf, that’s what pushes us more forward than anything.”
Nelly will be stepping out of her bubble more than she ever has in the coming weeks. Balancing her new demands while maintaining stellar play will not be easy. But the bubble will be waiting for her when she gets between the ropes. It’s stayed intact so far through the best start to a season we’ve ever seen. There’s no sign of it bursting yet.
This piece originally appeared in the Fried Egg Golf newsletter. Subscribe for free and receive golf news and insight every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.