Nelly Korda back to No. 1, back with her old driver at 2023 AIG Women’s Open

Korda plans to forge ahead with her old standby this week at Walton Heath.

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Nelly Korda returned to No. 1 in the Rolex Rankings nine days ago. A ninth-place finish in the fourth of five LPGA majors in 2023 put her back in the top spot for the fifth time in her career.

In the third round of the Amundi Evian Championship, after scores of 70 and 73, Korda went back to her old driver and promptly saw results, posting a 64. She plans to forge ahead with her old standby this week at Walton Heath in Surrey, England.

“When I first started testing with TaylorMade, they reassured me that they want me to play what I will play best with, so I’ve been trying to kind of figure the driver out, and at the end of the day, they want me to perform my best, and they have been an amazing partner,” she explained Wednesday during her pre-tournament media session. “They have supported me through the entire process, but right now I’m just going to play with what I played best with and hopefully, you know, they have some exciting things in the work and I’m really excited for the future.”

2023 AIG Women's Open
Nelly Korda plays the pro-am ahead of the 2023 AIG Women’s Open at Walton Heath Golf Club in Surrey, England. (Photo: Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

A win in mid-July in the LET’s event in London at the Centurion Club could also provide some momentum and experience with that English weather.

“That week was so much fun. The wind was brutal and the weather was just awful, and the shot-shaping and the low shots that I got to hit was a lot of fun,” she said. “I think I’m okay doing that once or twice a year. I wouldn’t want to do it every week, to play in that weather, but it’s a lot of fun.”

Weather wasn’t great for her practice rounds this week but “I do see that that’s going to be good weather throughout the rest of the week,” she said. “So we’ll see if it firms up. But right now it’s going to be a good challenge.”

During her media availability, she was also asked how she would describe golf in the UK to an American.

“I would say it’s a completely different style of golf,” she said. “I would say depending on the weather and style of golf course, you have to have a lot of creativity out here. You have to hit shots you normally wouldn’t on other golf courses. Typically with golf courses in the U.S. … you have to hit it high into the greens, and here you actually can chase it up.

“Here you have to hit low bullets out here so the wind doesn’t affect it.”

With an eye on classes at Stanford, Rose Zhang readies for AIG Women’s Open

“I’ll be stacking up classes in the winter quarter.”

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Five events as a pro. One win. A top-10 in each of the three majors she’s played in 2023.

Not a bad start to a pro career for Rose Zhang.

This week, the 32nd-ranked player in the Rolex Rankings takes on her first AIG Women’s Open as a professional. Last year as an amateur, she made the cut and tied for 28th.

“I know that major championships are weighed very heavily, and very much, so these are weeks that all players want to play well in,” she said Tuesday during a pre-tournament news conference at Walton Heath in Surrey, England, a venue hosting the women’s major for the first time. “But treating it as a regular event and treating yourself as just a player going out on a difficult golf course and learning how to navigate the conditions and how the course is playing, is very important for any player to be successful during that week.

“So there’s a lot of pressure. There’s a lot of mental toughness that you have to go through, and just learning how to be aware of that allows you to play well.”

Mental toughness is a skill she likely sharpened during her two years at Stanford, where she won the 2023 NCAA individual title. Having left school early to turn pro, however, means she still has credits to take toward her degree, something she said she plans to do in January.

“In the winter I’ll be going back to the beautiful campus and seeing my friends and being in that environment of going to class and hanging out with the team,” she said.

“I’ll be stacking up classes in the winter quarter. Potentially taking some classes in the spring quarter, and then continuing on to continue playing golf and playing on tour.”

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Photos: 2023 AIG Women’s Open at Walton Heath Golf Club

This will be the first Women’s Open, which started in 1976, at Walton Heath.

Walton Heath Golf Club in Surrey, England, is the host venue for the 2023 AIG Women’s Open.

Founded in 1903 and designed by Herbert Fowler, Walton Heath was once owned by the British newspaper News of the World. When Rupert Murdoch gained control of the daily, he had no interest in owning a golf club, so he sold it to the members.

Walton Heath hosted the 1981 Ryder Cup (won by the U.S.), the 2011 Senior Open Championship, the 2014 Palmer Cup (won by Europe) as well as five European Opens.

This will be the first Women’s Open, which started in 1976, at Walton Heath.

The venue will play as a par 72 and will measure 6,800 yards for the 2023 championship.