Nelly Korda Keeping Her Cool at The Beach, Got Fans Stucking..See Photos
Nelly Korda Keeping Her Cool at The Beach, Got Fans Stucking..See Photos
Nelly Korda of the United States looks over a putt on the second hole during the third round of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship 2025 at Fields Ranch East at PGA Frisco on June 21, 2025 in Frisco, Texas.
FRISCO, Texas — On a typical day, Nelly Korda shooting even par wouldn’t be much to write home about. But Saturday at the 2025 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship wasn’t a normal round of golf for the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings No. 1 at the year’s third major championship.
It’s hot. It’s hard. It’s windy, all of which have contributed to slower-than-normal rounds, which can take a toll on an athlete’s mentality, even more so in challenging conditions. Korda certainly hasn’t been immune to that this week, but her third-round effort at Fields Ranch East was an impeccable display of the mental tenacity that Korda possesses, an even-par round that felt like a 66 to the two-time major champion.
Korda started the day at 2-over, opening day three with two bogeys to immediately drop back to 4-over. The 15-time LPGA Tour winner erased those mistakes with a pair of birdies on the par-3 4th and par-4 5th holes to get back to even par on the day, but she slipped up again with a bogey on six. Korda then closed out her front nine with a birdie on seven and a bogey on nine to turn in 38 at 3-over for the tournament.
The 26-year-old posted three pars before dropping another shot on the par-3 13th hole, now at 4-over total with five holes remaining. But Korda dug deep, landing a punch with a birdie on the drivable, par-4 15th hole to move back to 3-over and then making one last birdie on the par-3 17th hole to ultimately finish in the same position in which she began the third round, at 2-over for the championship.
“It’s so brutal out here. The greens are so firm. It’s blowing 30 to 35 miles an hour. It’s messing with your putts. You’re just happy to get 18 under your belt on a day like this,” Korda said with a laugh to NBC’s Cara Banks. “It’s brutal. You’re exhausted after these days because it’s such a premium to hit the fairways, but you’re starting it so far right. It’s almost like you’re playing a British, but you can’t run it up to these greens because if you hit it short of some of these greens, it sucks it straight back. It’s very interesting to play in these conditions the past couple of days.”
Last year’s AIG Women’s Open at St Andrews comes to mind when thinking about the windiest conditions many of the LPGA Tour’s best have seen in recent seasons. Korda can understand that point but would argue that this week at Fields Ranch East is much more grueling because of the fluffy Bermudagrass that wreaks havoc on a player’s ability to spin the ball coming out of the rough. There are also very few areas where you can hit the ball and run it up to the greens.
