SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France – The more celebrated Nelly Korda becomes as a golfer, the more noticeable it is when she seeks to experience life as something else.
It’s all amplified for her. The tournaments in which she doesn’t play. The interviews she doesn’t give. This idea that it’s her responsibility, more than any peer, to expand the LPGA’s popularity.
She may be a reluctant sports star at times, but she’s the biggest one going in the women’s game. And it’s not that the world’s No. 1 player is burned out on golf, she explained after Wednesday’s opening round at the Paris Olympics. It’s that she doesn’t want to become burned out.
“As important as it is to sometimes grind it out,” Korda said, “it’s also important to just put your clubs away and just be a regular human being. … It feels nice when you’re in a groove, but when you play under pressure and you’re in the final group and you feel the emotions that you do, it takes a toll on you mentally.”
Our reigning gold medalist 🥇@NellyKorda | #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/IxZDFNASED
— Olympic Golf (@OlympicGolf) August 7, 2024
The 26-year-old Korda is back representing the United States at the Olympics, an event where she’s the reigning gold medalist. She shot an even-par 72 in the first round, leaving her well behind leader Celine Boutier of France, who delighted a large home crowd with a 7-under 65 to jump to a three-shot lead.
Lilia Vu of the U.S. is tied for third at 2 under. Korda and fellow American Rose Zhang (also at even par) are tied for 13th, as Boutier’s round was the story of the first round at Le Golf National.
“Really fun for me,” said Vu, who played in Boutier’s threesome. “They’re cheering for me, too. So I’m trying to keep up with Celine.”
Korda, too, will be trying to keep up and extend her country’s dominance in Olympic golf. Counting her victory at the Tokyo Games, Americans have won the last three gold medals in golf, including Xander Schauffele in 2021 and Scottie Scheffler this past weekend.
This week’s tournament, however, oddly finds Korda at a low point in a year full of remarkable highs.
When she won the Mizuho Americas Open in May, it was her sixth tournament title in seven starts. She won five in a row at one point, becoming only the third LPGA player in history to achieve that.
But then Korda missed the cut at the U.S. Women’s Open. Then she missed two more cuts. In the six weeks since, she played…
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