World No.1 Nelly Korda can take another step towards immortality at the AIG Women’s Open this week.
The four-time major winner, who has ticked off two already this year, can cement her status as one of the greatest ever if she finally conquers the links.
But there is a lot of talk about whether legacy even matters in golf.
So what drives Korda to be the best? Spoiler alert: it’s not the 19th hole beer.
The American told talkSPORT.com: “I played the next week after the US Open, I played the next week after Chevron.
“In this sport, you’re always looking at what’s next. It’s not like a season-ending championship. We’re still in the middle of the season, we still have a couple more majors, it’s just keep going, keep going, keep going, keep going.
“It’s really tough to smell the roses. I’ve been told by many legends to smell the roses.
“But I think it’s just really, really hard because you don’t want to get caught up too much in the past, when everyone’s constantly moving forward. So you want to do that as well.”
Besides the oddly existential and philosophical questions thrown at the world’s top golfers, Korda has some very real golf ones to answer this week.
Her best crack at the AIG Women’s Open remains a T2 finish at St Andrews in 2024, now she heads to another iconic venue in Royal Lytham & St Annes, defended by 174 bunkers.
It is a different test to what the LPGA superstars face week-in, week-out – but Nelly has a plan.
“Stay out of the pot bunkers,” she said when asked for a battle strategy. Sounds simple enough.
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However, Korda knows the AIG Women’s Open can indeed feel like a battleground.
She added: “I never understood why people would say it’s the luck of the draw until I played in the AIG Women’s Open because it truly is.
“And there are days that are just like a grind and you get onto the first tee and you’re like, ‘I love golf. I love golf. I love golf. I love golf’. It’s time to go into battle.
“And then there’s days that are a little easier. But I think what’s truly special about the game here is that you really have to be switched on and there’s so many different ways to hit every single shot.
“And so that’s what I find really fun about it.”
If it is a question of adapting to the uniqueness of the challenge this side of the Atlantic, Nelly is making strong progress already this week.
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The 28-year-old superstar told me she recently drove on the other side of the road for the first time, travelling from the Scottish Open in Troon to the AIG Women’s Open in Lancashire.
But Korda insists not much else has changed in her life to inspire this generational 2026 season.
“Honestly, I didn’t have that bad of a year in 2025,” she continued. “I just couldn’t win. It was just what it was. I didn’t really play that bad golf.
“I would say I started working with a new putting coach at the end of last year. He’s been great to work with.
“And then just maybe a little bit of a mindset change. It is tough kind of coming in with not just expectations of yourself, but expectations of everyone else.
“Maybe I was listening to the outside noise a little bit too much. And maybe that’s what changed is I’m just kind of going to listen to myself.
“I’m not a robot. It’s not something that I 100 per cent can block out. But I think I’m a little bit more conscious of it.”
