Entering the second major championship of the season, all anyone can discuss is the world No. 1. Nelly Korda, a winner across six of her eight starts in 2024, arrives at Lancaster Country Club for the 2024 U.S. Women's Open with a world of momentum in her corner, a wave of form at her aid and a mountain of expectations on her shoulders as she aims to capture another major -- her second of the and the third in her career.
"I don't think some of [the expectations] annoy me," Korda said. "Obviously, with the position I'm in, there are going to be expectations. I do not want to lose who I am. I'm going to always stay true to who I am because at the end of the day, when I go to sleep, I need to be proud of who I am. In a sense, no, I don't think I have any expectations. I just try to be very, very pure and very, very honest with everyone around me, and I hope that they see that I am proud of the person that I am at the end of the day.
"And that is how I hope that I grow the game."
This week marks the 25-year-old's 10th U.S. Open appearance and her first at Lancaster Country Club as she did not play the last time it was held at the venue in 2015. She's experienced middling success on this stage with a couple top 10s and a couple missed cuts in her last six championship appearances, but there has been nothing middling about Korda in 2024.
The wins are well documented, and coverage of the women's game is growing -- Korda's profile with it. Attending the Met Gala in early May, Korda became the first LPGA player and first golfer since Tiger Woods in 2013 to walk the red carpet at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
"Our responsibility is to go out and play golf to hopefully put on a show for everyone and to go out there and perform our best golf," Korda said. "Hopefully, that brings in the audience. I know there's expectations from players, and I think that our number one priority should be to go out there, enjoy our time on the golf course and grow the game playing good golf."
To say Korda is "playing good golf" would, of course, be an understatement. After starting her year with a top-20 finish at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Championships, the American rattled off five straight victories including one of the major variety at the Chevron Championship.
At the Cognizant Founders Cup earlier this month, Korda had an opportunity to win her sixth in a row and break the record for consecutive victories she shared with Annika Sorenstam and Nancy Lopez. She ultimately finished T7, but it only took a week for her to get back into the winner's circle at the Mizuho Americas Open where she admitted she may not have had her "A" game despite raising another trophy.
Korda understands she may not have that luxury this week as Lancaster Country Club will require only the best from the eventual champion. Setting up to be a difficult test featuring narrow fairways, thick rough, firm greens and with crowds expected to be rows deep, the Pennsylvania gem will prove to be a stern examination. It's one Korda is more than capable of passing with flying colors.
"It's going to test every aspect of just your golf game and even your mental game because it's a major championship," Korda said. "You can get ahead of yourself, get lost in the moment. If you make a couple mistakes here and there, sometimes it can get away from you, but it's going to test every aspect of your game out there this week."
