Nelly Korda was on a heater when she arrived in Las Vegas for the T-Cellular Match Play final yr.
Shadow Creek did nothing to sluggish her down. She made the match the fourth of 5 consecutive victories throughout her monster 2024 season.
Korda arrives at Shadow Creek this week enjoying nicely as soon as once more, however and not using a win in her three begins in 2025. That, she says, does nothing to impression her strategy.
“It’s important to take the expectations, put them apart, and what you probably did final yr, that’s nice,” Korda stated Tuesday. “I achieved a lot, however this can be a recent begin. It’s a brand new yr. I’m simply going to have the identical mindset as I did final yr, and for me what I can management is how onerous I work, the trouble that I put in.”
Korda is the headliner of the 64-player discipline that will get into motion Wednesday morning with three days of round-robin play. Golfers have been divided into 16 four-player pods, with the winner of every group transferring on to the weekend knockout rounds.
That’s the format the LPGA used the primary three years of the match earlier than experimenting final yr with a bigger discipline and three days of stroke play to establish eight gamers for a match-play weekend. Korda likes the change, even when she wasn’t conscious of it till Sunday night time.
“On the finish of the day it’s a match-play match,” stated Korda, who opens towards Brittany Altomare on Wednesday. “Not many women obtained to play any matches final yr, so I feel going again to all match play is what makes the match what it’s.”
What it’s is a grind, with the eventual champion having to navigate seven matches over 5 days. And all of it begins Wednesday with loads of intrigue proper from the beginning.
Two-time main champion Brooke Henderson faces match-play titan and 2024 runner-up Leona Maguire.
Charley Hull and Alexa Pano, two of probably the most aggressive gamers on tour with personalities to match, face off.
Danielle Kang, the Las Vegan struggling to seek out her sport, is thrown into the hearth towards Jeeno Thitikul, who has top-10 finishes in 11 of her final 12 LPGA begins.
Henderson welcomes the problem and feels extra assured in her sport after 4 years of enjoying Shadow Creek.
“Having somewhat bit after all data over the past 4 years is useful,” Henderson stated, however enjoying nicely on the whole is significant. “As a lot as you wish to have a superb technique, you want to have the ability to hit high quality pictures and stand up and down generally since you’re going to be in powerful positions.”
Allisen Corpuz agrees {that a} combination after all data and having your sport in fine condition is extra necessary than ever this week.
“The extra you play it, the extra you understand simply spots — I feel there’s a few spots on the course the place it’d look visually prefer it’s an OK spot to overlook and also you’ll miss there and it’s actually, actually powerful,” stated Corpuz, coming off a third-place end Sunday in Arizona. “But it surely makes it somewhat simpler whenever you’re enjoying good golf as nicely.”
No one is aware of extra about enjoying good golf than Korda, however she additionally is aware of the sport will be fickle.
“You type of simply have to understand if you find yourself in that circulate state, however you’ll be able to’t get too snug,” Korda stated. “In the event you get too snug, I imply, it’s golf. It’s going to humble you actually quick.”
Greg Robertson covers golf for the Assessment-Journal. Attain him at grobertson@reviewjournal.com.
