JM EAGLE LA CHAMPIONSHIP

April 17, 2025

Nelly Korda

Quick Quotes

Q. All right, here with Nelly Korda after her first round at the JM Eagle. Nelly, put together a great round there. Tell me a little bit about the day, about the course after round one.

NELLY KORDA: Yeah, it was great. Hit 18 out of 18 greens, so my bogeys were three putts, which I've made one on the last hole, so I am not feeling too great about that.

But other than that, I mean, I played really solid off the tee and into the greens. Hopefully I can keep that going into the next few days.

Q. Can you talk about those four straight birdies on the back?

NELLY KORDA: Yeah, just kind of got it rolling. Had a lot of really good numbers into the greens and hit it pretty close, within ten feet, and just rolled them in.

Q. And then your thoughts on Madelene and getting that ace; how did you react?

NELLY KORDA: Yeah, it was a nice way to finish the round, that's for sure. I didn't see it go in but I was the first one to give her a high five I think because I was next up. I was like, okay, now it's my turn to go, so I need to calm down.

It's always super exciting to get to do that also on the last hole.

Q. Did you feel more like yourself today?

NELLY KORDA: Yeah, I felt pretty good out there. I definitely was striking it a lot better off the tee and into the greens, so I'm very happy to see that improvement kind of go into more of tournament golf now.

Q. Was that a result of the work you had put in on your irons last week?

NELLY KORDA: Yeah, I'm that type of player that I don't love grinding on the range. Like I don't like being a robot out there. I kind of got into that trying to make a few swing changes to get out of that and just into more of a playing mode, it took a little bit more time than I thought it would.

So I'm happy to see kind of the positive changes make their way into tournament golf.

Q. Nelly, what makes putting at El Caballero so challenging?

NELLY KORDA: Just a lot of undulation. You know, from the first day, Monday, to today, the greens have sped up a good bit, so judging the undulation and the speed, kind of thoughts where I got into trouble. I just hit them a little too far by. Not too short but always six, seven feet by.

So just knowing kind of being comfortable, being confident in your reads and then also your speed. So they are tough greens. There is a lot of different sections to them, so making sure you hit it into the right section makes that easier.