AIG WOMEN'S OPEN

July 29, 2025

Nelly Korda

Press Conference

ED HODGE: Good morning. Welcome to the 2025 AIG Women's Open here at Royal Porthcawl. Firstly, thank you all for being here. We totally appreciate the support, and hopefully everyone has a great week.

We'll kick off our preview press conferences with the World No. 1, last year's runner-up, Nelly Korda. Firstly, a big question to start us off, how was the birthday yesterday?

NELLY KORDA: It was great. I celebrated it with Jason my caddie, Brett my coach, and then one of my really good friends, Charley, that came in from London. It's great.

Obviously not getting to spend it with family, but getting to spend it at the British Open.

ED HODGE: As I said, came close last year. One better this year hopefully?

NELLY KORDA: That's always the goal. New week, new golf course, new conditions. Played nine holes and then kind of chipped and putted on the back nine. The first four holes are beautiful. The views from the golf course are absolutely breathtaking, but you can definitely tell that, when the wind kind of picks up here, it's going to be a really, really hard test.

ED HODGE: From the experience of playing other links courses in the Championship, have you noticed any differences out here from courses you've played before?

NELLY KORDA: This course?

ED HODGE: Yeah, just the kind of challenge it presents.

NELLY KORDA: I feel like it's maybe a little bit more demanding off the tee, as in maybe with other links courses, you can hit driver and there are some bunkers in the way, but here you definitely can't hit driver. It sometimes may be an iron off the tee, but then with the wind direction and the wind strength, there's just way too much trouble on the fairway. Once you're in one of those bunkers, like in all links golf courses, it's just a pitch-out.

Very crucial to stay in play on the tee, but you hit an iron off the tee, and you're probably going to have a longer club into the green too. So it's going to be very demanding off the tee and making sure that you're in good spots going into the greens.

Q. The 18th hole is really unique, kind of hitting over the corner of the 18th green. Could you talk about that and what you're seeing visually off the 1st tee. And then coming up 18, you're having it right there.

NELLY KORDA: Yeah, I was told that's actually their 18th hole, right? So that's our first hole of the tournament. Also having that view with the water in the background, kind of a blind tee shot in a sense, where you're like where is the green? It looks like the end of the world there.

It's really pretty. I think everything depends on the wind and the weather that we get, like kind of every Open Championship. Yeah, I think it's going to be a great test.

Q. (Regarding the International Crown). What does it mean to you to be able to represent your country in that kind of a format?

NELLY KORDA: Yeah, I think it's a lot of fun to represent your country. Definitely a different format to what I've played in Solheim Cup, but getting to play on the past International Crown a few years ago, it's a fun and unique format.

I think getting to play in Korea, where the fans are going to be absolutely amazing, they're so passionate about the game of golf, and it's another way to grow the game. It's something we don't get to do every year. Typically I play against just the Europeans, but getting to play up against different countries, different world, I think it's really fun for them too to get to kind of mix it up.

Q. You've won all around the world already, but how important is it to you to be successful in places like this and be a global golfer in your career?

NELLY KORDA: I feel like I don't really have anything more to prove to people ever. For me it's just I'm passionate about the game. I love the game. I love playing in these kind of conditions, testing my game, and getting to play against the best players in the world.

Having something to prove to myself, I don't think I really need to do that. For me it's just enjoying it and being in the heat of the battle. I feel like, yeah, of course I want to accomplish more. There are goals that I have, goals that I set for myself.

As to do to make myself feel whole about winning in every country that I play in, that's definitely not my goal. My goal is to prepare the best that I can, enjoy myself, and hopefully be in contention. And then kind of enjoy the ride because, as many highs as I've had, I've had a lot of lows too with this sport, but I still come back and I still want to experience those highs in all the different circumstances, different golf courses, different conditions. And just continue to grow my love for the game.

Q. Do you think the conditions, the golf course here this week, does that help separate the better players or the form players a little bit as well? A lot of players talk about luck of the draw at places like this, but do you feel like it almost is an advantage if you're in good form and one of the top players in the world?

NELLY KORDA: I think golf is about confidence. It doesn't matter where you're ranked. You could be ranked in the top 5 in the world and maybe had a bad couple of tournaments, and you're just not trusting your game. That doesn't really matter.

I think golf is a game of confidence. If you're kind of riding high, it doesn't matter what kind of circumstances, weather is going to throw at you, golf course is going to throw at you, it doesn't matter what side of the draw you're on. You've just got to trust yourself and hit the shots that you need to.

Q. I wonder if I could ask you about Lottie Woad because obviously there's an awful lot of excitement about her here. Could you give us -- having played with her obviously in Scotland last week, just some kind of appreciation of what she's achieving at this extraordinary stage of her career?

NELLY KORDA: Absolutely amazing. I was very impressed with her composure, her process. I think, when it comes to her shot routine, especially under pressure and in the heat of the moment, sometimes people seem to fidget and kind of doubt themselves, but she stuck to it, she stuck to her process every single time, and I think that's one of the main things that I noticed is how mature she is for her age and how comfortable she was in the heat of the moment.

Q. Technically as a golfer, she's obviously doing things very, very well.

NELLY KORDA: Yeah, you can see that she's put a ton of hours in. I mean, kind of everyone out here has. Her putting is very solid, her game's solid, she hits it pretty far off the tee. She grew up in this kind of weather too, so I feel like she's kind of comfortable.

Her wins this year are professionally one's in Ireland, one's in Scotland, and obviously here. You can tell that she's kind of comfortable playing in kind of rough weather. But overall, I feel like she's just very solid overall.

Q. This will sound like a very obvious question, but from what you're saying there, you regard her as a real contender at this major championship?

NELLY KORDA: Of course. As I said, golf is a game of confidence, and she's definitely high up there right now, so she's going to be trusting everything. Yeah, her worst finish in the past three events is theoretically second or third. I think she's also riding a confidence high too with how well she's playing.

Q. The venues that the R&A has been using for the Women's Open over the years has evolved to places like Royal Porthcawl, where you haven't played before. What is your preparation for a major at a place that you've not been to before? How is that different?

NELLY KORDA: Honestly it may be surprising, but it's the same as it would be playing an event back in the states at a golf course that I've never seen before. I try to keep it the same every week, consistent every week, my prep zone comfortable, so that all the knowledge that I have, all the conditions that I've played from, I'm confident in. Nothing really changes.

Obviously with a major, you do spend a little more time around the greens, hitting a little more of those bump-and-runs because the grass is a little different here. There's a few more run-offs. Other than that, my process is pretty much the same every week.

Q. What's the word for how you look at places that the R&A is going to now for this Championship? Next year it's at Royal Lytham, it's been at St Andrews.

NELLY KORDA: They've been so fun to play. Not only do we get to play amazing golf courses, but we've been treated so well at these events. When it comes to little things like our player gym, our player dining, our entire player experience, it's been like we -- sorry. They've rolled out the red carpet for us, and it's been amazing to see how this event has evolved.

Especially now, this is my ninth one, or eighth or ninth Championship, and just from the start to right now, the commitment to women's golf has been amazing to see, and especially with the amazing golf courses that we've been getting to play as well.

Q. How critical was the Women's Scottish to your this week? Do you feel a little more settled coming into this week than maybe you have in the past?

NELLY KORDA: I don't know. That was my first time playing Scottish. Typically with my body structure, I don't love to play two weeks in high winds because I start to sway a lot more. Just something that I've noticed throughout the past couple years, but it just lined up perfectly with my schedule. For me, everything is about my schedule flowing.

So for the first time I had the opportunity to play the Scottish. Hopefully I'll bring some momentum from that into this week, but they're two completely different golf courses.

Scottish was actually pretty soft this year, so you could be aggressive, not something I'm used to when I play links golf. While you're here, you'll definitely have to play a little bit more defensive, land it maybe 10 to 15 yards in front of the green to roll it on.

Q. Added a movie appearance to your illustrious career. Obviously Happy Gilmore 2 dropped this past week. What did it mean -- I don't know if you've watched it yet, but what did it mean to see that project come out and have a life and you have a part in that?

NELLY KORDA: I haven't. We're going to watch it either today or tomorrow. We wanted to all be together in the house to watch it for the first time. It was so cool getting to meet Adam Sandler, getting to be part of that process, and actually seeing how difficult acting is from that point of view. That scene with Shooter was amazing to see just from my point of view, his acting, and how much it takes.

That scene took all day. It was like a 20-second scene. The appreciation for their lifestyle and their job definitely grew for me. For me, it was just so cool to be a part of, and getting to do it with Nancy is a lot of fun too.

ED HODGE: Nelly, thanks for all your time this morning and have a great week.