Nelly Korda woke up at 5:18 a.m. in New York City, the one that never sleeps, to meet her glam squad ahead of a national media tour following her recent U.S. Women\u2019s Open victory at Riviera Country Club.<\/p>\n
The world\u2019s top-ranked player and winner of the LPGA\u2019s season\u2019s first two majors is under a brighter spotlight than ever, and Monday\u2019s media tour that included appearances on \u201cToday,\u201d CNBC and a stop in front of her billboard could help make her more of a household name at a time when her tour is looking for all of the publicity it can get.<\/p>\n
On \u201cToday 3rd Hour,\u201d Korda, who is sponsored by Nike, wore a cream-colored Nike Golf jacket with a white blouse, Aritzia skirt and Nike shoes. She appeared in the segment with anchors Craig Melvin, Al Roker and Dylan Dreyer. Korda met Dreyer previously during the LPGA\u2019s season-opening Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was definitely cool. I always love seeing the behind-the-scenes,\u201d Korda told Golf Digest after appearance. \u201cThat’s what I get mesmerized by. As an athlete, we\u2019re kind of all about our process and what other people don’t see. I loved seeing all the behind-the-scenes of how hectic life on set is and how fast they move everything. I was really impressed with that. \u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve definitely watched the show here and there with my morning coffee or my breakfast, so it was pretty insane to be on it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Korda, 27, discussed her big victory in Los Angeles, which gives her four wins in majors, and gave Dreyer swing tips.<\/p>\n
She narrowly missed a chance to meet New York Knicks players Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and the rest of the starting lineup that just won the NBA championship and were on the show, but earlier and outdoors. She did get to meet a fellow guest, actress Zoey Deutch, who was promoting her new Netflix and Minions movies.<\/p>\n
Korda\u2019s makeup was professionally done and her hair was down and wavy, such a different look than her signature bun under a visor on the golf course.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love being feminine; it\u2019s not something that I’m like always in, obviously,\u201d Korda said. \u201cI wear a lot of golf clothes and athletic wear and leggings and whatnot, because I just bounce from golf to a gym and kind of chilling at home. So, it’s fun to do, and I really enjoy it. It’s another way to express yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Korda then made a stop in front of her digital billboard on 34th and 7th and was all mega smiles posing in front of the ad that read: \u201cIt\u2019s not easy making it look this easy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked what her 13-year-old self would\u2019ve thought of someone telling her she\u2019d one day be gracing a billboard in Manhattan after winning the U.S. Women\u2019s Open, Korda said: \u201cYou’re lying! She would be absolutely over-the-moon ecstatic. More like, \u2018Are you serious?\u2019 This is such a pinch-me moment. There’s been so many times in the past week and a half where I’ve had pinch-me moments and I’ve been like, \u2018Oh, my gosh, am I a 13-year-old girl still?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
The LPGA surprised Korda with some LPGA Girls Golf participants there to greet her, and maybe one of those girls will one day win a major, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was absolutely amazing,\u201d said Korda, who has long signed autographs for children after rounds and often doing so until everyone has one. There could come a point in her career where she won\u2019t be able to sign for everyone.<\/p>\n
After her chat, she was off to CNBC at the New York Stock Exchange, and like any comedy, music or entertainment tour, there was an outfit change. For this appearance, she was dressed in a Nike sportswear top and Aritzia blazer.<\/p>\n
The LPGA needs and wants to capitalize on Korda\u2019s star power and translate it into higher ratings and ticket sales and more. Monday was a good day for the tour.<\/p>\n
\u201cNelly is a total superstar, and as we know, superstars help grow sports and generate fans,\u201d LPGA commissioner Craig Kessler told Golf Digest. \u201c\u2026 These are opportunities that very, very few athletes receive, and they reflect both what Nelly’s accomplished and the profile that she’s built.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s cool to me to see that Nelly’s been incredibly willing to step into those moments. I think she understands that growing the game means reaching beyond traditional golf audiences. Every new fan who discovers Nelly could potentially become a new fan of the LPGA, and that’s why days like today matter.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kessler didn\u2019t know Korda until he took over as LPGA commissioner last July, and he continues be more impressed by her as an athlete and person.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo see her transformation and how comfortable she’s become in the spotlight, her willingness to do things outside the ropes that helps not just her brand, but frankly helps the tour, I am so impressed by what she’s doing and how she’s doing it,\u201d Kessler said. \u201cFrankly, I\u2019m grateful to her and so many of her peers for stepping into the spotlight and doing their part to help grow the LPGA. Nelly deserves it. She’s earned it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The majors matter and Korda has set up her schedule to prioritize those. It shows. And she\u2019s starting to open up more and show more personality. In 2024, the LPGA didn\u2019t take advantage of Korda\u2019s seven wins and record-tying five consecutive win streak. Korda is different now, too, and it\u2019s showing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think in 2024, it was more just that I wasn’t sure how to maybe handle it, but I’ve grown a lot through it,\u201d Korda told Golf Digest. \u201cI am a very private person, but I think there is a strength in being vulnerable, and I want to show people we’re not robots. We’re human beings. We’re gonna have ups and downs.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have emotions, and I think it is really important to express your emotions in any way that you want, and just be yourself. I really just wanted everyone to see me for who I am, and not for someone that they wanted me to be, who they’ve painted their story of me. I wanted to paint my own picture.\u201d<\/p>\n
She hopes that picture will include more major victories, and she\u2019ll have the chance to the KPMG Women\u2019s PGA Championship for a second time later this month. The major will be at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Minnesota.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m just going to prepare as best as I can, and my attitude is that I\u2019m going to control what I can control, and if I’ve prepared the best that I can; I’m always gonna give it 100 percent,\u201d Korda said. \u201cI don’t think anyone can ever say that I’m not a grinder, I’m fighting until the last putt drops. That is what I’m going to control. If someone shoots a better scorer than I have, I can’t do anything about that.\u201d<\/p>\n
After not winning all of last season, Korda is again on the hot pace she was in 2024. She has already won four tournaments and has three other runners-up in eight total starts.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe’s grinded her entire life, and she’s being rewarded,\u201d Kessler said. \u201cThe season that she’s having right now is off the charts.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked what she hopes these national audiences, many of whom might not know her, will learn, Korda said: \u201cThat I smile when I\u2019m on the golf course. I’m very giggly, and I have a very different personality on the golf course, but that’s because I’m very much in the zone. Like other athletes we have some amazing personalities on the LPGA Tour, and they actually invest in seeing our personalities.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nelly Korda woke up at 5:18 a.m. in New York City, the one that never sleeps, to meet…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":870804,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[47],"tags":[1430,24033,354336,2213,354337,62,645,41336,67,132,68,16966],"class_list":["post-870803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-golf","tag-lpga-tour","tag-media-tour","tag-nelly-korda","tag-nelly-korda-media-tour","tag-sports","tag-story","tag-today-show","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-women"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116758983919300477","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870803","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=870803"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870803\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/870804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=870803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=870803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=870803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}