From her first-round scorecard, you’d never know that Nelly Korda hadn’t teed it up in a regular competition in six weeks. The 23-year-old Floridian, who has held the top spot in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings since June 28, opened the Cognizant Founders Cup with a 4-under 67 and is tied for third after 18 holes at Mountain Ridge Country Club. It was her first competitive appearance since the Solheim Cup in early September and her first stroke-play event since the AIG Women’s Open in late August.
“Felt nice to kind of get the juices flowing again,” said Korda, who had six birdies and two bogeys on Thursday. “Yeah, not complaining about today. There is some stuff that I can work on, but not complaining.”
Other than what she called an “oopsie” on No. 5, Korda logged a solid day on Thursday, missing only the fifth green for one of her two bogeys. The other came on a three-putt at No. 15. She’s very familiar with Donald Ross-designed courses, often playing at Sara Bay Country Club in Sarasota and Bradenton Country Club, two of his well-known creations, and put that comfort to good use at Mountain Ridge.
“I like how you really have to think about it, especially on these big greens. They're very undulated so you definitely have to section them off where the pin is,” said Korda. “You have to think a lot and it's longer for sure, so I like that as a longer player.”
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