Different Strokes: Nelly Korda admits it can be tough at the top

Nelly Korda admits it’s tough at the top

Nelly Korda has provided an astute insight into just how hard it is to be living out life as the world number one for so long at the tender age of 23.

Speaking on the Fair Game podcast, Korda remarked of staying on top of her game: “It’s tough. It honestly has its pros and cons. Everything does in life. I mean, I enjoy it. I love it and inspiring the next generation and I love being out (on tour), that’s what I work for. But, you know, it’s hard too.”

Korda has sought to keep her feet firmly on the ground as part of the process of dealing with her status. “People get so sucked into, I think, the fame sometimes that they lose themselves. And I think a good thing is you never know what’s going to happen. I’m still 23 and that’s still pretty young for the tour. I just try to enjoy every single moment of this ranking and this experience because, you know, it can be taken away so fast!”

Having led the Rolex rankings since winning the KPMG PGA Championship back in June, Korda was displaced at the top following Jin Young Ko’s win in the BMW Ladies which saw the 26-year-old South Korean regain the number one spot in the updated list.

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The game of yo-yo may go on for some time yet.

Bernhard Langer does it again

All hail Bernhard Langer . . . . again!

As if his 64-year-old body hadn’t already achieved enough, the German’s latest win - in the Dominion Energy Charity Classic on the PGA Champions Tour - brought further distinctions as he became the oldest winner on the seniors circuit (official age being 64 years, one month, 27 days) in what was his 118th win worldwide as a professional and his 42nd on the Champions Tour.

“I think it’s just encouraging to everybody that’s over 50 or 60, we can still perform to a very high level and you should never give up. And of course physical conditioning is one thing. You’ve got to be men tally tough, you’ve got to have good technique and nerves and all of the rest of it,” said the evergreen Langer.

Langer beat Doug Barron in a play-off for his latest success, which increased his lead in the Charles Schwab order of merit for the season and brought his career earnings on the seniors circuit to a remarkable $31.8 million.

Word of mouth

"He was waving like a crazy man on one of the holes; everyone was standing still and he was waving, so it was good to see him out there walking around" - Xander Schauffele on spying his Japanese grandfather out on the course supporting him at the Zozo Championship. Unfortunately for Schauffele, he struggled to finish in tied-27th spot, all of 15 strokes adrift of winner Hideki Matsuyama.

By the Numbers

1-60-9-1-6-2-1 - Jin Young Ko's win in the BMW Ladies Championship (her fourth win of the season on the LPGA Tour) continued an excellent run of form for the South Korean, who has only once finished outside the top-10 in her last seven starts and includes three wins in that hot stretch of form.

On this day

October 26th 2008 - Cameron Beckman had endured such a miserable season in 2008 that he'd contemplated throwing in the towel on it all. A recurring back injury meant he headed into the Frys.Com Open ranked 176th on the PGA Tour money list with the prospect of losing his tour card only for the American to post scores of 69-66-64-63 for a 72-holes total of 262 in Scottsdale, which got him into a playoff with Kevin Sutherland which he won at the second hole of sudden death.

Beckman - whose previous tour win was in the 2001 Southern Farm Bureau Classic - earned a payday of $900,000 and a two-year exemption to the PGA Tour.

“It’s just been a tough year. I honestly was thinking about quitting the game, that’s how bad I felt. I can’t explain how good I feel right now. I don’t know what it was and why I did it, but I just felt good all day,” said Beckman of his win, which saw him overturn a four stroke deficit on Sutherland on the back nine of the final round.

Twitter Twaddle

Really pleased for Jeff Winther winning this week in Mallorca. Great guy with a tremendous sense of humour. Which is a good job when you look like him - Eddie Pepperell being, well, Eddie Pepperell in congratulating the Dane on his maiden European Tour win in the Mallorca Open.

Very sad to see the passing of Fred Anderson Hed. I remember being paired in his group on many occasions. Great professional and above all a lovely person thoughts are with his family and friends. RIP Freddy - Ross Fisher, one of the many European Tour players who commented on the sad passing from cancer of Swedish golfer Fredrik Anderson Hed (aged 49).

I am not sure, but what Bernhard Langer keeps doing on the Champions Tour may be one of the greatest accomplishments ever in golf! The guy is 112 years old and finishes top 5 every week! - Veteran PGA Tour caddie Brent Henley with a touch of (justifiable) poetic licence in praising Langer's ongoing success.

Know the Rules

Q - Player A's tee shot hooks left into an area where he believes it could be lost or out of bounds and announces that he is playing a provisional ball, which also heads to the same area of the course as the original ball. Without any announcement, the player plays another ball from the tee. This ball comes to rest in the fair. After a search, Player A is unable to find his original ball but does find his first provisional. What is the ruling?

A - Since the original ball is lost or out of bounds, the player must continue to play with the third ball played from the tee since it was played without any announcement. Therefore, the third ball was a ball substituted for the provisional ball under penalty of stroke and distance (Rule 18.1), regardless of the provisional ball's location. Player A has now taken five strokes (including penalty strokes) with the third ball played from the tee.

In the Bag

Hideki Matsuyama

Zozo Championship

Driver - Srixon ZX7 (9.5 degrees)

3-wood - Taylormade SIM2 (15 degrees)

5-wood - Cobra King (18.5 degrees)

Irons - Srixon Z-Forged (4-PW)

Wedges - Cleveland RTX 4 Forged (52, 56 and 60 degrees)

Putter - Scotty Cameron Timeless 2 GSS

Ball - Srixon Z-Star XV