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What’s in the bag? Nelly Korda is testing out this iron at AIG Women’s Open
Links golf is about control.
What a player knows they can (emotions) and cannot (bad bounces) master will likely determine the outcome of their round.
That acceptance is something world No. 1 Nelly Korda is hoping to put into practice this week at the AIG Women’s Open where she is seeking her third major title of 2026.
“I would say I have a little bit of a love/hate relationship with [links golf], depending on the bounces that I get,” said Korda, who turned 28 on Tuesday and celebrated with friends over what she called a quiet dinner.
“It can get a lot sometimes when you feel like you’re hitting it good and then you kind of get really bad bounces,” she added.
After winning the Chevron Championship and the U.S. Women’s Open to start the major season, Korda finished T-8 at the KPMG and then missed the cut at the Evian. Both of the latter tournaments were won by Haeran Ryu, with whom Korda and Lydia Ko will be playing on Thursday and Friday as part of a marquee grouping.
Korda told reporters during her pre-tournament press conference Wednesday that she was able to put the MC — her first in two years — in the rearview mirror “pretty fast.”
“Just because you’re playing well doesn’t mean you’re invincible and you’re going to make every cut and be in the top 10 every single week,” she said. “There will be weeks you just don’t have it and you just — that’s the reality of it. I feel like I’ve done this long enough where I’ve missed enough cuts that it’s just about the bounceback.”
Korda is applying a “control what you can control” attitude this week to help her take a step back and hit the reset button. That’ll help her between the ears, but what is her plan for staying in the fairways at Royal Lytham & St. Annes?
Watch the opening round of the AIG Women’s Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club in Lytham Saint Annes.
A new iron for starters. Well, at least one she’s never used at this major championship.
“I have put a 4-iron into play this week, which I don’t think I’ve ever done in a British because I’ve just never really hit it that good,” said Korda, revealing she tested the club at the KPMG. “I have a little bit of a lower ball flight, so always worked with my hybrid. But I really like this 4-iron.”
One of the reasons behind Korda’s equipment decision was the fact she doesn’t plan to use many of her drivers off the tee at Royal Lytham.
“Probably max four or five,” she said of her intentions to use the driver this week.
While not stated explicitly, there’s hope the additional iron in her bag can help Korda from suffering bad breaks that test her emotionally while playing links golf. And if it doesn’t, she always has her new-found mantra to fall back on.
“I feel like sometimes with it being the fifth major and coming off a lot of condensed majors in a packed schedule, I feel like you’re a little bit more on edge because you’ve been in these high pressure moments throughout this middle part of the year,” she said.
“We’re like coming off a big part in our season. So I always feel like maybe I’m a little bit more tired so the bad bounces get to me a little bit mentally. So I’m just trying to really not get into that state of mind, and that’s why I said I’m going to control what I can control. Obviously sometimes it’s easier than others. It’s easy to say; harder to do.”
Ko, Korda and Ryu are set to tee off at 3:42 a.m. ET on Thursday.
