Nelly Korda: Assassin In Waiting

NAPLES, FLORIDA | “Nelly’s not doing much, is she?”

Judy Rankin asked that question of Terry Gannon and Cristie Kerr, as well as the production team that is always crammed into the cramped quarters of the broadcast booth. It was a commercial break during the first-round Golf Channel broadcast of the CME Group Tour Championship, a time for those commenting on the tournament to take a look at the leaderboard and decide what to say next.

“No, she’s 1 under,” Kerr said. At the time the lead was 5 under, soon to go to 7 under when Sei Young Kim eagled the 17th at Tiburón Golf Club. Nelly Korda, the world’s third-ranked player, top-ranked American and more athletically gifted than almost anyone in the women’s game, is always on LPGA observers’ “breakout” radar so she’s a good name to find on any leaderboard. The fact that, at that moment, she was 1-under par was disappointing but not surprising. Despite having two victories in 2019 and nine other top-10s – an extraordinary year by most standards – so much more has been expected of the...