World No 11 amateur Nelly Korda forsakes
USA Curtis Cup team place to turn pro
Nelly Korda looks over her putt at No. 18 in
the round of 64 during the 2015 U. S. Women's Amateur Championship at
Portland Golf Club in Portland, Ore.
(
Tracy Wilcox
)
Nelly Korda, the American's top-ranked junior, has turned
professional. Korda, 17, will make her pro debut at this week’s IOA
Championship, the season-opening event on the Symetra Tour.
“I have finally decided to follow my dreams and turn pro,” said Korda, who won the second stage of LPGA Q-School last autumn to earn Category E status on the developmental tour.
Korda’s father, Petr, wishes that LPGA rules had permitted his youngest daughter to compete in the final stage of Q-School so that she could potentially be teeing it up this week in Australia with big sister Jessica.
But since players must be 18 to join the LPGA, unless granted a special exemption by commissioner Mike Whan, Petr will spend the week caddieng for Nelly at the Morongo Golf Club at Tukwet Canyon in Beaumont, California.
“Rules are rules,” said the former grand slam tennis champ.
Nelly, the youngest player in the field in Beaumont, hasn’t competed in a tournament since Q-School last October and plans to use this week as an indicator of what needs work. She only began hitting drivers one week ago after taking time off for the winter.
After this week’s event on the West Coast, the Symetra Tour takes off the entire month of March before beginning its Florida swing in April.
Eighteen months ago Nelly started working with David Whelan, the former longtime instructor of Paula Creamer. A main focus of their initiative was shortening her swing.
The result has given Nelly more control of her shots and a more durable, repeatable action. She won the prestigious AJGA Ping Invitational by 11 shots last fall, closing her final round birdie-birdie-par-eagle, before medaling at Stage II of Q-School.
“He’s opened my eyes to looking at golf in a completely different way,” Nelly said of Whelan, who also works with Jessica.
In turning pro, Nelly gives up a certain spot on the 2016 Curtis Cup team. She will not, however, be giving up college.
“I want to get a college degree eventually,” she said. “I’m not closing my mind to school.”
Nelly turned pro without an agent or sponsors. For now, she’ll wear her sister's hand-me-down Adidas clothes. She plans to graduate from high school in early June.
The top 10 players on the money list at the end of the Symetra Tour season earn LPGA cards for the 2017 season. Nelly could join her sister on the LPGA in 2016 should she win three times on the Symetra Tour. Annie Park, a former USC player, earned such a battlefield promotion last summer.
“I have finally decided to follow my dreams and turn pro,” said Korda, who won the second stage of LPGA Q-School last autumn to earn Category E status on the developmental tour.
Korda’s father, Petr, wishes that LPGA rules had permitted his youngest daughter to compete in the final stage of Q-School so that she could potentially be teeing it up this week in Australia with big sister Jessica.
But since players must be 18 to join the LPGA, unless granted a special exemption by commissioner Mike Whan, Petr will spend the week caddieng for Nelly at the Morongo Golf Club at Tukwet Canyon in Beaumont, California.
“Rules are rules,” said the former grand slam tennis champ.
Nelly, the youngest player in the field in Beaumont, hasn’t competed in a tournament since Q-School last October and plans to use this week as an indicator of what needs work. She only began hitting drivers one week ago after taking time off for the winter.
After this week’s event on the West Coast, the Symetra Tour takes off the entire month of March before beginning its Florida swing in April.
Eighteen months ago Nelly started working with David Whelan, the former longtime instructor of Paula Creamer. A main focus of their initiative was shortening her swing.
The result has given Nelly more control of her shots and a more durable, repeatable action. She won the prestigious AJGA Ping Invitational by 11 shots last fall, closing her final round birdie-birdie-par-eagle, before medaling at Stage II of Q-School.
“He’s opened my eyes to looking at golf in a completely different way,” Nelly said of Whelan, who also works with Jessica.
In turning pro, Nelly gives up a certain spot on the 2016 Curtis Cup team. She will not, however, be giving up college.
“I want to get a college degree eventually,” she said. “I’m not closing my mind to school.”
Nelly turned pro without an agent or sponsors. For now, she’ll wear her sister's hand-me-down Adidas clothes. She plans to graduate from high school in early June.
The top 10 players on the money list at the end of the Symetra Tour season earn LPGA cards for the 2017 season. Nelly could join her sister on the LPGA in 2016 should she win three times on the Symetra Tour. Annie Park, a former USC player, earned such a battlefield promotion last summer.
Labels: CURTIS CUP
posted by Colin |
See story on its own page | 4:06:00 pm
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