“I try not to think about it” - Nelly Korda eyes ‘three-peat’ at Annika Sorenstam’s namesake event with new putting coach

Nelly Korda has her eyes set on winning the 2023 LPGA The Annika Driven by Gainbridge at the Pelican Championship for the third time in a year.

She clinched the trophy in 2021 and defended the title last year. She will compete at this week's tournament as a defending champion and will be looking forward to a three-peat.

The tournament will start with the inaugural round on Thursday, November 9 and will run through the weekend to compete with the final on Sunday, November 12.

Nelly Korda is excited to compete in the tournament. While speaking about her game, she said (via Golf Week):

“To three-peat, obviously there is pressure that I want to perform, but I try not to think about it. Felt like I just have a plan now, or I have tendencies that I know about that I can always go into a drill and kind of work on those tendencies. Where before I was kind of blind going to a putting green. I did it myself.”

Nelly Korda has been working with her new instructor Eric Dietrich since the Solheim Cup. She has also made changes to her grip and putter and has been playing more strategically

Speaking about her game, Korda said:

“Honestly, I haven’t been putting bad. I’ve been in contention a bunch this year. It’s just I want to improve. I want to improve in every part of my game, and I just thought this was a necessary change to that.”

The Annika driven by Gainbridge is heading for its fourth edition this week. Noticeably, there are several namesake events on the LPGA Tour in history, however, currently The Annika driven by Gainbridge Championship is the only namesake tournament on the Lady's Tour.

It was named after one of the most successful LPGA Tour players, Annika Sorenstam, who has won over 70 tournaments on the LPGA Tour.

Nelly Korda's performance in 2023

Nelly Korda has been in good form. This year, she has only missed the cut in two tournaments and also played at the Solheim Cup. Her best finish was recorded at the HSBC Women's World Championship, where she finished in second place.

She has six top-10 finishes so far in 2023 and last played at the Maybank Championship and finished in the T6 position.

Here are the results of all the tournaments Nelly Korda played in 2023:

Maybank Championship: T6
BMW Ladies Championship: T16
Portland Classic: T14
CPKC Women's Open: T32
AIG Women's Open: T11
The Amundi Evian Championship: T9
U.S. Women's Open: T64
KPMG Women's PGA Championship: CUT
Cognizant Founders Cup: CUT
JM Eagle LA Championship presented by Plastpro: T6
The Chevron Championship: 3
DIO Implant LA Open: T5
LPGA Drive On Championship at Superstition Mountain: T57
HSBC Women's World Championship: 2
Honda LPGA Thailand: T6
Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions: 4

The Annika driven by Gainbridge will take place at Pelican Golf Course and has a purse of $3.2 million. The tournament is the last chance for the golfers to get in the top 60 of the Race to CME Globe point standings.

These players will compete at the CME Group Tour Championship next week for $2 million prize money.