WATCH: Nelly Korda stuns Paris with impressive birdie; remains T3
Nelly Korda is making an official bid to repeat as gold medalist at the Olympics. In Paris this year, the 2020 Tokyo gold medalist is putting in a quality outing so far. If the tournament were to end right this moment, Korda would enter a playoff for the bronze medal thanks to this birdie.
She was four under already and her approach shot gave her a very makeable putt to shave another stroke off the scoreline. Korda calmly knocked it in, drawing in cheers and remarks from the announcers.
That tied her with Ruoning Yin to be third on the leaderboard. She's done all her scoring today and is five under through 11 holes after shooting an even par in the first round.
Morgane Metreaux continues to lead with a -8 performance and has completed her second round, while Korda, Yin, Lydia Ko (in second with -6), Mariajo Uribe, and others try to catch up to the Swiss.
Since the field is rather limited for the Olympics, there is no cut line. All golfers, Korda included, will play all four rounds and have a full attempt at medaling.
"I'm living out my dream": Nelly Korda discusses the Olympics
Nelly Korda came into the Olympics as the favorite to win a gold medal. She did so last time out in Tokyo and is in the midst of a historically good season. The World No.1 won six of eight starts, though has recently had a much tougher time.
That mirrors what Scottie Scheffler did at the men's event. He was in the middle of a historic season, though the majority of his wins came earlier, too. Despite some average outings of late, Scheffler won gold. Korda will hope to do the same and defend her Olympic title in doing so.
However, given the nature of the Olympics, Korda placed more emphasis on enjoying the moment and taking pride in representing her country at the quadrennial event. She said (via LPGA Tour):
“Doesn't really feel like I'm defending, really. I'm just going to go out, enjoy the experience, hopefully enjoy the fans. The men had amazing fans out here. I was wowed by how many people are out here watching and just happy that I'm back in this position. I'm here representing my country. I'm a two-time Olympian and I'm living out my dream.”
Whether she wins or not, she's already a gold medalist and an Olympian like her mother Regina Rajchrtová, and her sister Jessica Korda. While joking that the men in her family can't hold a candle to what the women are doing, Korda said,
“We always make fun of the boys because we say that the girls in the Korda family are the only ones that are the Olympians, and the boys are not. We have that above them in the family," she said.
As it stands, Nelly Korda looks to be in a great position to win another medal.