At the end of day one at Gilbert, Arizona, Charley Hull had a one-stroke advantage. She scored a brilliant 63 for 9 under par, vaulting her to the top of the leaderboard by 1 stroke. She outplayed the rest of the field brilliantly, carding a bogey-free round and registering nine birdies en route to the top.

Post her brilliant round, the two-time LPGA winner made it clear that all these strokes are a way for her to prepare for the upcoming majors, the first of which is scheduled for the end of April. Hull’s mentality is understandable. The Brit who is yet to win a major will have April 24 marked on her calendar, because that is when the Chevron Championship kicks off in Texas.

Two LPGA Tour events are scheduled between the $2.25 million Ford Championship and the major. And Charley Hull said she would be using the time as a way to make her game at the major more refined. But perhaps, not all great minds think alike. When asked about her thought process as compared to Hull’s, World No.1 Nelly Korda expressed a different approach.

Nelly Korda has a goldfish mentality. She tries to keep her successes and errors in the backseat whenever she is trying to focus on something that is taking place at the moment. That is what is needed when are you competing at the highest level of golf. There are tournaments happening very frequently and the more you dwell on past laurels or mistakes, the more you might forget about what is happening right now.

Korda believes that improvement lies in steady step-by-step progress, a mantra she has been practicing regularly. “Yeah, I mean, every week is a different week. That’s kind of my mindset. You know, you come out here and you want to improve every single day and you want to contend, so it’s very different compared to any other sport,” stated Korda.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re first in the tournament or last. Everyone has an equal opportunity. You don’t have an advantage because you’re ranked higher. All you have to do is just have a good attitude and just take it day by day, shot by shot,” Korda added after her brilliant day at the Seville Golf and Country Club.

And then came the big question about when she would start thinking about the major. Korda kept her answer short. “The week I’m there,” she said. Her answer seemed to have surprised the interviewer, who asked for a confirmation. “Yeah, I don’t like to look ahead,” Korda concluded. That was exactly the mindset that was reflected in her game.

On Friday, she started off with a birdie. She then proceeded to score 5 more birdies in the next eleven holes. Korda then had a bogey at hole 4, but she did not let that disrupt her momentum. The World No.1 proceeded to drain two more birdies to finish the round at 7 under par. She was top of the leaderboard then.

It is evident that her mindset has been a strong reason for her success on the Tour. Treating each event as a new challenge has made her a force to be reckoned with as well as a serial winner, having won 15 LPGA Tour events. While both Hull and Korda disagree on this, there are certain things they agree on. But even in the agreement, they have shown that their mentalities and approach to certain things are different.

Charley Hull and Nelly Korda on slow play

Back in 2024, Hull had made it clear that she absolutely despises slow play. At the post-round press conference at the ANNIKA, Hull was very direct about the slow play issue. It was crazy. I’m quite ruthless,” the Brit golfer stated.

Hull had to play the latter stages of her round in darkness due to the snail-like pace of the players before her. She then went on to profess an idea, ‘ruthless’ in nature to address slow play. “If you get three bad timings, every time it’s a tee shot penalty, if you have three of them you lose your Tour card instantly.”

Korda is also very much against slow play. But her approach is yet again very much different from Hull’s. “Honestly, I despise slow play.” She asserted how it drives her up a “freaking wall” and how she “can’t stand it.” However, the World No.1 takes it upon herself to adjust to the conditions around her. Post the Chevron Championship last year, Korda had said, “I kind of knew it was going to be a slow day, so I tried to not get ready for my tee shots or my approach shots or my putting until it was my time to go.”

A different tone compared to what Hull professed, but nevertheless professing disdain on the same issue. Well, whether they disagree or not, both Hull and Korda are known to push themselves to claim victory. Currently, the duo is tied in second place at the Ford Championship, two strokes behind solo leader Lilia Vu. Who do you think will have the last laugh at Arizona at the end of the weekend?