Moments Before the Pebble Beach Event, Tiger Woods’ Biggest Fan Nelly Korda Takes a Unique Inspiration From Her Revered Idol

The year 2023 tested the spirit of Nelly Korda as a fighter. Although the 24-year-old has demonstrated exceptional performances earlier, this year she had to sit out events like the Mizuho America’s Open owing to her injury.

However, she has bounced back and is participating in the biggest women’s golf tournament, the US Women’s Open, this week. And for her comeback after a hiatus, she has taken inspiration from her idol, Tiger Woods, for her stint at Pebble Beach.

Nelly Korda shares her decade-old experience with Pebble Beach Golf Links

The Pebble Beach Golf Links is a historic course. It has witnessed major events like multiple US Opens and PGA Championships. But this is the first time that course has hosted the US Women’s Championship. And Korda is one of those players who’s completely new to the course.

Nelly has never visited the course before. But there was a previous unintentional interaction she had with the course thanks to her favorite golfer, Tiger Woods. But the twist was that it was through a video game!

Talking in the pre-match conference at Pebble Beach this week, she said, “Actually, I played [hole] 7 on EA Sports. That was the one hole my brother [and I] we always played Pebble… and my favorite hole was always 7 on that game.”

While Nelly may not have a fixed game plan for Pebble Beach, perhaps her time spent playing the game, although a decade ago, may prove fruitful when it comes to what to expect from the course. Could it, however, help her double down on her major wins?

Also Read – 2023 US Women’s Open: Power Rankings, Defending Champion, Prize Money and Other Details

Just like many others, Woods has left a long-lasting impression on the World No. 2 too, even though it was through a game in this case. And of course, when it comes to Woods and his legacy at Pebble Beach, that in itself is a historic moment!

Tiger Woods’ special connection to Pebble Beach

The 15-time major winner made his historic and highly acclaimed win at the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. The golf pro went on to win the major by a whopping 15 strokes on Sunday, taking home his third major trophy. To date, that stands to be one of the best performances by any player at the course, let alone at a major. It is also the highest margin of victory any golfer has ever won a major by!

Surprisingly, that wasn’t even Woods’ first victory there that year. Just a few months before his mighty major win, the PGA Tour star had another victory at the course at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February. He beat out Matt Gogel and Vijay Singh by two strokes to grab yet another Tour win. Having played the game that followed those stunning wins as a child, Korda will now certainly be looking to accomplish something similar to the golf legend.

She certainly has a long way to go considering her recent struggle at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. However, she has since been working on her game and is now eyeing the biggest prize purse in women’s golf. And perhaps her childhood knowledge of the Tiger Woods EA Sports PGA Tour video game will help get her there!

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