“Need Time to Receive Treatment”: Nelly Korda Faces Serious Setback Days After Her Meltdown at the $10.4M Major

Destiny has not been in Nelly Korda’s favor lately. Having missed three cuts back to back, including her last venture at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship that got the disappointed World No. 1 crying, another major mishap has come up as a hurdle in her way towards regaining lost glory at the Ladies European Tour’s Aramco Team Series Presented by PIF in London next week. But what is the latest roadblock in Korda’s attempt to make a swift recovery?

Well, the LPGA Tour sensation recently revealed that she was bitten by a dog last week in Seattle, and would thus, “need time to receive treatment” in order to recover fully. This update makes her appearance in the upcoming LET event impossible. Nelly Korda even shared her regrets over this last-minute withdrawal as she wrote, “I apologize to the LET, the sponsors, and my fans for my absence. Thank you for your understanding, and I look forward to returning to the course soon.”

Undoubtedly, her absence from the Centurion Club in London will also cast a major blow to the Ladies European Tour, as the Olympic gold medalist was one of the fan favorites and the defending champion of the individual leg of the event. Her descending performance coupled with the latest medical intervention needed for her complete recovery from the scary dog bite in Seattle has also shed an air of doubt on the matter of her appearance in LPGA’s fourth major of the season, the Amundi Evian Championship, which is scheduled in France from July 11–14.

After starting off the season with a win in the Chevron Championship and following it up with two missed cuts at the U.S. Women’s Open and the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, the hazy cloud that surrounds Korda’s appearance in France is not a good sign. But is Nelly Korda the only player to be subjected to a bizarre dog-bite conundrum?

Who is the LPGA Tour star subjected to a similar dog bite incident as Nelly Korda?

Nelly Korda is not alone in her struggles. Earlier this season, American LPGA Tour fame Alison Lee was also subjected to a similar fate when she was bit by her boyfriend’s rescue dog, Bear, while she was on a ski trip. Her disastrous encounter with this black Pomeranian got out of hand when the infection turned so unmanageable that she had to go under the knife to bounce back. She was diagnosed with lymphangitis and her left hand was operated on to fight the spreading infection.

Her time in the hospital became the hurdle in her appearance at the Aramco Saudi Ladies International, where she was the defending champion in October last year and won by shooting a final round of 65 (-7) and etched history on the walls of the Ladies European Tour (LET). It sounds a lot like Korda, doesn’t it?

Well, a return for Lee came a lot later in Singapore at the HSBC Women’s World Championship, where she finished T-51, a huge step down from her reigning career high in the previous season. Talking about her struggles, Lee said, “I got that dog bite, [and] I had to take like another two weeks off without touching my clubs. I felt like I had to start all over again.”

Lee’s injury-induced withdrawal spree also spread its wings to her appearance at the Honda LPGA Thailand earlier this year, a fate that we hope is not repeated in Korda’s case. With only two weeks remaining for Korda to tee it up at the upcoming Amundi Evian Championship, her participation status continues to remain hazy if Lee’s similar struggle is kept in mind. Surely, matters got worse for Lee with her diagnosis of lymphangitis, so it’s possible Korda might make an earlier return. It remains to be seen what the next step will be in the World No. 1’s journey of recovery. Only time will tell.