The uninvited guest that every golfer dreads: an injury. It’s a harsh reality that can strike at any moment, sparing no one, not even the greatest of players. The world’s No. 1, Nelly Korda, recently faced a similar ordeal. She never would’ve thought that simply sitting at a café, minding her own business, would cost her the chance to play in the next tournament, where she would’ve returned as a defending champion. The golfer went on her Instagram and talked about the tragedy in detail. 

The 25-year-old could not attend the LET Aramco Team Series event at Centurion Club in Hemel Hempstead. She explained the reason she had to pull out of the tournament at the last minute. Per Korda’s Instagram story, while he was sitting in a café in Seattle, releasing her stress of the upcoming tournaments and spending her hours away from the greens, the unbelievable happened! A dog jumped on the golfer, and the results were not pretty. “I regret to announce that I must withdraw from next week’s Ladies European Tour tournament in London,” wrote Korda in her story. 

Korda apologized to the fans, who were extremely sad to hear the news, and the golfer also promised to return as soon as she’s fully recovered. “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.” Now the question persists, will this dog bite hamper her game at the Evian Resort? or will she be able to bring back her A-game like she did at the Chevron Championship? Well, it’s most probably the latter!

Nelly Korda said in a pre-tournament press conference of the Amundi Evian Championship that the dog bit her on her thigh. The injury needed time to heal, and hence she withdrew from such an important tournament. When asked about how her preparation was going, the golfer said, “Yeah, I took one week off. I didn’t even look at my clubs after KPMG. Was just healing. Then been practicing.”

She takes her game very seriously, and it has been evident since the start of this season when she clinched 5 consecutive wins on the Tour. Talking about her preparations for the fourth major, she said, “Was lucky that Jamie came in, my coach came in for two days with me to practice with me. Practiced the past week and tried to get ready for this event.” It’s safe to say that the dog bite was not a roadblock for the golfer, as she’s fully prepared for some action at the 2024 Evian Amundi Championship.

Interestingly, this is not the only time a golfer has had to withdraw from an integral tournament because of a dog bite!

Andrew Raitt’s unfortunate injury in 1995

In a shocking incident in 1995, professional golfer Andrew Raitt’s career was irreversibly damaged when an Alsatian dog named Zomba bit off part of his left pinky finger at St. George’s Hill Golf Club in Weybridge. The golfer was trying to break off the fight between the Alsatian dog and his dog, Nikki. According to the golfer, the injury affected his gameplay more than he expected. 

Raitt took it to the high court in 2002 and explained that the injury cost him the most important tournament of every golfer’s life: the Ryder Cup. The golfer sued the dog owner, Jeremy Lunn, and demanded $1.5 million in damages. But the high court judge, Sir Ian Kennedy, said that the injury “has had no impact on his ability as a player” and only awarded $7,710 in damages, which were not enough to cover the golfer’s court costs. 

While the golf world will miss Korda’s presence and talent, everyone wishes her a speedy recovery so that fans can see their favorite player ruling the greens once again! Do you think this injury will affect Korda’s gameplay as well? Let us know in the comment section below!