Nelly Korda must answer key question at Olympics golf to extend family dynasty

Scottie Scheffler won the men’s tournament for Team USA and Nelly Korda is among the favourites to make it a famous double

Nelly Korda, of the United States, hits from the 14th tee during a practice round (AP)

You wouldn’t want to face the Kordas on a family sports day.

With tennis and golf major titles decorating the mantlepiece, the Americans are one of the biggest sporting dynasties in the world right now – with all five family members boasting a rich CV.

Dad Petr is former Australian Open tennis champion; mum Regina cracked the top 30 in the same sport and son Sebastian is one of the emerging names from the US scene and on the fringes of the top 20.

Oldest daughter Jessica has nine top 10 major golf finishes and is one of the best players around. And then, there’s Nelly – the best player in the world.

When it comes to some light family competition, the stakes are incredibly high.

“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,” Korda said.

“So, we have that above them in the family.”

Korda is in Paris for the defence of her Olympic title, and if the women’s event can even generate half as much drama as the men did last week, then we’re in for something special at Le Golf National.

Seventeen of the world’s top 19 players are here this week, including more than a dozen major winners, but all eyes will be firmly fixed on Korda.

Nelly Korda, of the United States, smiles on the 14th tee box (AP)

The 26-year-old almost transcends her sport and this season, she has gone to spectacular heights.

Korda won a scarcely believable six tournaments from just eight starts, including her second major at April’s Chevron Championship.

But on the third hole of her first round of the ninth event at the US Open, she unravelled spectacularly – and has been unable to knit her game back together since.

Korda went into the water three times on the 12th hole, after starting on the 10th, shot a 10-over-par 80 and then missed the cut.

She followed that up with a 76 at the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give, and missed the cut again, and then an 81 at the KPMG PGA Championship for a third straight early exit.

From barely being able to miss, to barely being able to putt, Korda quickly announced a break ahead of the Olympics and arrives in Paris after four weeks’ rest.

“The game of golf of is a funny game,” Korda said.

A silhouette of Nelly Korda of Team United States (Getty Images)

“Sometimes you feel on top of the world and in a matter of a couple seconds, you just feel like you’re on the bottom of the sea.

“So, it definitely makes you appreciate the good golf that you play, but yeah, I mean, you have to have a mix of everything in there and everything can’t always go well.”

It’s lucky, therefore, that she has the support of a family who know a thing or two about dealing with the highs and lows of elite level sport.

“My parents have always said it’s very important to put your head down, grind, go to the gym - but it’s also important to recharge your battery,” she added.

“Because sometimes with all the obligations you maybe have off the golf course, and all the emotions you feel on the golf course, all the adrenaline, it tears at you a little bit.

“It’s good to kind of step away and recharge your batteries and come back a little bit fresher.”

Korda tees off at 9.55am, in the group just after Charley Hull, the world number eight who is spearheading Team GB’s charge alongside Georgia Hall.

After missing out in Tokyo, Hull – who finished seventh in Rio - is excited to be back in red, white, and blue, except for one minor snag.

Nelly Korda of Team United States plays her second shot on the 10th hole during a practice round (Getty Images)

“I do smoke on the course,” she said on Tuesday. “It’s a habit but I won’t do this week. Yes, it is just something I do.”

Smoking is banned from all Olympic venues and athletes are no exception, which is a problem for Hull – who went viral earlier this year when images of her puffing away on the course went viral.

Will it affect her? “I think it will,” she said. “Because it relaxes me a little bit. But it is what it is.

“Being able to play in the Olympics is a dream.

“I’m excited for that and also meeting new athletes that I may not have had the chance to meet.”

Watch every moment of Olympic Games Paris 2024 live only on discovery+, the streaming home of the Olympics