Nelly Korda: Do these two things if you want to break 80

Shooting scores in the low 80’s is great, but it can also be maddening. Breaking 80 is one of those major milestones every golfer hopes to reach, but a lot of golfers stall out and struggle to get into the 70’s. If you’re trying to figure out what your game might be missing to take your scores into the 70’s, Nelly Korda has some ideas. The 15-time LPGA Tour winner said during her press conference before the LPGA’s last tournament of the 2024 season that there are two things people should work on if they’re trying to break 80:

Have a target

Korda said that often she’ll see amateurs practising on the range without an alignment stick, or any sort of alignment aid. Without that reminder in place, you’re probably not focused enough on your target – if you even have a target, Korda said.

“If you don’t know where you’re aiming there is a high chance you don’t know where you’re aiming on the golf course,” Korda said.

Get out on the golf course

“I see a lot of people stand on the range just drilling golf balls or just practising a lot instead of going out and visualizing,” Korda said.

The range is a great place to work on a swing change or drill in a new feel. But the range isn’t the golf course. When you’re out playing, you’re never going to have perfectly flat lies, you’re not going to have a second chance after every swing. If you want to get good at golf, there’s a lot to be said for going out and playing golf.

“At the end of the day, golf is a game of creativity and you’re never going to have your A-game. One day the wind will be off the left and one day off the right. The hole will play completely different,” Korda said. “It’s all about creativity.”

There are an impossible number of scenarios you’ll find on the golf course that you won’t be able to create on the range. To be able to adapt to all of the changing variables on the golf course, you have to expose yourself to those variables. The more you play, the more situations you’ll face, and the more adaptable and versatile your game will become.

Main Image: Sarah Stier