PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — Nelly Korda isn’t shy about it: the U.S. Women’s Open is the one. This is the trophy that Korda wants to add to her collection. This is the title that would shine among the three majors and 18 LPGA Tour victories already amassed on her resume. This is the biggest event in women’s professional golf.“There’s no better place to be than in the hunt on the back nine on Sunday at a major championship, especially at the U.S. Women’s Open,” Korda said on Tuesday, referencing her runner-up finish at the 2025 tournament, her best result thus far in this major. “It would have been a lifelong dream, but there’s more chances.”Korda’s next shot at winning this tournament began at 7:29 a.m. local time Thursday at Riviera Country Club, where she teed off amid the June gloom in her 12th U.S. Women’s Open. What ensued at the revered venue for the world No. 1 was not the start she was looking for.Korda battled a right-miss off the tee and struggled to access the tricky hole locations and smaller-than-average greens at Riviera, which is hosting a women’s major for the first time. Korda’s putts burned the edges all day, and as a result, she finished with a 2-over-par 73, six shots behind S.Y. Kim, the leader of the morning wave. Korda came into the U.S. Women’s Open with three wins this calendar year, having finished outside the top two just once in seven appearances in 2026.“I just felt like I was grinding to save pars,” Korda said after the round. “It wasn’t a great day. I hit it really good Monday through Wednesday, so I honestly have no idea where this came from.”On her sixth hole of the championship, Korda’s trainer, Kim Baughman, handed her a spare pair of golf shoes from outside the ropes. Korda did a quick change on the tee, swapping out the custom pair she put on Thursday morning for her normal Nike kicks. The original shoes were gifted to her by LeBron James — a newly avid golfer and fan of Korda’s — but the spacing in them felt roomier than her everyday pair.When asked if the gear-switch impacted her play, Korda joked: “Apparently not.”Korda, 27, played in her first U.S. Women’s Open when she was 14 years old. After last year’s T2 finish at Erin Hills, she admitted that the tournament holds a certain emotional weight for her, simply because of her experience playing in it. Her motivation around the U.S. Women’s Open is driven by the way it tests all facets of the game — Korda says that challenge is welcome because it allows her to take her own temperature. But her desire to win this tournament is also elevated by a developing history: This has long been the tournament that has eluded her.“Definitely have gotten my heart broken a couple times,” she said after the 2025 U.S. Women’s Open.Last year marked the first time Korda has truly been in the hunt at this major. The year before that, at Lancaster, the U.S. Women’s Open title didn’t have a chance to escape Korda. She packed her bags before the weekend, thanks to a septuple-bogey 10, en route to an opening-round 80. Korda has three missed cuts, three top-10s and five finishes outside the top-45 in her 11 starts at the U.S. Women’s Open.Gearing up for this year’s tournament, Korda had two weeks off to practice at her home course in Bradenton, Fla. Looking to fine-tune her swing ahead of Riviera, Korda put her head down. In between events, Korda follows such a strict, regimented practice schedule that her sister, Jessica — a six-time winner on the LPGA Tour herself — can’t get ahold of her past 8 p.m.That’s because Korda is out of bed at the crack of dawn, teeing off at The Concession Golf Club, her home course, by 7 a.m. — often alone. She gets treatment every day from her physiotherapist, hits daily gym sessions and is recharging for the next day while the rest of the world socializes or sprawls on the couch. Korda cherishes her one day off per week. It has been well-documented that Korda’s discipline is ingrained in her by her parents, Petr Korda and Regina Rajchrtova, both former professional tennis players. The lifestyle of an elite athlete is in Korda’s blood. But she’s happy to operate this way.“All those days, you kind of sacrifice your time at home with your friends or with family, but it’s just so worth it because there’s no better rush of emotions than being in the hunt,” Korda said.In 2025, Korda closed out her LPGA season without a win. It was a strange and frustrating year, because Korda felt like she had put in the on-course hours. She posted 10 top-10 finishes without pulling out a victory.But the season was also a reflective one. Korda looked back at the close calls and realized she was plaguing herself with overanalysis; she was stuck in a pattern of constant problem-solving, preventing her from playing freely. The solution? Korda let go and leaned into her hunger to be in contention at the game’s biggest events.“I’m just motivated to put myself into that position, to grind on off-weeks, to just play the game. It’s really hard to explain, but really, there’s nothing better when you’re a very competitive person than being in the hunt on a back nine at a tournament. There’s a really big rush of emotions,” she said on Tuesday. “Even if it doesn’t work out, you constantly want to put yourself back into that because all that work that you’ve put in in your off weeks, that’s what makes it worth it.”This season, Korda’s new strategy has already paid off, even if her opening round at Riviera didn’t go as planned.Six shots back, Korda won’t count herself out of the championship she wants to win the most. She knows she can iron out the wrinkles in her golf swing, and that is exactly what she set off to do after signing her opening-round scorecard of 73.Back to the range — back to work.