Nelly Korda has a new coach in middle of a breakout season

NAPLES, Fla. (AP) — Nelly Korda won her first major championship, rose to No. 1 in the world for the first time in her career and topped it off by winning an Olympic gold medal.

That didn’t stop the quest to improve, which is why she has a new coach.

Fresh off her fourth LPGA Tour victory of the year, the 23-year-old American said she began working a few weeks ago with Jamie Mulligan, the longtime pro at Virginia Country Club in Long Beach, California, whose clientele most notably includes Patrick Cantlay.

Korda said she “surfed around” for a new coach, an appropriate choice of words since Mulligan is a surfer at heart when he’s not doing his day job.

Why Mulligan? It starts with her sister, Jessica.

“I know Jess is really good friends with Patrick Cantlay and, I don’t know, I’ve kind of surfed around,” Korda said. “I thought about a couple coaches and I liked his demeanor. I like the way he’s super positive. I think we’ve just clicked kind of since the first day and I really enjoy being around him.”

She said she still uses longtime coach David Whelan for her short game.

Korda says she isn’t doing much with her swing because she’s in the middle of the season. The CME Group Tour Championship is the last official event of the year, and she also is playing with her father, former Australian Open tennis champion Petr Korda, in the PNC Championship in December.

“I definitely do know my golf swing. I’ve kind of gotten really obsessed with it in the past couple of years,” she said. “I think it’s very important since you’re kind of by yourself week in and week out to be your own coach in a sense and kind of know some stuff about it.

“But I think it’s super important also to have the guidance and to have someone to lean on.”

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