‘Weird sense of emptiness’: Nelly Korda reveals surprising post-win emotions

After eight victories on the LPGA Tour, Nelly Korda knows what it feels like to win.

That feeling, as she describes it, might surprise you.

After battling down the stretch and pouring herself into executing shots under pressure, Korda said she experiences a “weird feeling of emptiness.” She’s ecstatic about triumphing, of course, but soon after the final putt drops, she said in the latest episode of The Scoop with GOLF’s Claire Rogers, Korda feels a complicated and seemingly counterintuitive mix of emotions.

Nelly and Jessica Korda at the 2013 U.S. Open.
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“There’s this weird rush of emotions that you have when you’re on the last nine holes, coming down the stretch that when you don’t have those emotions, you have such a weird low, you kind of feel sick,” Korda said. “You’re not hungry, you’re not even sleepy, but you’re tired. And you feel so weird because the adrenaline has just left your body and you’re just stuck with this weird sense of emptiness in a sense. Because you were just feeling for the last two or three hours this massive rush of emotions, adrenaline.”

You’d probably be even more surprised to find out what Korda does when she gets home. Spoiler alert: It doesn’t involve partying until the sun comes up again. In fact, quite the opposite.

“One way I celebrate a win is I get into to bed and I just turn off my phone and I just try to replay the day,” Korda said, holding back laughter.

And don’t think despite wanting to go to bed that Korda gets any sleep after victories either.

“I wake and I’m like, ‘Woah! I feel like I’ve been hit by a car,'” Korda said. “The comedown from the rush is very strange.”

For more from Korda, including the embarrassing circumstances around her first win and her favorite career memory, check out the full episode of The Scoop below.

Jack Hirsh

Golf.com Editor

Jack Hirsh is an assistant editor at GOLF. A Pennsylvania native, Jack is a 2020 graduate of Penn State University, earning degrees in broadcast journalism and political science. He was captain of his high school golf team and recently returned to the program to serve as head coach. Jack also still *tries* to remain competitive in local amateurs. Before joining GOLF, Jack spent two years working at a TV station in Bend, Oregon, primarily as a Multimedia Journalist/reporter, but also producing, anchoring and even presenting the weather. He can be reached at jack.hirsh@golf.com.