Nelly’s run can be huge for women’s game admits Allen
The golf season is in the iron-like grip of the smiling assassins.
It is 5-4 in victories for Nelly Korda over Scottie Scheffler as the two world No. 1s dominate the women’s and men’s games.
Korda, 25, made it five straight wins last Sunday when she won the Chevron Championship – the first Major of the season.
The next day, Scheffler wrapped up victory at the RBC Heritage, just eight days after he had collected his second Green Jacket for winning The Masters.
That made it four wins from his last five tournaments, with only a runner-up finish to Germany’s Stephan Jaeger at the Texas Open denying him.
Korda is the first woman since Annika Sorenstam in 2005 to win five LPGA events in-a-row.
While 27-year-old Scheffler is the first man since Tiger Woods in 2008 to collect four wins from five on the PGA Tour.
Like everyone, former Ladies European Tour Order of Merit winner American Beth Allen, who was formerly based in Edinburgh, has been impressed by how Korda and Scheffler have taken their games to a new level in 2024.
But she thinks there is a little way to go before these two 20-something Americans can reach the status of those two legends, Woods and Sorenstam.
“Tiger and Annika dominated, but this feels different,” Allen told The Sunday Post from California, where she is head coach at Art University in San Francisco.
“Tiger and Annika held themselves in a very different way. I just feel that Nelly and Scottie are a bit more approachable.
“Scottie (inset) is very vocal about his relationship with wife Meredith. We just didn’t get that from Tiger – he was all business.
“I have been lucky enough to spend time with both Annika and now Nelly and there is something about Nelly that makes her a bit more accessible.
“But that may change if she continues to dominate.
“I wouldn’t be at all surprised if she goes on to win another Major this year.
“It would be amazing if Scottie did, but his putting has to be sharp. And if this is a bit of a putting streak, it may prove difficult to win another one this season.” With their easy-going nature, Scheffler and Korda may not resemble sporting titans, but do not be fooled.
In her role as a coach, Allen has noted their champion mentality out on the course.
“Both on these players exude confidence on the golf course and back themselves no matter what,” she said.
“Last week at the Heritage, Scottie hit into a hazard coming down the stretch. Instead of losing the plot, he kept his head and got up and down for par.
“In a tournament at Palos Verdes last month, Nelly bogeyed her final two holes to fall into a play-off. Then she promptly birdied the first playoff hole to win. That is the stuff of which champions are made.”
The other question surrounds the impact the pair are making beyond the golfing fraternity.
With the ongoing scenario with LIV, Allen believes that Scheffler’s achievements will be noted with an asterisk.
Yet Korda’s play may make her the breakthrough star that women’s golf craves.
“The LPGA has been desperate for an American to dominate for a long time and for Nelly to do it with style and grace is huge for women’s golf,” declared Allen.
“Our sport is gaining attention because of this run and TV ratings for the Chevron were reflective of this, which is great to see.
“It’s a bit different on the men’s side because so many great players have gone to LIV, I do wonder if there is a bit of a tarnish on Scottie’s run.
“The Masters was absolutely against the best players, but in the other events, he was arguably not against the best fields in the world.
“I am not taking anything away from him, but things are different now and I don’t think that is a secret.”