SAINT QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France — Xander Schauffele got his chance. Now it’s Nelly Korda’s turn.

He is still young and has not won two consecutive Olympic gold medals since golf returned in 2016 after a 112-year hiatus. Schauffele won gold at the Tokyo Games and shared the 54-hole lead until falling in the final round on Sunday at Le Golf National.

Korda is the favorite to enter the women’s event after a storied two-season campaign in which she remained undefeated for four months and tied an LPGA record with five wins, including her second major. That followed the first time she missed three cuts in her career.

Playing 18 holes at Le Golf National on Monday with hitting coach Jamie Mulligan, he described his form as “I hope it’s on trend”.

“The game of golf is a fun game,” Korda said. “Sometimes you feel on top of the world and then a few seconds later you feel like you’re at the bottom of the sea.”

Top of the world meant winning five in a row – the streak was stopped by Rose Zhang – and six from seven. Bottom of the ocean was a 10 on the third hole at the US Women’s Open, an 80 that saw her miss a cut, and an 81 at the Women’s PGA Championship that saw her miss another major.

Korda never gets too high when he wins and didn’t seem stressed about trying to repeat his Olympic gold medal. Given his background in golf and sports, he knows better.

“I’ve had a lot of situations where I’ve played really poorly and then all of a sudden, if I just keep working hard and doing what I’m supposed to do, the results come later,” he said. “They might not show up right now, but if I’m making little, small improvements here and there and I’m happy with the way my game is going, at the end of the day I know I have what it takes to compete and compete.”

The middle child of one of golf’s most athletic families has competition in his blood.

Her father, Petr, won the Australian Open in tennis in 1998. Her mother, Regina Rajchrtová, played on the WTA Tour and competed for the Czech Republic at the Seoul Games in 1988. Her older sister, Jessica, plays on the LPGA Tour and her younger brother, Sebastian, broke into the top 20 for the first time in his career by winning his second ATP Tour title on Sunday.

The Olympics always held a special place. She remembers being a little girl and having the whole family gather around the TV, summer and winter, to watch the Olympics, the chance to watch “everyone compete and live their dreams.”

Korda had his own life three years ago at Kasumigaseki Country Club. He was disappointed not to get the full Olympic experience at the Tokyo Games, which were postponed a year due to restrictions on travelling to other events due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

But she is the only player who can distinguish the value between a major championship victory and Olympic gold after winning both in the same year in 2021: the Women’s PGA at the Atlanta Athletic Club in June, the Olympic gold in August.

The real meaning came on the podium for Korda, who did his job with a calm facial expression and languid, powerful strokes.

“I didn’t really know what emotions I was going to experience until I got on stage,” he said. “As a kid, I watched so many athletes on that podium and all that raw emotion when the flags flew and the national anthem (played). And when I finally got to do it myself, it was an incredible wave of emotion that went through me.”

There were tears. But what really caught my attention was the metric tape she wore on her wrist.

“The highest my heart rate was all day was on the podium,” he said.

Yes, Korda has a pulse. And the last few months have shown she is no machine. What she learned in the opening round on Wednesday is whether she has the game to face major champions Lilia Vu, Jin Young Ko and French favorite Celine Boutier.

There’s also New Zealand’s Lydia Ko, aiming to add gold to her collection of silver and bronze medals from the previous two Summer Games.

The New Zealand athlete is curious about whether Korda is determined to give the Americans another gold medal at the Paris Games. Scottie Scheffler won the men’s gold medal on Sunday.

Scheffler won four of five matches on the PGA Tour this spring, including the Masters. Korda won five of six, including a major.

“As a competitor and a friend, it was really impressive to watch, and I’m sure he’ll be very inspired by what Scottie Scheffler did yesterday when he won the gold medal,” Lydia Ko said. “And I’m sure he’ll put on a good show himself.”