Korda looking to bounce back

Nelly Korda will start her Olympic women's golf title defence today as the gold-medal favourite despite her brilliant season threatening to come off the rails in recent months.

The world No 1 arrives at Le Golf National hoping to arrest a sudden downturn in form after smashing records earlier in the year with a run of six wins in seven events.

Korda became the first LPGA Tour player to win six times in a single season since 2016 Olympic champion Park In-bee in 2013 with victory at the Americas Open in May.

The American had previously won five successive titles, including her second major triumph at the Chevron Championship.

But a disaster at the US Open, the lowlight a 10 on a par-three hole, was the first of three straight missed cuts and she could only finish tied-26th at the Evian Championship in July.

"The game of golf is a funny game," she told reporters on Monday.

"Sometimes you feel on top of the world and in a matter of a couple seconds, you just feel like you're on the bottom of the sea.