Young star Jessica Korda eager to show her best at Royal Pines Jessica Korda of the USA - who won the Australian Open last year aged 18 - is in the field for the Masters at Royal Pines. Picture: Mark Evans Source: The Daily Telegraph JESSICA Korda ironically credits missing the cut at Royal Pines last year for the extra practice time at Royal Melbourne which enabled her to pull off a remarkable Women's Australian Open triumph at just 18 in a six-way play-off. Now the bubbly amalgam of Czech and American upbringing is determined to bring her A-game to the Ladies Masters on the Gold Coast from Friday when galleries will have the chance to appreciate one of the world's best youngsters. The Florida-born Korda feels an affinity with Australia as if she has been coming here all her life. In a way she has because she was a four-year-old in the entourage of father Petr when he won the Australian Open tennis tournament in 1998. When I flew to Melbourne last year, Dad said that Melbourne had been really, really good to us as a family. It was really cool to win a national title there," Korda said. Just walking the streets, seeing the 'MELBOURNE' logos, seeing the Australian Open logo that I knew from watching a lot of tennis on TV ... it almost brought me chills. I missed the cut last year (at the Ladies Masters) which was a blessing in disguise because I got extra time at Royal Melbourne which really paid off. I really want to play well on the Gold Coast this year. It was a bit hard to practise with imaginary clubs on Tuesday because my clubs and luggage were still on the way from Sydney because of the airport problems. Korda has plenty of inner strength and belief. College was clearly an option late in 2010 yet she chose qualifying school instead and won her way onto the LPGA Tour in the US. She had her struggles in 2011 but friends in Florida found her a sounding board who knows a thing or two about golf ... Jack Nicklaus. "I was struggling a lot in my first year on tour before we had some talks face to face because he does live in Florida," Korda said. Most of all, he said you should have balance between your personal life and your golf. Sure, there are times when you sacrifice and work hard on your preparation but you also must have time to really enjoy things. Yesterday, the first hole at Royal Pines had an unexpected 100m water carry off the tee because of Monday's deluge and pumps were working overtime to clear bunkers.