LANCASTER, Pa. — Standing on the edge of the ninth green at Lancaster Country Club, moments after making her final putt of the day, Nelly Korda opened her purple card case, looked down and sighed so deeply that the expansion of her ribcage was visible from steps away.
His shoulders rose. Then they sank. A big, fat 80 in the first round of the US Women's Open stared her in the face, and the sight of her seven-fold bogey 10 at the start of the round probably sent shivers down her spine once again.
The world number one did not look like herself on Thursday. She has won six tournaments in seven starts on the LPGA Tour this season, including the first major, the Chevron Championship. With her B game she managed to lift trophies. But Korda still crumbled at this US Open test. She didn't have it. It will take an all-time second round finish in a tough setup to even think about making the cut.
“I'm human,” Korda said after signing for her 10-over-par score. “I'm going to have bad days. I played really solid golf up to this point. Today was just a bad day. This is all I can say.”
There wasn't much more to it than that. Korda's game eluded him on a golf course that demands such precision and control. He started after his third tee shot of the day, on the downhill, 161-yard par-3 12th, which one player described as a hole that leaves you “nowhere to lose.” Korda learned this the hard way.
After waiting on the tee box for more than 25 minutes, Korda's group had seen it all. Ingrid Lindblad, the world's number one amateur, threw one into the creek before the green. Gaby López felt a blow of wind so strong that his ball missed the same opportunity. Once the green finally cleared, Korda decided to use the information he had gathered during the excruciatingly long delay. She hit it up, even making sure to tee her ball a club-length behind the markers for a good measurement, and she hit a 6-iron into the back bunker. The ball was safe. But not by much.
With a blade awkwardly positioned beneath his ball in the sand, Korda's shot never had a chance to stop on the slippery sloped back-to-front putting surface. His ball sank into the water. He plopped down on the opposite side of the meandering stream. A penalty kick. She split and her ball went back into the water…again. Two penalty kicks. Another drop. Another chip in the stream. Three penalty kicks. With her third chip, she finally moved on to the cup.
Two putts. A 10 on the scorecard.
World's No. 1 golfer Nelly Korda shoots a 10 (!) on the par-3 12th at the US Women's Open. #One of us pic.twitter.com/pknN91pLKT
-Heavens! (@CielosFX) May 30, 2024
Korda was out of breath the rest of the day. Pars felt like small victories. Sloppy mistakes continued to bite and his pace of play was noticeably quicker.
“I just didn't want to shoot 80, and I kept making bogeys,” Korda said, suddenly remembering his recent history in this championship. “My last two rounds at the US Women's Open have not been good. I finished Sunday at Pebble and thought I would shoot 81, and today I shot 80.”
Korda's top nine total rose so high that the flag bearer walking with her group struggled to find the correct number cards to represent her score next to her name, momentarily leaving the spot blank, to the confusion of many spectators. She finished her front nine with a 10/45.
Although bewildered by Korda's play, and at times silent as he let his driver fall to the ground after off-line tee shots, those same spectators never left. They came out en masse on Thursday morning to watch the world number one walk through the narrow streets of Lancaster, a crowd befitting her new status in the game, but which has not always been the case due to location or other factors. external. After hearing about her seven-fold bogey, a local mother and daughter rushed to the course hoping to catch a glimpse of Korda before he potentially missed the weekend.
Korda's sturdy gallery was by far the biggest of the morning's wave, and its members were as happy applauding in awe of his brilliance as they were offering him words of encouragement when he somehow salvaged a back-nine 35 with three birdies.
Nelly Korda's 80 points in the first round put her out of contention at the US Women's Open. (John Jones/USA Today Sports)
The world No. 1's battle in Lancaster on Thursday was about as relatable as it gets. This game is fickle. It's maddening. Sometimes it doesn't make sense. Sometimes it can seem like a breeze. And no one has understood the latter better than Korda, who has been living at the top of the rankings for almost three months. But he is also aware that in this sport that feeling does not last forever, not even for the best player in the world.
On Tuesday, Korda spoke of the phenomenon, almost foreshadowing the carnage that would occur two days later. “I think that's what makes this game so great. You can be on top of the world for the first two days and then you wake up and think: what am I doing now? Why do I hit it sideways? And you have no idea what's going on,” Korda said. “It's funny, golf is a very difficult game.”
After signing his scorecard, answering exactly three questions about his round in the interview room and meeting with his team behind the clubhouse, Korda returned to the range. When he arrived at his spot on the far left of the hitting area, he didn't rush to grab a club or stop to check the lost messages on his phone. He sat on the grass, legs crossed. Korda stood still for several moments, alone.
She just needed a second.
(Top photo: Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
