LANCASTER, Pa. — Standing on the edge of the 9th green at Lancaster Country Club, shortly after making her last putt of the day, Nellie Korda opened her purple scorecard holder and lowered her Head, sighing deeply, her chest could be seen expanding.
Her shoulders rose. Then they sank. The tall, fat man who shot 80 in the first round of the U.S. Women’s Open stared back at her, and seeing her seven bogeys early in the round in 10 shots might send shivers down her spine again.
The world No. 1 didn’t look like herself on Thursday. She has won six of seven starts on the LPGA Tour this season, including the Chevron Championship, her first major. She won the trophy with the B competition. But faced with the test of this US Open, Koda still collapsed. She didn’t. It would take a second-ever round on a tough setup to even be considered for promotion.
“I’m human,” Korda said after signing at 10 over. “I’m going to have a bad day. I’ve played some really solid golf so far. Today was a really bad day. That’s all I can say.
Beyond that, there’s not much more to it. Korda lost his game on the golf course, which requires precision and control. The match began after her third tee shot of the day, a downhill 161-yard par-3 12th that one player described as a “can’t-miss” hole. Koda learned this the hard way.
After waiting on the tee for more than 25 minutes, Korda’s team saw it all. Ingrid Lindblad, the world’s No. 1 amateur, dropped a shot into a creek near the green. Gaby Lopez encountered a gust of wind so strong that her ball ended up not hitting the same obstacle. When the green was finally cleared, Korda decided to use the information she had gathered during the lengthy delay. She swung her club, even making sure to hit the ball a club length behind the marker to make sure it hit the ball properly, then hit a 6-iron into the back bunker. The ball is safe. But not for long.
With an inconvenient leaf under the ball in the sand, Korda’s shot never had a chance to stop on the slippery back-to-front sloping putting surface. Her ball fell into the water. She fell into the water on the other side of a winding stream. One free throw. She shattered, her balls rolling back into the water. Two free throws. Another drop. Another chip in the creek. Three free throws. With her third chip, she ended up going long on the cup.
Two putters. 10 points on the scorecard.
Nelly Korda, the world’s number one female golfer, shot a 10(!) on the par-3 12th hole of the U.S. Women’s Open. #oneofus pic.twitter.com/pknN91pLKT
——Oh my God! (@天FX) May 30, 2024
Koda was panting for the rest of the day. Pals felt like a small victory. The sloppy mistakes continued to sting her, and the pace of her game picked up noticeably.
“I just didn’t want to shoot 80 and I just kept making bogeys,” Korda said, suddenly reminded of her recent experience in this tournament. “I didn’t play well in the last two rounds of the U.S. Women’s Open. When I finished at Pebble on Sunday, I thought I shot 81, and then today I shot 80.
Korda’s top-nine total climbed so high that the flag bearer walking with her team struggled to find the correct number card next to her name to represent her score, temporarily leaving a blank for many spectators. Confused. She finished the front nine with a score of 10-over 45.
Despite being baffled by Korda’s performance — sometimes silent when she let her driver crash to the ground after a tee shot came off the line — those spectators never left. They came out in droves Thursday morning to watch world No. 1 Lancaster navigate the narrow lanes, a crowd befitting her new status in the game but not always due to the field or other outside factors. Not always. After hearing the news of her seven bogeys, a local mother and daughter rushed to the course hoping to catch a glimpse of Korda before she missed the weekend.
Korda’s mighty gallery was by far the biggest of the morning wave, and its members not only stood in awe of her talent but applauded her as she somehow salvaged a back-nine 35 with three birdies. She was also offered words of encouragement.
Nelly Korda’s first-round 80 knocked her out of contention at the U.S. Women’s Open. (John Jones/USA TODAY Sports)
Thursday’s battle for the world’s No. 1 in Lancaster is eminently relevant. The game is fickle. It’s maddening. Sometimes this doesn’t make sense. Sometimes it feels like a breeze. No one knows the latter better than Korda, who spent the better part of three months at the top of the charts. But she also realizes that in this sport, those feelings don’t last forever — even for the best athletes in the world.
On Tuesday, Korda spoke of the phenomenon, all but foreshadowing the carnage that would occur two days later. “I think that’s why this game is so great. You can be on top of the world the first two days and then you wake up and think, what am I doing now? Why am I playing sideways? You don’t know that’s happening. What,” Koda said. “The funny thing is, golf is a very tough sport.”
After signing her scorecard, answering three questions about her round in the interview room and gathering with the team behind the clubhouse, Korda returned to the practice field. When she reached the far left side of the batter’s box, she didn’t rush to get her clubs or stop to scroll through the unanswered messages on her phone. She sat on the grass with her legs crossed. Koda remained alone and motionless for a while.
She only needed a second.
(Top photo: Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
