Nelly Korda has been utterly dominant this season, winning six of seven tournaments on her way to becoming the top-ranked golfer in the world. But man, you never would've known it on the first day of the U.S. Women's Open.
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As relayed by the New York Post, Korda "made a disastrous 10 on the par-3 12th, which was just her third hole of the day." This from the person who was expected to cruise to victory at the Lancaster (Pa.) Country Club.
Korda said she knew ahead of time that this particular course could be a "beast." She will now have some ground to make up.
"It just tests every aspect of your game," Korda said this week, via NBC Philadelphia. "It's tight off the tee. Visually, it looks so much shorter than it is. There's bunkers that visually you see that you think you're going to carry that you end up maybe 10 yards short. If you're in the rough and you miss fairways, the greens are very small and very sloppy, and the rough is thick around the greens, too."
Nelly Korda just put three balls in the water on the par-3 12th hole to make a 10.
Unbelievable. pic.twitter.com/sBmejXuWd8
— James Colgan (@jamescolgan26) May 30, 2024
Justin Terranova of the Post described just how badly things went for Korda on Day One:
"Korda had to take a drop in front of the penalty area and dumped two straight shots into the penalty area before getting it on the green and two-putting for a 10.