LANCASTER, Pa. — Standing at the edge of the ninth green at Lancaster Country Club, moments after hitting her final putt of the day, Nelly Korda opened her purple scorecard holder, looked down and sighed so deeply her rib cage could be seen expanding even from a few steps away.
Her shoulders rose. Then they slumped. The image of her first-round 80 at the U.S. Women's Open was staring her in the eye again. The sight of seven consecutive bogey 10s earlier in the round probably sent another shiver down her spine.
World No. 1 Korda was not at her best on Thursday. She has played seven times on the LPGA Tour this season, winning six, including the Chevron Championship, the first major tournament of the season. She won the trophy playing at B-level. But Korda was defeated by the challenge of the U.S. Open. She was not strong enough. She has to win the second round in tough conditions to qualify.
“I'm human, too,” Korda said after signing off at 10-over. “You have bad days. I've been playing really good golf up to this point. I just had a bad day today. That's all I can say.”
It didn't get much better than that. Korda's game didn't go well on a golf course that demands precision and control. It started after his third tee shot of the day, on the 161-yard, downhill par-3 12th hole, which one player described as a hole with “no room for error.” Korda learned that lesson the hard way.
After waiting on the tee box for more than 25 minutes, Korda's group saw it all: Ingrid Lindblad, the world's No. 1 amateur, dropped her ball in a stream just short of the green. Gaby Lopez was hit by a gust of wind that sent her ball falling just short of the same hazard. When the green finally cleared, Korda decided to put to use the information she'd gleaned during the excruciatingly long delay. She swung her club, teeing up one club length behind her marker just to be safe, then hit a 6-iron into the far bunker. The ball was safe. But not for long.
With an inconvenient leaf lodged under her ball in the sand, Korda's shot never had a chance to stop on the slippery, back-to-front sloping putting surface. The ball dropped into the water. She dropped it on the other side of a meandering creek. One penalty shot. She hit a chip shot, and the ball rolled back into the water. Two penalty shots. Another drop. Another chip in the creek. Three penalty shots. With the third chip shot, she finally popped it outside the cup.
2 putts. Scorecard reads 10.
World number one ranked female golfer, Nelly Korda, scores 10 strokes (!) on the par-3 12th hole at the U.S. Women's Open. #one of us pic.twitter.com/pknN91pLKT
— Heaven! (@HeavensFX) May 30, 2024
Korda spent the rest of the day breathless. Pars felt like small victories. Sloppy mistakes continued to hurt. The pace of her play clearly quickened.
“I didn't want to shoot 80, so I just kept hitting bogeys,” Korda said, suddenly remembering her recent performances in this championship. “The last two rounds of the U.S. Women's Open weren't good. I think I finished Sunday's round at Pebble Beach at 81, and today I was 80.”
Korda's total for the first nine holes was so high that the flag bearer walking with the group had trouble finding the correct number card next to her name, leaving the place blank for a moment, confusing many spectators. She finished the first nine holes in 10-over 45.
Though some spectators were perplexed by Korda's play, and some watched in silence as her driver dropped to the ground after she hit her tee shot, they didn't leave. They came out in droves on Thursday morning to watch the world's No. 1 player walk the narrow fairways at Lancaster. It was a crowd befitting her newfound status in golf, but it wasn't always that way, due to venue and other outside factors. Upon hearing that Korda had bogeyed seven strokes, a local mother and daughter couple rushed to the course to catch a glimpse of her before withdrawing from the weekend.
Korda's strong gallery was by far the largest of the morning group, and its members were in awe of her brilliance, applauding and offering words of encouragement as she managed three birdies for a back-nine 35.
Nelly Korda shot 80 in the first round and was eliminated from contention for the U.S. Women's Open title. (Jon Jones/USA Today Sports)
The world No. 1's battle on Thursday in Lancaster couldn't have been more relatable. The game is fickle and maddening. At times it doesn't make sense and at other times it feels effortless. And no one understands the latter better than Korda, who has reigned at the top of the rankings for nearly three months. But she also knows that in this sport, that feeling doesn't last forever, even for the best in the world.
Korda spoke about the phenomenon on Tuesday, seemingly foreshadowing the tragedy that would unfold two days later. “I think that's what's so great about the game, is that for the first two days you're on top of the world and then you wake up and you're like, what am I doing? Why am I hitting it sideways? I have no idea what's going on,” Korda said. “It's crazy, golf is such a hard game.”
After signing her scorecard, answering three questions about her round in the interview room, and meeting her team behind the clubhouse, Korda returned to the range. When she reached her spot on the far left side of the hitting area, she didn't rush to pick up a club or scroll through the unread messages on her phone. She sat on the grass and crossed her legs. Korda stayed alone for a few minutes.
She just needed a moment.
(Top photo: Patrick Smith/Getty Images)