LANCASTER, Pa. — Standing on the perimeter of Lancaster Nation Membership’s ninth inexperienced, moments after stroking her last putt of the day, Nelly Korda opened her purple scorecard holder, seemed down, and sighed so deeply that the growth of her ribcage was seen from steps away.
Her shoulders lifted. Then they sank. A giant, fats first-round 80 on the U.S. Ladies’s Open stared again up at her, the sight of her septuple bogey 10 early within the spherical possible sending shivers up her backbone as soon as once more.
The world No.1 didn’t seem like herself Thursday. She’s gained six tournaments in seven begins on the LPGA Tour this season, together with the primary main, the Chevron Championship. She managed to lift trophies along with her B recreation. However Korda nonetheless crumbled within the face of this U.S. Open take a look at. She didn’t have it. It’ll take an all-time second spherical on a tricky setup to even take into consideration making the lower.
“I’m human,” Korda mentioned after signing for her 10-over-par rating. “I’m going to have unhealthy days. I performed some actually strong golf up thus far. At the moment was only a unhealthy day. That’s all I can say.”
There wasn’t rather more to it than that. Korda’s recreation escaped her on a golf course that calls for precision and management. It began after her third tee shot of the day, on the downhill 161-yard par-3 twelfth, which one participant described as a gap that offers you “nowhere to overlook.” Korda realized that the exhausting method.
After ready on the tee field for greater than 25 minutes, Korda’s group had seen all of it. Ingrid Lindblad, the No. 1 beginner on the planet, dumped one into the creek wanting the inexperienced. Gaby Lopez caught a gust of wind so robust that her ball ended up wanting the identical hazard. As soon as the inexperienced had lastly cleared, Korda determined to make use of the knowledge she’d collected in the course of the excruciatingly lengthy delay. She clubbed up, even ensuring to tee her ball a membership size behind the markers for good measure, and blasted a 6-iron into the again bunker. The ball was protected. However not for lengthy.
With a leaf inconveniently nestled beneath her ball within the sand, Korda’s shot by no means had an opportunity of coming to a halt on the slick back-to-front sloping placing floor. Her ball plunged into the water. She took a drop on the alternative aspect of the meandering creek. One penalty shot. She chipped, and her ball rolled again into the water — once more. Two penalty pictures. One other drop. One other chip within the creek. Three penalty pictures. Together with her third chip, she lastly went lengthy of the cup.
Two putts. A ten on the scorecard.
World No 1 girls’s golfer Nelly Korda playing cards a ten (!) on the par-3 twelfth on the US Ladies’s Open #OneOfUs pic.twitter.com/pknN91pLKT
— Heavens! (@HeavensFX) Could 30, 2024
Korda was gasping for air the remainder of the day. Pars felt like small victories. The sloppy errors continued to sting, and her tempo of play was noticeably faster.
“I simply didn’t need to shoot 80, and I simply stored making bogeys,” Korda mentioned, all of the sudden remembering her latest historical past at this championship. “My final two rounds within the U.S. Ladies’s Open haven’t been good. I ended Sunday at Pebble I believe capturing 81, after which immediately I shot 80.”
Korda’s front-nine whole climbed so excessive that the usual bearer strolling along with her group struggled to search out the proper quantity playing cards to signify her rating subsequent to her identify, momentarily leaving the spot clean, to the confusion of many spectators. She completed her first 9 with a 10-over 45.
Albeit puzzled by Korda’s play — and typically silent as she let her driver plummet to the bottom after off-line tee pictures — those self same spectators by no means left. They got here out in droves Thursday morning to look at the world No. 1 stroll the slim fairways at Lancaster, a crowd befitting her new standing within the recreation however one which hasn’t all the time been the case due to venue or different exterior elements. After getting wind of her septuple bogey, one native mom and daughter rushed to the course, hoping to get a glimpse of Korda earlier than she probably missed the weekend.
Korda’s sturdy gallery was by far the biggest of the morning wave, and its members have been simply as content material clapping in awe of her brilliance as they have been providing her phrases of encouragement as she by some means salvaged a back-nine 35 with three birdies.
Nelly Korda’s first-round 80 takes her out of competition on the U.S. Ladies’s Open. (John Jones / USA At the moment Sports activities)
The world No. 1’s battle at Lancaster on Thursday was as relatable because it will get. This recreation is fickle. It’s maddening. Typically it is not sensible. Typically it may really feel like a breeze. And nobody has understood the latter higher than Korda, who’s been residing on the prime of the leaderboard for the higher a part of three months. However she’s additionally conscious that on this sport, that feeling doesn’t final eternally — not even for the perfect participant on the planet.
Tuesday, Korda spoke of the phenomenon, virtually foreshadowing the carnage that may ensue two days later. “I believe that’s what makes this recreation so nice. You might be on prime of the world the primary two days, and you then get up and also you’re like, what am I doing proper now? Why am I hitting it sideways? And you don’t have any thought what’s happening,” Korda mentioned. “It’s humorous, golf is such a tough recreation.”
After signing her scorecard, answering precisely three questions on her spherical within the interview room, and congregating along with her staff behind the clubhouse, Korda headed again to the vary. When she obtained to her spot on the leftmost fringe of the hitting space, she didn’t rush to seize a membership or pause to scroll by means of missed messages on her telephone. She sat on the turf, legs crossed over each other. Korda remained nonetheless for a number of moments, alone.
She simply wanted a second.
(Prime picture: Patrick Smith / Getty Photos)
