LANCASTER, Pa. – Rarely has a dominant favorite faded so quickly at a major championship. Nelly Korda’s shocking 10 on the par-3 12th at Lancaster Country Club – her third hole of the day – put her in danger of missing the weekend at the 79th U.S. Women’s Open. Should the 25-year-old somehow pull off the unimaginable and climb back from an opening 10-over 80 to win a seventh time this season, it would her greatest feat to date in a year of historic proportions.
For the most part, it felt like the air went out of the balloon at Lancaster before lunch.
Korda, winner of six of her last seven events on tour, didn’t hesitate to say yes when her agent asked if she’d take a few questions from the media. She wasn’t surly about the shocking 10 she took on the par-3 12th, nor particularly somber. She’d had plenty of time to digest the debacle by then.
“Making a 10 on a par 3 will definitely not do you any good at a U.S. Open,” she said. “I started off really poorly, but played pretty well on the back nine. But overall, yeah, just a bad day in the office.”
Nelly Korda of the United States and caddie Jason McDede look on during the first round of the U.S. Women’s Open Presented by Ally at Lancaster Country Club on May 30, 2024 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Korda, one of the fastest players on tour, said her group waited for 25 to 30 minutes on the 12th tee, and she was in between a 7-iron and a 6-iron. She didn’t know what to hit. The world No. 1 watched one player come up short of the hazard that guarded the green and another find the water.
She pegged her ball one club length back on the tee box and pulled a 6-iron. The ball penetrated through the wind and landed in the back bunker.
“I kind of had a leaf under my ball, so when I hit it kind of rocketed through,” she explained of her second shot finding the hazard on the other side of the green. “Couldn’t really do anything about that. Yeah, just hit some really bad chips over and over again.”
U.S. Women’s Open: Photos | How to watch | Leaderboard
Korda found the water twice more as she tried to bump it into the bank, only to watch the ball curl down in the hazard.
“You try to play for that one-hop, trying to get it a little too perfect,” said Megan Khang, “and it gets the best of you.”
Khang, one of Korda’s closest friends on tour, had a front-row seat to the carnage playing in the same group. Walking off the 13th green,…
..
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Golfweek…