Korda's perfectly awful, no good 10
World No. 1 gets derailed by Lancaster's diabolic par-3 12th hole
Nelly Korda’s head hurts during septuple-bogey 10 (Logan Whitton/USGA)
‘I’m human. I’m going to have bad days’
There will be days like this for any professional golfer. It’s simply a shame that Nelly Korda — the No. 1 player in the world and a big draw for women’s golf who was seemingly primed to win consecutive major championships — was all but out of the U.S. Women’s Open before it got started.
Korda made a 10 on her third hole of the day at Lancaster (Pa.) Country Club, a score of 7-over par on the par-3 12th hole that saw her hit three balls in the water — two of them after taking a penalty drop and leaving poor pitch shots short.
That led to a first-nine score of 45 and an overall10-over 80, 12 shots back of the lead on Thursday. Japan’s Yuka Saso shot 2-under 68.
It was a stunning result for someone who has been so good for so much of this year, winning six of her previous seven starts this season including a record five in a row.
“Just a bad day in the office,’’ Korda said Thursday.
The score matched her highest ever on the LPGA Tour — she also shot 80 during the final round of last year’s U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach.
Korda, who won the Chevron Championship in April, had tied an LPGA record by winning five consecutive tournaments earlier this year before winning her last start two weeks ago in New Jersey.
“Not a lot of positive thoughts, honestly,’’ Korda said. “I just didn’t play well today. I didn’t hit it good. I found myself in the rough a lot. Making a 10 on a par-3 will definitely not do you any good at a U.S. Open.’’
The short 12th gave the entire field fits and was viewed in pre-tournament interviews as one that could be a problem for the field. When the U.S. Women’s Open was played at Lancaster in 2015, the results were similar — 31 double bogeys for the week at the 12th.
It didn’t help that when Korda’s group arrived on the tee, there was already a long wait with two other groups yet to play the hole. She said she was between clubs and ended up using a 6-iron which skipped over the green and into a back bunker.
From there, her second landed in the middle of the green as Korda watched it roll over and off the false front into the water fronting the green. She then dropped in the fairway on the other side of the water and hit two wedge shots short, both ending up wet. That meant hitting her eighth shot onto the green and then two-putting for the 10, her highest-ever score on a hole. It was similar to Jordan Spieth’s infamous effort on the 12th hole at the Masters in 2016 that blew a five-shot lead and cost him a second green jacket,
“Just hit some really bad chips over and over again,’’ Korda said.
Korda eventually made three birdies but the septuple bogey as well as six more conventional bogeys left her with an 80 that’s tied for 137th in the 156-player field.
“I just didn’t really want to shoot 80,’’ she said of her mindset when making the turn. “And I just kept making bogeys. My last two rounds in the U.S. Women’s Open have not been good. I ended Sunday (last year) at Pebble (Beach) I think shooting (80) ,and then today I shot 80.
“I’m human. I’m going to have bad days. I played some really solid golf up to this point. Today was just a bad day. That’s all I can say.’’
Korda was not alone in tough conditions. When she finished as part of the morning wave of players, she was one of seven players who shot in the 80s, including Lydia Ko and Brooke Henderson. Lexi Thompson, who announced earlier in the week that this would be her last full season playing the LPGA Tour, shot 78.
It was a tough overall day, with just four players shooting under par, led by Saso. Among the trio at 1-under is amateur Adela Cernousek of Texas A&M, who won last week’s NCAA Division I women’s individual championship. There ended up being 18 scores in the 80s on Thursday.