ST ANDREWS, Scotland — After what’s been a tough recent stretch for Nelly Korda, the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings No. 1 is back in the saddle and ready to battle for her third major title at the AIG Women’s Open at St Andrews.
The 14-time LPGA Tour winner opened her week at the Old Course with a 4-under 68 in gusty Scottish weather, a first-round effort that saw her sit in a tie for second and one back of the lead held by her groupmate Charley Hull through 18 holes at the Home of Golf.
Korda made four pars to kick off her day, grabbing her first birdie of the round on the par-5 5th hole to move to 1-under. The 26-year-old gave that shot back with a bogey on eight, but she recovered with a birdie on the par-4 9th hole to get back in the red and turn in 35.
The two-time major champion hopped on the par train on holes 10 through 13, collecting her third birdie of the day on the par-5 14th hole to climb to 2-under. She then parred 15 and 16 before closing out her round with birdies on 17 and 18, two of the most iconic holes at the Old Course at St Andrews.
“It was good. It was windy, but especially from the start to the middle,” Korda said of the Thursday conditions. “But the last three, four holes, it died down, and I was able to be a little bit more aggressive. But overall, I think our group had a very good day.
“You can't win a tournament on day one, but you can definitely lose it, so I've put myself into good position, and hopefully, I can keep trending in the right direction.”
Watch out on the green! 😳@NellyKorda bombed this one off the tee and walked off with a birdie pic.twitter.com/hDo5k1z0HR
— LPGA (@LPGA) August 22, 2024
The second round saw more of the same excellent golf from the world No. 1, who carded another 68 on Friday at the Old Course, this time going bogey-free. She started her day with seven straight pars before once again making back-to-back birdies on holes 17 and 18 to get to 6-under for the tournament.
Korda then made four more pars on the first four holes of the front nine, finally picking up her third birdie of the round on the par-5 5th hole. She parred her next three holes before landing one last birdie on the par-4 9th hole to post her second consecutive 68 and lead by three shots after the morning wave.
“Today it was raining for a good bit during my range session, and then up until probably my second or third hole,” said Korda, whose bogey-free 68 was her first blemish-free round on Tour since day three of the Mizuho Americas Open. “It was pretty calm on the front nine, and then once we got to 18 and No. 1, that's when it started to start pumping. But I adjusted. I didn't really take advantage of the calmer conditions on my front nine, the back nine, but I played some really solid golf, and I'm happy with that.”
After winning six tournaments in seven starts earlier in the year, Korda had cooled off a bit before this week at the Old Course, missing three straight cuts, including at the U.S. Women’s Open presented by Ally and the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. She seemingly got things turned around with a T26 showing at The Amundi Evian Championship but then struggled again at the Paris Olympics as she worked to defend her gold medal, ultimately finishing in a tie for 22nd after not breaking 70 all week at Le Golf National.
This week at the AIG Women’s Open, it seems to be a putter change that has made all the difference for Korda at a difficult St Andrews layout. She changed to a TaylorMade Spider putter on Wednesday, the first time Korda has used the brand of flatstick in competition since she was a junior player despite being one of the company’s Tour ambassadors.
Korda says she made the putter switch more for a change in look than for any sort of strategy on the greens at the Old Course, but it’s a swap that seems to be paying off in spades so far for the 26-year-old.
“It rolls really nicely, with the greens being pretty slow due to the weather here,” Korda said. “They're rolling about a 9.4. I just needed something different to look at. Sometimes, you need to switch it up. It's been working well. It's rolling off the face really, really well.”
This is Korda’s eighth time teeing it up in the AIG Women’s Open, and in her seven previous starts, she has only missed one cut in her tournament debut in 2017 and earned four straight top-15 finishes from 2019 to 2022, the best of which is a tie for ninth that came at Woburn Golf and Country Club in the first of that four-year stretch.
After such a spectacular 2024 season, it would be fitting for Korda to hoist the fifth and final major championship trophy come Sunday afternoon at St Andrews, but that’s a long way off from Korda’s mind.
She is instead focused on what’s right in front of her, namely 36 more holes of difficult links golf at one of the most iconic venues in the game’s history and the wind and weather that are set to further trouble the field over the next two rounds.
“I'm just trying to stay very present and not think about anything other than one shot at a time,” said Korda. “Whatever golf and links golf throws at me, I'm going to take it head on.”
Squeaky clean with a three stroke lead 🧼@NellyKorda goes -4 on Friday to take the lead to -8 at @AIGWomensOpen pic.twitter.com/RVGvGbxVoN
— LPGA (@LPGA) August 23, 2024
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